In memory of Adam Greathead, head gardener at Ashwood Nurseries, who passed away at the young age of 27, an award was established to provide an aspiring horticulturist with a twelve-month opportunity to gain practical experience and knowledge in two of Britain’s most renowned gardens: John Massey’s Garden and Great Dixter.
Sponsored in part by the Ashwood Charitable Trust, the Adam Greathead Award aims to teach good gardening practices and a love of plants.
The training with renowned nurseryman, plant breeder, gardener and owner of Ashwood Nurseries, John Massey, includes planting, maintenance of shrubs, trees, conifers, herbaceous and alpines, propagation, creating and maintaining plant displays, plant association and transparency pruning. The applicant will also spend time at Ashwood Nurseries to learn about the production of the nursery’s speciality crops including cyclamen, lewisias, hepaticas and hellebores.
During the subsequent six months at Great Dixter in East Sussex, the candidate will be working closely with Fergus Garrett. Working alongside the team, training will involve: layering the long-seasoned borders; meadow management; bio-diversity; sub-tropical gardening; weather reactive working; the production of plants to feed the garden and to understand how a garden like Dixter is managed.
The application process for the Adam Greathead Award is currently open and closes the 21st of August 2025.
