James Shepherd

My career in horticulture started about 10 years ago, when I left my job in the legal department of a local authority and spent 12 months volunteering in the National Trust gardens at Anglesey Abbey and Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire. Within weeks of starting to work in these gardens I knew I had found my ideal occupation. I was then fortunate to gain a place on the National Trust’s three year Careership training course, which provided a good mix of practical experience working in the garden at Anglesey Abbey and academic study and training at Reaseheath College in Cheshire. 

After a short period working at a National Trust garden in Warwickshire I moved to Rosemoor six years ago.  At Rosemoor I work throughout the Formal Garden, but have particular responsibility for the lake and stream area and the winter garden.
The winter garden is one of my favourite areas of the garden, partly because it was the first area I was given responsibility for, but also because it spends eight months of the year as a calm, green oasis before gradually revealing the full glory of its colourful stems and barks, highly scented flowers and interesting evergreens.