About Doug Stewart

My horticultural career started when as a young child I was given an area of garden as my very own, in the deep shade of some conifers, where nothing would grow, so I didn’t make a mess of my parents garden!

At the tender age of 13 I took on my first allotment, and soon after won the contract to supply the village shop with freshly grown vegetables as a source of pocket money.

After training as a professional horticulturist, I have worked for a number of organisations, from the propagation department at Hilliers Nurseries, through to slightly more unusual roles such as lecturing in cucumber and tomato production, growing lettuces and pumpkins for Marks and Spencer and working as an interior landscaper and garden designer.

For over 20 years I worked in horticultural education, as Head of Horticulture at one of the UK’s leading land-based colleges

I am now an author (my first book is being published shortly) a Professional Associate and senior examiner with the RHS, a horticultural business consultant, am CEO of a small horticultural enterprise where we employ adults with a learning disability and blog my love for plants, nature and sustainability at the plant enthusiast.com.

To keep out of mischief I co-present a gardening phonein on BBC Radio Humberside – “The Great Outdoors” which is one of the most popular local radio programmes in the region.

In my free time I enjoy striding across hill and dale, getting lost, cycling, travelling, blogging (just click here to visit the blog), and am a total, complete and utter plant nerd.

All my talks last for around 1 hour, and can be split into two halves to allow for a coffee break if required. Most clubs however seem to prefer to have the talk, then a coffee break and questions afterwards. If you are looking for a shorter talk, just ask, I have a number of talks that lend themselves to luncheon clubs etc.