Michael Myers Studied a BTEC Higher National Diploma (HND) in Landscape and Horticultural Technology at
Askham Bryan College from 1985 – 1988. Currently he is a Lecturer in Horticulture at Craven College.
What was your student life like studying at Askham Bryan College?
Busy, full-time courses were 4.5 days a week with Wednesday afternoons for sport, in my case hockey.
Why did you choose to study at Askham Bryan College?
It was fairly local to where I lived and had a good reputation for Horticulture.
Where did your interest in your chosen subject area come from?
I’ve had a lifelong interest in gardening, inherited from my father, inspired by a neighbour a few doors down
and sparked from a pre-college year spent at Harlow Carr Gardens. As a teenager I helped a neighbour with
their garden and I also joined the Alpine Garden Society as a teenager and have been a member ever since.
What element did you like most about your course?
The two tours to gardens in Southern England and the Netherlands were highlights. The work experience year
at RHS Wisley and Nottingham Parks Department was also hugely enjoyable.
How did your course influence your career choices?
The course left me wanting to know more about the theory of horticulture and so I progressed on to a degree
in Plant Biology at the University of Leeds. This was followed by an MSc in Mycology at the University of Kent
and two years of a PhD at the University of Sheffield looking at mycorrhizas, which I did not complete.
How did the course prepare you for employment?
The course was wide ranging and was intended to prepare students for roles in management, particularly in
local government where I know several of my contempories found employment. Horticulture is often seen as a
low-skilled career choice, however this is not true. Horticulture offers a hugely varied range of careers in
practical, scientific, technical, retail, production, managerial and educational roles. A good college course along
with relevant work experience offers the very best foundation for a successful career in the horticulture
industry.
Please briefly describe your career journey
Having left sixth form in Harrogate I needed a one year work placement in order to gain my place on the HND
at Askham Bryan. I luckily managed to gain a place as a volunteer at Harlow Carr which at the time was part of
the Northern Horticulture Society. The curator, Phillip Swindells also taught the RHS General Certificate in
Horticulture which I passed. My main memory is one of doing a lot of digging, especially preparing the new
borders for the National Collection of Rhubarb.
My sandwich year was spent at Wisley and Nottingham Recreation Department. At Wisley I worked specifically
in the alpine department, although I was also tasked with redesigning and planting Bowles Corner. Nottingham
was more office-based supporting landscape architects with new and existing schemes.
Several years at University followed with occasional work in the holidays as the plant propagator for Olands
Plants. After university I set up my own landscaping business in 1992, which I ran for over ten years before
teaching gradually began to take over. I was involved in the renovation of the Aysgarth Edwardian Rock
Garden in 2002, the subject of a Tyne Tees programme called ‘The Secret Garden’. I have also been involved
with other TV programmes and have written for several magazines including The Garden. Some articles have
followed botanising trips to Crete, The Czech Republic, Cyprus, Maritime Alps, The Philippines, Poland,
Romania (Transylvania), Slovenia and elsewhere. These trips have been primarily to photograph and study
alpines in the wild, particularly those that were included in the National Plant Collections that I formerly held Anemone Nemorosa, Hepatica and Primula Marginata. Several of these trips were in part funded by grants
and bursaries that are available to young horticulturists. My other plant passions are orchids, alpines and
dwarf bulbs, especially snowdrops; I was the finder of Galanthus Plicatus ‘E.A. Bowles’ which for a while was
the World’s most expensive snowdrop.
What is the highlight of your career?
Highlights would include winning the Institute of Horticulture ‘Young Horticulturist of the Year’ competition in
1991, leading student projects for Skipton in Bloom that have won RHS Britain in Bloom discretionary awards
(Skipton Cenotaph, Drystone walling exhibition area, Skipton Bus Station and The Diamond Jubilee Community
Garden), also Gold and Premier Award winning gardens at the Harrogate Flower Shows and latterly completing
my RHS Master of Horticulture. It is always rewarding when you see students succeed, progressing onto other
courses or obtaining employment. I work with students at all levels and abilities, and demand only one thing –
that they do their best.
Anything you would like to say to students who are about to start their career journey?
A good college course along with relevant work experience offers the very best foundation for a successful
career in the horticulture industry. Try and gain experience, as a volunteer if necessary, in an area that
interests you, attend trade shows and events, network with your peers (social media is good for this), join a
relevant organisation such as the Chartered Institute of Horticulture and most of all enjoy what you do (you’re
a long time dead).
What is next for you?
I would still like to undertake a PhD at some point in the future and, like many people, have a burning ambition
to run a small specialist nursery. In the shorter term I want to see Horticulture at Craven College expand
further and develop full-time higher level courses that will equip students for a career in the industry.