Young Horticulturist of the Year: Meet the Five Finalists

In its 21st year, the competition is run by the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture Education Trust. Hort News is a proud supporter of the event, which showcases the industry’s most promising young professionals and helps them develop the skills, knowledge and leadership needed to shape the sector’s future.

Anna Kelland

Anna Kelland was more than a decade away from being legally able to drink when she declared she wanted to be a winemaker when she grew up.

“My parents definitely encouraged me. I grew up surrounded by Hawkes Bay wineries, and while they don’t work in the industry, they do enjoy the product,” the now 25-year-old jests.

“I was seven when I decided I wanted to make wine. At that age you draw a picture of what you want to be, and for me I was either a pop star or in a lab coat.

“I was definitely nosey as a child. I was very much a ‘why’ toddler. Why this? Why that?”

As well as asking why, she also asked why not, and pushed boundaries even at primary school.

“When they didn’t have a core science competency session in the New Zealand curriculum, I got some intermediate level books at primary school and started learning for myself.”

That thirst for knowledge has paid off, with the viticulture technician becoming a finalist in this year’s Young Horticulturist of the Year, being held in November.

But Anna, who won a scholarship from Constellation Brands and now works for the company in Marlborough, always thought science would be the focus, not agriculture.

“But this is definitely the side that I want to be on,” says Anna, who is working towards a masters in agribusiness at Massey University.

Clayton Hart

Clayton Hart is an opportunist – he is always on the hunt for ways to grow and develop his career as a plant producer. So much so, that every job he has had, came from opening doors, not responding to job vacancies.

Ten years in the horticulture industry is the result of equal measures of tenacity and skill for the Auckland 27-year-old who will compete in this year’s Young Horticulturist of the Year competition in November.

“I’ve still made CVs and sent emails, but I’ve been happy to call people up, and rely on connections,” he says.

He loves his current role Rainbow Park Nursery, highlighting there is now so much to learn with automation: “There’s a new glass house that has some pretty cool stuff in it – instead of fixed mist emitters, there’s a moving boom. It’s all controlled, environment growing. A computer system monitors the environment and makes decisions on how to regulate the temperature and the humidity and shading based on sensors.

“Different crops in different stages need different types of light at different intensities. You’re always fine-tuning things, especially in propagation.”

He estimates around 70% of what they grow is for big store contracts, a fast-paced growth cycle works backwards to ensure timed orders.

Dane Sales

Dane Sales is fervent about looking after native trees – and he wants to educate others. So the Auckland arborist has authored a guide to protect urban forests.

Working toward his diploma in arboriculture, Dane did a research project on identifying native tree roots. It has prompted him to pursue the research full-time so he can expand his unpublished book into a comprehensive guide.

“Native Tree Roots of Aotearoa New Zealand features 14 trees. I’m hoping to get it to about 50 different species before I publish it,” the 31-year-old says.

“It will help arborists identify what roots belong to which native tree – hopefully improving tree preservation outcomes for trees on or adjacent to development sites. They won’t have to send a sample off to a lab for identification. They won’t have to trace the root back to the tree and cause more damage.

“A big part of it is wanting to educate people on the effects of what we do, how we can go about it differently, and get the result we’re looking for in terms of urban development – and also get what we want in terms of conserving and protecting the urban forest,” Dane explains.

Dane has funding from the Waikato Botanical Society to work on his book and will do the research at the Waipahihi Botanical Gardens in Taupo, where there is a broad range of native species.

Meg Spittal

Meg Spittal sees horticulture as an art form, so much so that many of the tattoos she has inked are species - both wildlife and plant form.

On one forearm she has a large wētāpunga, and on the other are lush foxgloves.

"It all started with insects because I felt bad in an entomology paper at university. We had to do a specimen collection for the paper, and I was like, 'I am so sorry that I have to kill you'. I just find them intriguing and fascinating," the 27-year-old recalls.

The horticulturist at the 64ha Auckland Botanical Gardens since 2023, she has always loved an outdoor life, and fell in love with gardens through her mother.

"Mum's done private gardening for people. I helped out in the veggie patch, and a lot of my core memories from childhood stem to plants, and I can remember some of the trees that were at my childhood home," a finalist in this year's Young Horticulturist of the Year competition says.

The winner of the Young Amenity Award, Meg has recently returned from a nine-month internship in the United States - one of up to ten people from around the world chosen annually to work at the internationally-regarded 200-acre Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. There, she was immersed in land stewardship and ecology, conservatories and outdoor landscapes.

Phoebe Scherer

Phoebe Scherer is the first to point out the irony - she is an award-winning kiwifruit grower but she isn't an orchardist.

Instead the 30-year-old helps hundreds of other growers improve kiwifruit yield and quality, skills she hopes will set her apart when she competes in this year's Young Horticulturist of the Year.

"That's why I also love the industry, it's so inclusive. I don't have an orchard, but I may have a far bigger impact than an orchard owner, because I am influencing hundreds of growers," she says.

"If I can get a message across to someone about reducing their chemical use, or helping soil biology in a positive way, then hopefully that's having a bigger impact."

Phoebe recently joined grower shareholder organisation East Pack as a technical representative, focused on the Prospa Orchard management team's kiwifruit growing - liaising on orchard management plans and best practice.

"That's anything from fertilisers to spray and pest control, to how many fruits should we be hanging, and how do we get the best out of the vines so that they get the most fruit and the best pack out," she explains.

The Bay of Plenty woman was working at local kiwifruit packhouse Apata when she won the Young Grower of the Year, providing a pathway to the wider sector competition, Young Horticulturist of the Year, in November.