John Alexander Montgomery Cushnie (14 May 1943 – 31 December 2009) was a

landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and gard ...

er, author, journalist, and broadcaster in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, best known as a regular panellist on the long-running

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme ''

Gardeners' Question Time ''Gardeners' Question Time'' is a long-running BBC Radio 4 programme in which amateur gardeners can put questions to a panel of experts. History The first programme was broadcast in the North and Northern Ireland Home Service of the BBC at 2 ...

''.

Early life

Cushnie was born in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, in May 1943, the son of a factory supervisor. He was educated at

Lurgan College Lurgan College is a selective, non-denominational, co-educational 14-19 Grammar School, situated in the town of Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. History In lieu of the establishment of Lurgan Model primary school in 1863, the town of Lur ...

, before studying at the Greenmount College of Agriculture and Horticulture.

Career

After graduating from Greenmount College, Cushnie began a ten-year career in the civil service in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, working for the

Northern Ireland Housing Executive The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is the public housing authority for Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest social housing landlord, and the enforcing authority for those parts of housing orders that involve houses with multiple ...

. After this, he established a landscape design and contracting company – Cushnie Landscapes. He worked across the United Kingdom, for both the public and private sectors, focussing on creating "traditional" gardens. The firm had up to 12 employees. His work with Cushnie Landscapes brought him to the attention of

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It is ...

, where he was invited to appear as a gardening expert. Cushnie later became a regular panellist for 15 years on the BBC Radio 4 programme ''

''.

Mark Damazer Mark David Damazer, CBE (born 15 April 1955), is a former Master of St Peter's College, Oxford, and a former controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 7 in the United Kingdom. Early life and education Damazer was born on 15 April 1955. He is th ...

, the station's former controller, said that Cushnie "laced every programme with warmth and joy". He also answered questions for 39 years on

's gardening programmes. In addition to his radio work and the running of his company he was gardening editor of Ireland's '' Homes Interior and Living'' magazine and was a contributor to the '' Daily Telegraph''.

Personal life

He lived in

Killyleagh Killyleagh (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the A22 road between Belfast and Downpatrick, on the western side of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,483 people in the 2001 Census. It is b ...

, County Down and studied horticulture at Greenmount College of Agriculture and Horticulture in Antrim. He was married with two sons and a daughter. Although he was brought up as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, after he married he followed his wife's denomination (the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

). Cushnie died on 31 December 2009 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

, aged 66, less than a week after his final appearance on ''Gardeners' Question Time''.

Bibliography

*''Ground Cover: a thousand beautiful plants for difficult places'' (with photographs from The Garden Picture Library, hardcover, 160 pages, Kyle Cathie Limited, 1999, ) *''How to Garden: the only gardening book you will ever need'' (with photographs by Steven Wooster, hardcover, 192 pages, Angus Books Limited, 2001, ) *''Gardener's Question Time: All Your Gardening Problems Solved'' (with co-authors

Bob Flowerdew Bob Flowerdew is an organic gardener and television and radio presenter. He is a regular panel member of BBC Radio 4's ''Gardeners' Question Time''. He has nearly an acre of garden in Dickleburgh, Norfolk, England, where he lives with his wif ...

Pippa Greenwood Pippa Greenwood is an English plant pathologist. She appears frequently on the BBC's long-running ''Gardeners' World'' television programme and has been a regular panellist on ''Gardeners' Question Time'' on BBC Radio 4 since 1994. She also was ...

Bunny Guinness Peta "Bunny" Guinness (''née'' Ellis; born 16 December 1955) is a British chartered landscape architect, journalist and radio personality who is a regular panellist on the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme, ''Gardener's Question Time''. She a ...

Anne Swithinbank Anne Swithinbank (born 1957 in Belvedere in Kent) is a trained horticulturist and freelance gardening broadcaster who has written several books on gardening, including ''Gardener's Question Time: All Your Gardening Problems Solved'', ''Gardeners ...

, illustrations by Bunny Guinness, and photographs from The Garden Picture Gallery and others, paperback, 325 pages, Bookmart Limited, 2005, ) *''How to Prune: techniques and tips for every plant and every season'' (with photographs by John Swithinbank, hardcover, 256 pages, Kyle Cathie Limited, 2007, ) *''Hedge Man: John Cushnie'' (with illustrations by Chris Gould and foreword by Bunny Guinness, hardcover, 198 pages, Constable and Robinson Limited, 2010, ) *''Trees for the Garden'' paperback 224 pages (Kyle Cathie Press 2002) *''Shrubs for the Garden'' hardback 224 pages (Kyle Cathie Press,2004) , photographs by Marianne Majerus.

References

External links

BBC Gardeners' CornerCushnie Landscapes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cushnie, John 1943 births 2009 deaths Broadcasters from Northern Ireland British gardeners People from Killyleagh People from Lurgan