Matt James (TV presenter)

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Matt James
Born (1975-04-27) 27 April 1975 (age 49)
Essex, England
Education Merrist Wood College
Writtle College
Occupation(s)Garden designer
Horticulturist
Lecturer
Known for The City Gardener
Website Official website

Matt James (born 27 April 1975 in Essex) [1] [2] is a British garden designer, horticulturist and university lecturer who rose to fame on the Channel 4's The City Gardener . [3] [4] [5] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

James was born 27 April 1975 in Essex, the older of two sons. [3] [1] He credits his mother with "creating in [him] an awareness of and love for plants." [1] He attended secondary school in Sutton, London and worked at a local market garden after leaving school. [1] [4] He received a diploma in plant production and garden centers from Merrist Wood College in 1996, followed by a year at a nursery in Somerset and a degree in horticulture from Writtle College. [4] [6] [2] [7]

Career

James hosted The City Gardener on Channel 4 between 2002 [4] and 2005, followed by an American version called Urban Outsiders on HGTV.[ citation needed ] He subsequently hosted UKTV's Matt James' Eco Eden [8] and was gardening expert on Selling Houses. [4] [2] He also appeared on an episode of Great British Garden Revival in 2014. [9] [4] In 2011, James joined the Gardenline panel on BBC and guested on Gardeners' Question Time . [6]

James taught horticulture and landscape design courses at Duchy College and North East Surrey College of Technology, [7] [6] followed by five years at University College Falmouth starting in 2008. [1] [6] [10] He later created[ citation needed ] the landscape design programme at the Eden Project, where he taught between 2014 and 2021. [11] [10] [12]

Since 2018, James has run a landscape design firm, James+Cook Landscapes, in Cornwall with fellow Eden Project lecturer Polly Cook. [10] [11] [12] He has also written for numerous publications about gardening and garden design including The Daily Telegraph , The Sunday Times , The Garden and the Garden Design Journal.[ citation needed ] James was chosen as Londoner-of-the-Year in the Environment and Regeneration category in 2000 after helping establish a farmers' market in South London. [4] [7] He has also won two gold awards at the annual California Landscape Contractors' Association Awards.[ citation needed ]

Personal life

James lives in Cornwall with his wife Ellie and their children. [4] [1] [13]

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jackson, Alan (17 May 2008). "Matt James, the City Gardener, on the secret of his success". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Shimmon, Katie (20 March 2006). "College days". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  3. 1 2 "All About Me... Matt James". BBC. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The country gardener". Cornwall Living. May 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  5. ↑ "TV makeover show made me work". The Argus. 31 March 2003. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Matt James and George Kestell join the BBC Radio Cornwall Gardenline team" (Press release). BBC. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 Raven, Sarah (1 March 2003). "The likely lads". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "TV gardener makes use of rich Yorkshire soil". The Press. 25 June 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  9. ↑ "Great British Garden Revival". Outline. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 "How to plant a garden with Matt James". The Poly. 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  11. 1 2 "About". James + Cook Landscapes. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  12. 1 2 Schiller, Nan (1 August 2018). "On constructing urban gardens with Matt James". Gardener's Path. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  13. ↑ "My life in shopping: Matt James, TV gardener". The Guardian. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
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