RHS Young School Gardener of the Year 2016

Thomas McBride
16 years old from King Edward VI School, Stratford upon Avon
KS4/S2-3 Finalist

About Thomas

Seeing opportunity in an unused piece of school land, Tom and fellow pupil planned and presented their ideas for a school garden and were successful. Tom works in the garden during break and lunchtimes in the week and has taken the lead in ordering equipment, seeds and plants. He is particularly passionate about scented pelargoniums and is undertaking his own crossbreeding experiments.

Judges' comments

“Thomas is an incredibly talented and self-motivated individual. His plant knowledge is outstanding and I thoroughly enjoyed watching his cross pollination demonstration – not something you see every day from a 16 year old! Fantastic.”
 
“Thomas is clearly very experienced in practical horticulture, as well as having theoretical knowledge. He already knows so much including Latin names of plants and the correct terminology, he will be a very talented botanist one day, or even a curator.”
 
“The story of Thomas starting the garden area from scratch is very inspirational. The initiative he displayed in presenting the idea to the PTA, raising the money and leading the work is incredible.”

Thomas' entry video