RHS appoints Jim Gardiner as Director of Horticulture
The Royal Horticultural Society announces the appointment of Jim Gardiner
as Director of Horticulture.
Jim will have overall responsibility for the policy and management of horticultural
standards, oversee the RHS plant committees and the Society’s plant trials programme,
and fulfil an ambassadorial role for the organisation. Jim will retain his responsibilities
as Chief Curator of the Society.
For 22 years of a 40 year career in horticulture Jim has worked as a curator at
the RHS. He trained at Askham Bryan College, the University of Cambridge Botanic
Garden and Savill Gardens and prior to joining the Society held curatorial posts
at the City of Liverpool Botanic Garden and the Sir Harold Hillier Garden & Arboretum.
Jim has published on a wide variety of horticultural subjects, regularly lectures
in the UK and abroad and is President of the Magnolia Society International.
Giles Coode-Adams, RHS President, said, “Jim Gardiner is one of the most highly
regarded plantsmen in the country, with an international reputation. His appointment
to this new post reflects the fact that horticultural excellence sits at the heart
of the Society’s mission to inspire everyone to garden. Jim will act as a champion
for plantsmanship for the RHS, and ensure we build on success already achieved at
our award-winning gardens.”
Jim Gardiner said, “I have learnt an enormous amount at the RHS. I’m delighted to
take on a role that gives me the opportunity to share that knowledge, together with
a passion for plants, with colleagues across the organisation and throughout the
gardening world.”