David Gerald Hessayon

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(13 February 1928 – 16 January 2025) was an English author and botanist who is known for a best-selling series of paperback

gardening Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of Aesthetics, aesthetically pleasing area ...

manuals known as the "Expert Guides" under his title Dr. D. G. Hessayon. The series started in 1958 with ''Be Your Own Gardening Expert'' and in 2008 it celebrated its 50th anniversary and the 50 millionth copy in print. They have become the best selling gardening books in history.

Background

Hessayon was the son of a Cypriot landowner, was born on 13 February 1928, and grew up in

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, Lancashire, England. He gained a Bachelor of Science degree in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

from

Leeds University The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed ...

. In 1950, he travelled to the United States where he worked as the editor of a small-town newspaper. In 1953, he went to the Gold Coast as a Research Fellow at the University College before returning to Manchester to obtain his doctorate in

soil ecology Soil ecology studies interactions among soil organisms, and their environment. It is particularly concerned with the cycling of nutrients, soil aggregate formation and soil biodiversity. Overview Soil is made up of a multitude of physical, ch ...

. In 1955, he accepted a position as chief scientist with Pan Britannica Industries Ltd (PBI), becoming chairman in 1972. It was whilst working for PBI that Hessayon formulated the idea for his "Expert" guides to gardening. Hessayon and his wife, novelist Joan Parker Gray Hessayson (d. 2001), had two daughters. He lived in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and died at a nearby hospital on 16 January 2025, at the age of 96.

The "Expert" guides

A steady stream of publications followed the initial ''Be Your Own Gardening Expert'', each maintaining the basic formula of down-to-earth writing broken up into short sections with headers, and illustrated with what were at the time lavish numbers of colour photographs, graphic images and charts. In later editions the ''Be Your Own ...Expert'' titles were changed to ''The ... Expert''. On the British bestsellers list for the 1980s, two Experts were in the Top 10. There are () over 20 "Expert" titles in 22 languages and in Britain their sales continue to dominate the gardening paperback lists. ''The Vegetable & Herb Expert'' continues to be the best seller.

Recognition

In 1993, Hessayon received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement award at the

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

. He was also awarded the

Veitch Memorial Medal The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize awarded annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Goal The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement ...

of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

in 1992 for his contribution to the advancement and improvement of the science and practice of horticulture. In 1999, he was awarded a

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

certificate for being Britain's "bestselling non-fiction author of the 1990s". Despite a resolve to stay out of the limelight, Hessayon received further awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Garden Media Guild, and three honorary doctorates.David Hessayon , Honorary graduations 2008 , Media , University of Leeds
In the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments made by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year cele ...

, he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) for services to gardening and to charity.United Kingdom:

Bibliography

From 1959, Hessayon wrote many books. Cover 1959 Expert

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hessayon, D. G. 1928 births 2025 deaths English gardeners Veitch Memorial Medal recipients English people of Greek Cypriot descent Officers of the Order of the British Empire English garden writers Gardens in the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Leeds English expatriates in the United States British expatriates in Ghana Writers from Manchester 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers Alumni of the University of Manchester