28-year-old Cambridge-based Ross Gildea, a Landscaping and Machinery Horticulturist at Cambridge University Botanic Garden (CUBG), is one of seven of East Anglia’s finest young horticulturists who will battle it out in the Eastern Regional Final of the Young Horticulturist of the Year (YHoY) Competition at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) Writtle on Saturday 21 March.
The prestigious national competition run by the Chartered Institute of Horticulture is open to anyone studying or working in horticulture under the age of 30.
In addition to plant identification, the finalists will be tested on their knowledge of pests, weeds and diseases. They will then face some tricky questions in the quickfire rounds on topics including horticultural practice, managed landscape and design, ornamental and amenity horticulture and sustainability.
The Eastern Region winner will receive an all expenses paid trip to take to the stage at the Grand Final at Rochdale Town Hall on Saturday 16 May 2026. The overall national winner will win the Percy Thrower Travel Bursary of £2,500 to fund horticultural related travel, study or work experience anywhere in the world.
“This is a reflection of his knowledge, understanding and hard work, and we’re delighted that he’s got to this stage and wish him all the best at the regional final.”
Ross started his horticultural career with a three-year course at Hyde Park before moving to care for the Rose Garden and herbaceous borders at Buckingham Palace. He has been working at the Botanic Garden in the Landscape and Machinery (L&M) section for the last four years.
“I love my job here,” he says, “no two days are ever the same – one day I could be restoring a pathway, the next, fixing a tractor.”
Ross enjoys the level of autonomy and creativity he has in his work.
“Being on L&M is not so botanical but I do get the chance now and then to get involved with the plants — like when I seeded the wildflower meadow on the Fairway. I love that section in the middle of the Garden. I can’t hear any of the traffic and very few people actually come through it so it’s very peaceful. It’s the third year that we have re-seeded the wildflowers in this area. Before we had areas throughout the Garden that we just didn’t mow, but now we’re looking at putting different seed mixes in and trying to give each one a bit of an identity as opposed to just leaving it as long grass. It’s great for biodiversity, wildlife as well as looking amazing with all the wildflowers. The Fairway contains a mix of cowslips, ox eye daisies, wild carrot, lady’s bedstraw, mallow, lots of yellow rattle and even plantain, so not just pretty stuff.
“I also love mowing the stripes on the formal lawn outside the Brookside offices, near the Brookside Gate. A mix is good I think in a garden, formal lawns seem to be going out of fashion a bit, trends are changing.”
Ross also gets involved at the various events at the Botanic Garden including the Cambridge Botanic Lights, Apple Day and Festival of Plants where he is on the ‘Ask the Gardener’ stall.
Speaking about the competition he said, “I turn 30 later next year, so I thought why not give it a go now? If it doesn’t go to plan then I have one last chance to enter it again. I don’t get to use much botanical knowledge daily in my landscaping role but it’s in my head somewhere, so I just need to unlock it on the day.”
CUBG Head of Horticulture, Sally Pettit says, “Ross is a highly valued and committed member of the horticultural team, and we’re very proud of his achievement in reaching the regional final of the Young Horticulturist of the Year. This is a reflection of his knowledge, understanding and hard work, and we’re delighted that he’s got to this stage and wish him all the best at the regional final.”
The other Eastern regional finalists in the YHoY competition are from ARU Writtle, the Markshall Estate and Woburn Abbey Gardens.