About
Matthew Wilson tried out several paths including journalist, hotel manager, chef and musician before following his true vocation, which has led him to becoming a respected voice within the horticultural field. Despite vowing not to follow the family tradition (his parents ran a nursery in a small village in Kent), it was during his time working with his father at a large historic garden in the south of England that Matthew’s interest in gardening was kindled, which then led to studies at Hadlow College. A childhood love of wildlife and the environment has remained a constant theme and is reflected in all the work he does.
Matthew is the presenter on Channel 4’s Landscape Man which follows the stories of contributors as they battle to create their own visions of landscape perfection, along the way encountering recalcitrant planners, personal crises and economic meltdown. A book to accompany the series, Making a Garden, is published by Quadrille.
Matthew is Managing Director of London’s Clifton Nurseries, London’s oldest and most beautiful garden centre. Clifton is an oasis of tranquillity in central London that provides everything from outdoor plants and garden tools, to cut flowers and exotic indoor arrangements. Clifton also offers a full scale garden design, landscaping and maintenance service, and Matthew can be commissioned for garden design work through Clifton.
Matthew spent 10 yearsworking for The Royal Horticultural Society. Before leaving the RHS in September 2009 he held the role of Head of Gardens Creative Development. The role saw him working across all four RHS gardens in a creative capacity, with a particular emphasis on major landscape projects. Previous to this, Matthew had been Head of Site and Curator at Harlow Carr, the Society’s garden near Harrogate in North Yorkshire, since February 2004. He came to Harlow Carr having been the Curator of RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Essex for four years.
During his time at RHS Garden Hyde Hall Matthew succeeded in dramatically transforming many areas of the garden. The success of the Dry Garden, finished in 2001 and irrigated purely by rainfall, pays tribute to his dedication and commitment to gardening in an environmentally friendly way.
At Harlow Carr he established a strong environmental ethos for the garden and led the development of a number of key projects and redesigned several important areas of the garden such as the Main Borders, Winter Walk and Streamside.
Alongside Matthew’s work as a landscape designer he also writes extensively in the media, has featured and presented on a number of television programmes, he broadcasts regularly on Radio 4’s Gardeners Question Time and has written and contributed to a number of books.
He also lectures extensively and teaches regularly on sustainable horticulture, planting design and wildlife and gardening. If you are interested in finding out more about Matthew’s talks and lectures please email info@matthewwilsongardener.co.uk
