Matt James (TV presenter)
{{Short description|British garden designer}}
{{use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Matt James
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|04|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Essex, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Merrist Wood College
Writtle College
| occupation = Garden designer
Horticulturist
Lecturer
| known_for = The City Gardener
| website = {{official website|https://jamesandcook.co.uk/}}
}}
Matt James (born 27 April 1975 in Essex){{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/mar/21/furthereducation.uk|title=College days|date=2006-03-20|last=Shimmon|first=Katie|work=The Guardian|access-date=2025-01-26}} is a British garden designer, horticulturist and university lecturer who rose to fame on the Channel 4's The City Gardener.{{cite web|url=https://cornwall-living.co.uk/the-country-gardener/|title=The country gardener|publisher=Cornwall Living|date=May 2018|access-date=2025-01-26}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/5113618.tv-makeover-show-made-me-work/|title=TV makeover show made me work|date=2003-03-31|publisher=The Argus|access-date=2025-01-26}}
Early life and education
James was born 27 April 1975 in Essex, the older of two sons.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/features/gardening/matt_james.shtml|title=All About Me... Matt James|publisher=BBC|access-date=2025-01-26}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/matt-james-the-city-gardener-on-the-secret-of-his-success-5f6njh8xz50|title=Matt James, the City Gardener, on the secret of his success|last=Jackson|first=Alan|date=2008-05-17|work=The Sunday Times|access-date=2025-01-26}} He credits his mother with "creating in [him] an awareness of and love for plants." He attended secondary school in Sutton, London and worked at a local market garden after leaving school. He received a diploma in plant production and garden centers from Merrist Wood College in 1996, followed by a year at a nursery in Somerset and a degree in horticulture from Writtle College.{{cite press release|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/03_march/25/cornwall.shtml|title=Matt James and George Kestell join the BBC Radio Cornwall Gardenline team|date=2014-09-24|publisher=BBC|access-date=2025-01-26}}
Career
James hosted The City Gardener on Channel 4 between 2002 and 2005, followed by an American version called Urban Outsiders on HGTV.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} He subsequently hosted UKTV's Matt James' Eco Eden{{cite web|url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/business/news/1494797.tv-gardener-makes-use-of-rich-yorkshire-soil/|title=TV gardener makes use of rich Yorkshire soil|date=2007-06-25|publisher=The Press|access-date=2025-01-26}} and was gardening expert on Selling Houses. He also appeared on an episode of Great British Garden Revivalin 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.outlineproductions.co.uk/productions/great-british-garden-revival|title=Great British Garden Revival|publisher=Outline|access-date=2025-01-26}} In 2011, James joined the Gardenline panel on BBC and guested on Gardeners' Question Time.
James taught horticulture and landscape design courses at Duchy College and North East Surrey College of Technology, followed by five years at University College Falmouth starting in 2008. He later created{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} the landscape design programme at the Eden Project, where he taught between 2014 and 2021.{{cite web|url=https://jamesandcook.co.uk/about|title=About|publisher=James + Cook Landscapes|access-date=2025-01-26}}{{cite web|url=https://thepoly.org/whats-on/event/1304/how-to-plant-a-garden-with-matt-james|title=How to plant a garden with Matt James|date=2024|publisher=The Poly|access-date=2025-01-26}}
Since 2018, James has run a landscape design firm, James+Cook Landscapes, in Cornwall with fellow Eden Project lecturer Polly Cook.{{cite web|url=https://gardenerspath.com/gear/gardening-books/urban-gardener-james/|title=On constructing urban gardens with Matt James|last=Schiller|first=Nan|date=2018-08-01|publisher=Gardener's Path|access-date=2025-01-26}} He has also written for numerous publications about gardening and garden design including The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Garden and the Garden Design Journal.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} James was chosen as Londoner-of-the-Year in the Environment and Regeneration category in 2000 after helping establish a farmers' market in South London.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardenprojects/3308970/The-likely-lads.html|title=The likely lads|date=2003-03-01|last=Raven|first=Sarah|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2025-01-26}} He has also won two gold awards at the annual California Landscape Contractors' Association Awards.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}
Personal life
Publications
- 2003: The City Gardener, {{ISBN| 9780007155682}},Collins
- 2004: The City Gardener: Urban Oasis, {{ISBN|9780007176281}}, Collins
- 2005: The City Garden Bible, {{ISBN|9781905026043}}, Channel 4 Books; Transworld Publishers
- 2014: The Urban Gardener, {{ISBN|978-1784722869}}, Royal Horticultural Society books; Mitchell Beazley
- 2016: How to Plant a Garden, {{ISBN|978-1845339845}}, Royal Horticultural Society books; Mitchell Beazley
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Matt}}
Category:Academics of Falmouth University
Category:English landscape and garden designers
Category:English television presenters