Gordon Mackay
Instructor
Background:
I started in horticulture quite young, assisting my father with maintaining large and small urban gardens throughout the Glasgow area. He inspired me to apply for the 2 year program at Threave School of Gardening as he completed the course himself as part of his training. Working alongside my father and Uncle I was inspired by the scope of horticulture and started working at a local garden centre (one of Scotland largest at the time) before attending College; it was at the garden centre that I really became enamoured by the wealth of plant material available.
PHC Courses Taught:
Guest Speaker for Special Topics In Horticulture- Apiculture, Fruit Tree Culture and Tree Hazards and Biomenchanics; Level 1 and 2 Pruning, Level 3 Softscape, Level 1, 2, 3 and 4 Plant ID.
Education:
Threave Diploma in Horticulture – Threave School of Gardening
National Diploma in Horticulture – Pershore College of Horticulture
National Diploma in Horticulture (Hardy Nursery Stock Production)
Business Name:
Alba Plants (specialize in arboriculture)
Inspiration:
Reading Alex Shigo and his arboriculture books (e.g.’Modern Arboriculture’) have been a huge inspiration for me, along with my father I feel really inspired by my Head Gardener Magnus Ramsay at Threave who had a huge plant knowledge and had made several trips to the Himalaya on seed collecting trips. I continue to learn about from my father who is still runs his own arboriculture consulting practice in Scotland. Getting into honey bees a few years ago has led to more learning and working with the bees has been incredible.
