Olivia Jones

2023

Horticulture

Sponsored by the Garden Centres Association of Australia and the Nursery and Garden Industry Victoria (NGIV).

I am so grateful that I have found the horticulture industry as a career. It has truly given me a purpose.

I am excited for what the future holds for the industry, and I look forward to seeing that unfold. I’m sure the industry will work together to become a more sustainable workforce, and I hope I get to be a part of that.

This scholarship encourages me even more to pursue sustainability within my workplace and my personal life as well as being able to share what I have learnt with others. This opportunity to help my career while also traveling abroad and broadening my horizons while being immersed in something I love, which is working with plants, is a dream come true.

I work in the production and growing side of the nursery, and I would love to improve my craft especially by implementing new ideas and refining what I do from learning from others.

To think it could be possible to work in greenhouses in the Netherlands where their technology has advanced dramatically would be amazing. They are the number one exporter in the world for plants, and for someone who loves plants it makes sense that I am drawn to go there.

I would love to work in a plant production nursery to gain an understanding of propagation techniques and possibly even learn more about tissue culture.

To see for myself, learn and possibly even work in some of the most beautiful gardens across Europe and the UK learning about their history and plants would be unforgettable. I would love to be immersed in the gardens right down to all the hard work that goes into keeping them pristine. The Chelsea flower show is such an impressive show and I would very much like the chance to see and work there for myself as well as see some places like the Claude Monet garden.

With Europe leading the way in modern green spaces it would be great to see how they incorporate plants and such into their designs and the reasoning behind it.