Grow Careers Scotland

Prof. Mike Hardman

Professor Mike Hardman is Chair in Urban Sustainability and Director of the Environmental Research & Innovation Centre (ERIC) at the University of Salford. He is an interdisciplinary researcher interested primarily in cities and has published widely on topics from guerrilla gardening to urban agriculture and green infrastructure. His work is global in nature, with projects in the likes of Africa, North America, Europe and elsewhere, focussing on themes from the potential to upscale radical greening initiatives, to large-scale urban farming and inclusive cities. Mike has obtained funding from charities, industrial partners and global bodies for this work, with recent projects funded by the likes of Horizon Europe and NHS. He also holds a number of senior editor roles, external advisory roles and regularly speaks in the media on urban sustainability. Such external roles include as a Trustee of Social Farms & Gardens and Chair of the Academic Working Group, a national charity for gardening, growing and farming.

Jacob Seddon

Jacob exchanged Edinburgh for the paint-splattered studios of Wimbledon College of Art, where he studied fine art painting from 2013 to 2016. After graduating, he worked in Marketing and Events for a small South London company while maintaining a painting practice dedicated to the interplay of colour, texture, and form— principles that would later underpin his approach to gardens.

Returning to Scotland at the start of the pandemic, he sought a new challenge. Spending more time outdoors, he developed a desire to deepen his understanding of plants, leading him to enrol in the HNC in Horticulture at SRUC Oatridge. While studying, he worked at The Free Company, a family-run farm near Balerno, where he cultivated a passion for no-dig gardening and regenerative agriculture.

After completing his course in 2023, he sought to broaden his horticultural experience and secured a role at Scone Palace. His time there was formative, imparting a deep respect for the custodianship of historic landscapes and the need for adaptive, forward-thinking horticulture in the face of climate change. 

He is now a trainee with the National Trust for Scotland at Threave School of Heritage Gardening, working towards his RHS Level 3 Theory. Threave allows him to continue his education while ensuring his hands remain suitably filthy.

Pippa Greenwood

Pippa Greenwood is a botanist, broadcaster, author, and one of the UK’s best-known horticultural experts. After studying botany at Durham University and completing an MSc in Crop Protection at Reading, she led the Plant Pathology Department at RHS Garden Wisley.

A familiar face and voice to many, Pippa has been a regular on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time since 1994 and previously presented on BBC Gardeners’ World. She has written for numerous publications including BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine and NFU Countryside, authored several bestselling books, and runs her own garden advice and product website.

Pippa also serves on the RHS Science and Bursaries Committees, is a Garden Advisor at RHS Wisley, and works with the Horticultural Trades Association as Horticulture Manager, focusing on growers, plant health, and biosecurity.

Lucy Morton

Lucy Morton is a career-change horticulturist originally from North Yorkshire. After training at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, she went on to launch a successful garden design and maintenance company in the Midlands. Since relocating to Scotland three years ago, she has worked across private estates, focusing on sustainable cultures, and as Head Gardener of a leading design and horticulture company in Edinburgh. Alongside this, she is the Scotland Coordinator for the Young People in Horticulture Association. 

When she isn’t in gardens, Lucy can usually be found on horseback or fishing in the local rivers.

Kate McClorey

Kate enjoyed a successful career in technology as a Director of a multinational corporation, travelling all over the world, and running her own tech business subsequently.  However, what she had always really enjoyed was gardening and the desire to work with plants and create beautiful and sustainable environments for people to enjoy became overwhelming. Therefore she made the bold decision to leave the corporate world and retrain as a horticulturist. Completing RHS L2 with distinction and a 6 month course in practical gardening at RBGE to help back up the theory, she then discovered the WFGA and their Work and Retrain as a Gardener scheme. Working alongside the Head Gardener for a year at Floors Castle in Kelso, Kate is now in her 5th year at Floors and is the Assistant Head Gardener responsible for the walled garden including the herbaceous borders, the cutting and kitchen gardens, with a full time team of 2 and a group of volunteers.   

She has recently completed the two year diploma course in Garden History at RBGE allowing her to deepen her understanding of historic gardens and their design as well as being the winner of the Inaugural Scottish Garden Design competition at Scone Palace Garden Fair, winning another gold medal the following year.

Passionate about gardens, plants, and the environment, Kate wishes that she made the move years ago and has never regretted her decision. She hopes to inspire more people to see horticulture as a wonderful career that many more should consider.

Megan Carden

Megan started her gardening journey after stumbling upon a horticulture course whilst planning a gap year before going to study Psychology. Whilst studying for her Technical Diploma in Horticulture at Askham Bryan College, she worked at Newby Hall in Ripon. It was here that she fell in love with horticulture. Now, having just finished her BSc Hons in Horticulture with Plantmanship, Megan is working at the Moray Feu Gardens in Edinburgh and as a horticulturist in the Outdoor Living Collection at RBGE.

Tom Stuart-Smith

Tom Stuart-Smith is a landscape architect and garden designer who has created gardens, parks and landscapes throughout the world. He works alongside a growing team of 26 landscape architects and designers.

Recent projects in the public domain include extensive gardens at Chatsworth, a new public garden at the Hepworth Wakefield, and the masterplan for the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Bridgewater.

In Scotland, he collaborates with Wildland Scotland, most notably on their estate at Aldourie on Loch Ness. In Edinburgh, his design for the garden surrounding the Old Royal High School on Calton Hill will be the first major new public garden in the city centre in over 200 years, with construction set to begin in 2026.

Also in 2026, the garden he has designed for the Clore Duffield Foundation will transform the setting of Tate Britain in London.

At home in Hertfordshire, where his studio has been based since 2021, Tom and his wife, the writer and psychiatrist Dr Sue Stuart-Smith, have developed the Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health – a community interest company that opened to the public in 2024.

James Simpson

From a family farming background in mixed agriculture, James moved to specialise in commercial horticulture in Kent in 1991 after completing an agricultural degree at Readding University. Taking responsibility for managing Adrian Scripps Ltd in 1998. The business has developed into one of the UK’s leading producers of top fruit, blackcurrants and grapes. With a strong desire to maximise the potential state of the art technology, growing systems, robotics and AI, to produce the highest quality fresh produce. James is a trustee of the CIH and the East Malling Trust (owners of the East Malling Research site in Kent), as well as Vice Chair and a Director of the industry trade body British Apples and Pears Ltd.