Clayton Hart & Meg Spittal | Young Horticulturist of the Year Finalists

Yeah, it's going to be a really fun and interesting competition as well.

But I guess one thing that we will learn on the Rural Roundup throughout the next week as we interview all of the contestants or all of the finalists, I should say, is the variety of opportunities there are in the sector.

I mean, you guys are both in kind of the plant producing industry.

plant side of it, but we've got an arborist.

I mean, it's really incredible.

What would be your messages to sort of any young people in school looking at horticulture as an opportunity, Clayton?

Yeah, I mean, if you like being outside, you like working with your hands, you know, and horticulture is really just a big umbrella.

And then underneath that are so many different things.

Like you said, you've got arboriculture, amenity, you've got nursery work, and then all the different types of growers growing so many different things.

There are so many opportunities.

So it's not just kind of a dead end.

You can really move around and you can travel the country and the world.

Meg, would you agree with that one? Oh, definitely.

Before I came into this industry, I didn't even realize amenity gardening was a viable career.

I always thought of it as more of a hobby.

So getting the message out there that if you love gardening, it is a career you can do.

And as Clayton said, it can take you across the country and the globe.

You can go to America or I did a placement down at other botanic gardens as part of an exchange.

So yeah.

It really can take you anywhere.

Yeah, it's going to be a really fun and interesting competition as well.

But I guess one thing that we will learn on the Rural Roundup throughout the next week as we interview all of the contestants or all of the finalists, I should say, is the variety of opportunities there are in the sector.

I mean, you guys are both in kind of the plant producing industry.

plant side of it, but we've got an arborist.

I mean, it's really incredible.

What would be your messages to sort of any young people in school looking at horticulture as an opportunity, Clayton?

Yeah, I mean, if you like being outside, you like working with your hands, you know, and horticulture is really just a big umbrella.

And then underneath that are so many different things.

Like you said, you've got arboriculture, amenity, you've got nursery work, and then all the different types of growers growing so many different things.

There are so many opportunities.

So it's not just kind of a dead end.

You can really move around and you can travel the country and the world.

Meg, would you agree with that one? Oh, definitely.

Before I came into this industry, I didn't even realize amenity gardening was a viable career.

I always thought of it as more of a hobby.

So getting the message out there that if you love gardening, it is a career you can do.

And as Clayton said, it can take you across the country and the globe.

You can go to America or I did a placement down at other botanic gardens as part of an exchange.

So yeah.

It really can take you anywhere.