The Best In Horticulture Group

Grow your skills with The B. E. S. T in Horticulture Group - Bespoke Education & Specialist Training.

BEST in Horticulture was set up in August 2011 by a group of lecturers from leading horticultural colleges, to offer the quality of training that specialist land-based colleges can give to a much wider audience, through distance and blended learning.

Because we have worked with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and City & Guilds in question setting and course development, we are up to date with all the changing requirements for both types of qualification, and have written notes which cover the courses outcome by outcome.

Our aims are:

1. To give you the knowledge you need to go into a career in horticulture.

2. To help you train to move upwards in your career.

3. To give you the best possible preparation to achieve your qualifications.

4. In doing this, not to lose sight of the fact that horticulture is a wonderful, interesting, life changing subject.

BEST in Horticulture was started by Tony Davies and Janet Prescott to provide horticultural education outside a conventional college environment; their team of tutors and subject specialists come from a number of horticultural colleges and the industry.

TONY DAVIES

Mhort(RHS), DipHort(Dist), SCD(HONS), DipRSA, CertED, FI Hort, MlfL

Tony lectured in business planning and development at Sparsholt College, and went on to be the Learning Manager in charge of Horticulture. He is also the former Head of Horticulture at Warwickshire College (Pershore College). A professional horticulturist for many years, Tony has run a number of commercial enterprises, specialising in ornamental nursery, stock production and horticultural retail.

As an educationalist, he has worked with a number of awarding bodies; City & Guilds, EDEXCEL and the RHS as an examiner, and in developing qualifications. He is a qualified instructor and a registered City & Guilds assessor for a wide range of machinery and equipment.

Tony is a career horticulturist; he is passionate about horticultural education and training, and is keen to share his expertise, knowledge and enthusiasm with anyone who wants to learn about the diverse world of horticulture.

JANET PRESCOTT

BA (Hons) BSc Hort (Hons) PGCE, MIfL

Janet lectured on RHS courses and Horticultural Science at Sparsholt and Pershore Colleges, and with Tony Davies helped to construct gold medal winning exhibits for Warwickshire College at Chelsea and Hampton Court in 2009 - 2011. She has worked with the RHS on course development and has also written for City & Guilds qualifications.

As a mid-life career changer into horticulture, Janet is passionate about helping other people to achieve their horticultural ambitions. For several years she opened her garden under the NGS, and is still studying – currently for an MSc in the Conservation of Historic Gardens.