Nigel's first love is Horticulture, closely followed by his other love, photography. It therefore seems an obvious choice to combine these two passions and photograph the natural beauty of plants, flowers, gardens and their landscapes. Nigel took a very early interest in gardening when he was only nine years old, when he built a cold frame in which to grow his plants. It was therefore an  easy choice for Nigel to pick horticulture as his profession. Nigel started his first job working for Challis of York as a young apprentice under the watchful eye of Jack Challis, the founder of the company. Nigel spent 2 years working for Challis before moving to Clifton Hospital for his first stint of amenity horticulture.  He liked it so much that he spent 7 years there before moving to  Rowntree's to work in the Gardens Department before going to Askham Bryan College in 1987,  to study for three years.

Nigel left Askham Bryan College in 1990 for his first lecturing post at Moulton College near Northampton before coming back to his beloved Yorkshire and to lecture at Askham Bryan College near York. Nigel loves teaching his subject and has become a favourite with BBC Radio York listeners as their gardening expert every Saturday morning.

Oh, and the photography- Nigel has always taken photographs of flowers, gardens and landscapes, as long as he's been able to hold a camera, but this love affair with the photography was rekindled when he joined the York Camera Club 2 years ago. Nigel has moved on from those early cameras, and now uses Nikon, both traditional and digital. He has won several photography competitions and hopes to win some more !

Should you have any gardening queries, then ring him on BBC Radio York on Saturday mornings at 8.00am.  Tel: 0845 300 3000.Click here to view Nigel at BBC Radio York.