Leigh works with RHS scientists to help deliver the RHS Gardening Advice service. Personalised advice is a benefit of RHS membership, but he also helps to make the information available to all on the RHS website
Along with my colleague James Lawrence, I look after the RHS Gardening Advice team of 13 advisors. I create and develop practical gardening pages for the RHS website. The RHS has more than 1,300 pages of information that’s freely accessible to everyone on topics ranging from pruning wisteria to the health benefits of hedges. Much of this information is underpinned by RHS scientists’ research, RHS gardeners and our own practical knowledge, so it’s continually updated to ensure that UK gardeners get the best advice possible.
“We get such lovely feedback from RHS members saying the advice that I, or one of the team, gave was amazingly helpful. It’s job done for us!”
The advisory service receives 110,000 questions from RHS members annually, and all receive a tailored response. More than 30 million people a year use the RHS website’s advice pages and we’re always trying to reach out to gardeners. We spend a lot of our time trying to provide the best, most accurate information possible. There are a lot of myths in gardening, but we like to stick to those techniques we know really work.
My work supports the Greening Great Britain Campaign, including making over a real garden to show how a front garden can be used both as a space to park a vehicle and retain attractive planting. I have helped develop the new RHS Gardening Advice stands for RHS Flower Shows – events where the service attracted more questions than ever.
The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.
