HMAA member Ash Walker was honoured to be presented with the Garden Clubs of Australia’s (GCA) Young Gardener of the Yearaward at the GCA’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, October 14.
Ash was nominated by one of his local garden clubs, The Highlands Garden Society, for this prestigious annual award that acknowledges the outstanding contribution of a gardener under 30.
Ash began his horticultural journey at his local Welby Garden Centre. He was awarded a Global Footprints scholarship in 2021 to travel and work overseas where he was a member of an award-winning garden team at the 2022 Chelsea Flower Show. He has worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Hidcote Manor, The Eden Project, and The Lost Gardens of Heligan. He also travelled to France to work in Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny. He won the Industry Bloomer Award from the Nursery and Garden Industry NSW and ACT in 2019 and 2020.
He is a National Councillor for the Australian Institute of Horticulture, the NSW Representative on the executive committee for the Horticultural Media Association, a popular public speaker and a regular guest on radio 2GB with Graham Ross. He is now Head Horticulturist for a large private estate in the NSW Southern Highlands.
