My life in gardening Europe - Asia - Africa.

Our speaker will be Sam Youd, who was previously Tatton Park's Head Gardener. 

Sam retired after 30 years service as Head Gardener at Tatton Park. He originally planned to spend just three years at the historic Knutsford estate but an opportunity arose that allowed him and his 13-strong team to finish the important projects that his predecessor had dreamed of completing.

He created and nurtured Italian Gardens, the Fernery, the kitchen garden and the Japanese Garden, now considered the best example of its type in Europe, created from old photographs so they look how they would have been in Tatton’s heyday.

His proudest moment was to bring the RHS Flower Show to the estate. It took him ten years to persuade the right people to set up in the north – a show at which his designs have since received 20 gold awards.

On retiring he said: “I didn’t want for that to be it. I’m keeping in touch with the big estates and will be doing advisory work, spending time doing what I really love. I have never gone to work; I just go and enjoy my hobby and I want to do more of that.”