Having recently been awarded an MBE for his contributions to landscape architecture, garden design, and heritage, Andrew Wilson speaks to HortWeek editor Matthew Appleby about what this means to him personally, but also what it means for the industry.

He talks about his teaching career and how, as director of garden design studies at London College of Garden Design, he is seeing more students come in from other professions and is curious about what’s causing them to deflect from their initial interest in horticulture. He also touches upon the mergers and closures of horticulture colleges and whether it is a trend likely to continue.

As a former RHS judge, Wilson says he often gets asked for his advice on whether show gardens are good things. With his garden designer hat on, he says they are, especially for nurturing students. He says:

"Andy Sturgeon probably wouldn't be where he is today, or Tom Stuart-Smith, without the Chelsea gardens that they have produced. So from my student-nurturing point of view, they’re undeniably a good thing.”

Wilson also talks about his concern around sustainable gardens all looking similar: “I am totally supportive of gardens with sustainability running through everything. But it can potentially produce similar results in terms of where materials come from, how materials are used, and how our planting works.”

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