Meet our gardening experts
Gardening knowledge accumulates from years of practice and study. The range of knowledge needs to cover about 70,000 cultivated plant species! At Diggers, we have the following experts in:
Vegetables: Heirlooms, seed sowing and seed production. Clive, Tim, Julian, Julie and Camilla.
Flowers: Annuals, wildflowers, perennials and propagation. Clive, Marcus, Camilla, Julie and Tim.
Fruit: Deciduous, sub-tropical and propagation. Jamie and Tim.
Gardening (general): Priscilla, Julie, Prue, Kevin, Tina, Anita, Marcus, Julian and Jayne.
Nursery production: Jamie, Marcus, Tim and Paul.
Clive Blazey
Executive Chairman
& founder of the
Diggers Club
Bachelor of Commerce, author of 5 books
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Tim Sansom
CEO
Bachelor of Applied Science (Environmental Management), Graduate Diploma (Horticulture.), Permaculture Design Cert.
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Marcus Ryan
Plant Product Manager
A passionate plantsman with 15 years experience in the industry, including 12 years with David Glenn at Lambley Nursery. Recipient of the esteemed Churchill Fellowship.
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Jamie Alcock
Nursery Manager
Trade certificate qualified Nurseryman with 25 years experience. CNP Specialist and IPPS Member
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Camilla Lazzar
Bulb Product Manager
Bachelor of Applied Science (Horticulture)
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Jayne Anderson
Retail Advisor
Bachelor of Science (Environmental Horticulture), Associate Diploma (Amenity Horticulture)
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Keith Edwards
Hardware Manager
Bachelor of Applied Science (Landscape Architecture)
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Julie Willis
Horticultural Advisor
U.K. City and Guilds 1,2,3
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Priscilla
Van Den Broek
Garden Manager
Certificate II in Horticulture, Diploma of Landscape Design
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Anita Fabos
Retail Manager
(St Erth)
Certificate IV in
Retail Operations, Certificate IV in Workplace Relations
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Tina Thanos
Retail Manager
(Heronswood)
Advanced Diploma (Horticulture)
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Kevin Mankey
Assistant Retail Manager (Heronswood)
Bachelor of Applied Science
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Prue Jecklin
Retail Advisor
Keen gardener who provides advice on plants and garden design.
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Julian Blackhurst
Head Gardener (St Erth)
Has owned his own organic market garden for five years.
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Authors and Presenters
Bill Bampton
After seven years at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Bill started as garden supervisor at Heronswood. He came to gardening via a circuitous route of study from art school, through environment history research at the University of Adelaide and finally horticulture at Burnley College. He grew up on a farm on the Yorke Peninsula which gave him a deep understanding of drought and drift sand.
Camilla Lazaar
Camilla has worked with Diggers for over 18 years and has headed up our bulb, seed and plant department. She has completed a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Horticulture, University of Melbourne, Burnley. She has a large garden comprising of succulent and dry climate bulbs, a small native and grass garden plus a large orchard and vegetable garden which supplies most of her vegetables in spring to late autumn. She also raises beef meat and has a long term goal of becoming self sufficient in food, water and power.
Caroline Trevorrow
Caroline is Diggers Catalogue & Publishing Manager, co-ordinating the development of our catalogues and production of our books. In her spare time she is also Club Manager, studies history and is an avid backyard vegie gardener.
Clive Blazey
Clive is the founder and Executive Chairman of The Diggers Club. He has helped write four books on flowers, vegetables and fruit gardening. He is a leading opponent of genetically modified seeds and the commoditisation of our supermarket driven food supply. The club pioneered the rescue of heirloom vegetable and fruit varieties and, through its nursery, two gardens and bimonthly magazines, it seeks to preserve our finest varieties and gardening traditions.
David Glenn
David Glenn is a well respected gardener and nurseryman but also a passionate plantsman and owner of the Lambley Nursery in Ascot, Victoria. David has searched the world and carefully selected the beautiful plants that thrive in his garden in central Victoria.
David Holmgren
David Holmgren is an ecologist, ecological design engineer and writer. He is known as one of the co-originators of the permaculture concept with Bill Mollison.Their wide-ranging conversations and gardening experiences encouraged Holmgren to write the manuscript that was to be published in 1978 as Permaculture One. The book was a mixture of insights relating to agriculture, landscape architecture and ecology.
Di Johnson
Di Johnson is the creator of The Garden Vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula. The garden was featured on Monty Don's Around the World in 80 Gardens and is an outstanding example of mixed shrub and perennial borders.
Diggers Horticultural Advisor
Julie Willis is Diggers Horticultural Advisor and a passionate gardener growing both ornamental and edible plants. She brings her UK qualifications and experience in Australia to Diggers and builds on her knowldge of plants for all climates and situations. Julie has presented Diggers workshops and develops Diggers fact sheets.
The Diggers Team
The Diggers Team represents a collaborative effort between two or more Diggers experts.
Dr. Don Huber
Dr. Huber is a distinguish Professor and Scientist, his agricultural research the past 50 years has focused on the epidemiology and control of soilborne plant pathogens with emphasis on microbial ecology, cultural and biological controls and physiology of hostparasite relationships.
Dr. Maarten Stapper
Dr. Stapper is a farming systems agronomist whose main focus is helping farmers improve the profitability of their operations by harnessing the power of natural healthy soil processes.
Evette Jungwirth
Evette is Diggers Seed Manager. Over the years she has also headed up our Heronswood Garden Shop, plant and bulb department, giving her a wealth of knowledge to share with members. Evette is a passionate backyard gardener and a Diggers Botanical Guide.
Hamish MacKay
Hamish Mackay is a leading bio-dynamics practitioner.
Hugh Hunkin
Hugh works at the Diggers Garden Shop in Adelaide and is a Diggers workshop presenter. He has a B. Environmental Science (Flinders University), a Permaculture Design Certificate (The Food Forest, Gawler) and a long time interest in gardening. Particularly in edible landscaping and productive gardens, and in finding new ways to utilise the harvest of rare and unusual perennial vegetables and edibles in the kitchen.
Jack Marshall
Jack Marshall is the owner of Frogmore Gardens in Newbury, Victoria which specialises in perennials, drought tolerant plants and is pioneering the establishment of prairie style gardens.
Jamie Alcock
Jamie is Diggers' Nursery Manager and has a passion for sub-tropical edibles. When not surfing, he spends his time pushing the boundaries to see what will fruit in his backyard!
Jayne Anderson
Jayne is a retail assistant at Heronswood with years of experience with the Diggers product range as well as horticultural qualifications including a Bachelor of Science (Environmental Horticulture). She often leads our garden workshops, sharing her experience with members, and supports retail customers with garden advice.
Jeff Donne
Jeff Donne is an Award-winning journalist and photographer from Tasmania, Australia, specialising in people, science and nature writing, a field he calls eco-Journalism. He has received two scholarships for journalism and a finalist place in a national journalism competition. Image: © University of Tasmania
Jeremy Francis
Jeremy Francis is the owner and creator of the extraordinary Cloudehill garden in Olinda, Victoria. His book Cloudehill – A year in the garden is available in Diggers garden shops and at www.cloudehill.com.au
Jim Sansom
Jim Sansom is a retired teacher who lives in Newham in central Victoria where he tends a large vegetable garden, paints and is currently experimenting with home biochar production. Jim was involved with the small bee-keeping operation, Blackhill Apiaries, for 35 years with their honey a popular item at the monthly Lancefield Farmers Market.
John Patrick
A vastly experienced and respected Landscape Architect, John was a key figure in the establishment of Victoria's Open Garden Scheme in 1987 and is a current Board member of Open Gardens Australia.
Julian Blackhirst
Julian is the head gardener at St Erth and an experienced market gardener.
Julie Willis
Julie is an experienced and passionate gardener with a particular love for ornamental plants. She brings her UK qualifications and experience to Australia as she builds her knowledge in plant selection and performance in our climate. She assists in all areas of the garden particularly in the food production garden at Heronswood.
Lou Larrieu
Lou has travelled extensively overseas, visiting gardens and trials to expand her knowledge of heirloom vegetables, seed production and seed saving techniques which she brings back to Diggers to improve our trials, selection and range of vegetable seeds. She has managed our Fork to Fork vegetable supply garden, and now manages Diggers vegetable trials and seed production. She contributes articles about her travel experiences and seed saving work.
Luke Palmer
Affectionately known as Skeeta, Luke is our head chef at Heronswood's Fork to Fork restaurant. He has a passion for sharing his love and knowledge of food with others - and we enjoy dining on his wonderful creations using the freshest heirloom produce.
Lynne Rosetto Kasper
Lynne Rosetto Kasper is an award-winning American food writer, radio journalist and host of The Splendid Table, whose audience is "people who love to eat." The show features interviews with chefs, restauranteurs, and wine experts. In 1993 she won the James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award for her book The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia Romagna, The Heartland of Northern Italian Food. Her radio show won the prestigious James Beard Award on two occasions: in 1998 for Best National Radio Show and 2008 for Best Radio Food Show.
Marcus Ryan
Marcus is a passionate plantsman with 15 years experience in the industry, including 12 years with David Glenn at Lambley Nursery, and is a recipient of the esteemed Churchill Fellowship.
Michael Nielson
Michael Nielsen is the presenter of Heronswood's popular espalier workshops. Nielsen's nursery and the Espalier tree and trellis company are tree production nurseries. They train mature fruiting and flowering trees in espalier form. Michael has a diploma in horticulture and has run the nursery and a garden development business in Red Hill for 20 years. He has always admired classical and sustainable horticultural techniques and has a fascination with the science of plant growth.
Pat Mooney
Pat Mooney is the executive director of ETC Group which is dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights. Pat has tirelessly been fighting against GE seed dominance and farmers’ rights and well as authoring or co-authoring several books on the politics of biotechnology and biodiversity. He has won the Right Livelihood Award (the "Alternative Nobel Prize") in the Swedish Parliament in 1985 and the Pearson Peace Prize from Canada's Governor General in 1998.
Penny Blazey
Penny, with Clive started the Diggers Club in 1978 and lived on the property at Heronswood, immersed in a gardening life. She writes regularly for the Diggers catalogue and travels extensively, visiting the world's best gardens for inspiration.
Peter Hatch
Peter Hatch is the Director of Gardens and Grounds at Monticello. He is responsible for the efforts to restore and maintain the landscaping, vegetable gardens, vineyard and orchards of Monticello in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson’s own practices. He has lectured nationally and written a number of books and articles on gardening at Monticello.
Phillip Adams
Phillip Andrew Hedley Adams, AO (born 12 July 1939) is an Australian broadcaster, film producer, writer, social commentator, satirist and left-wing pundit. He currently hosts a radio program, Late Night Live, four nights a week on the ABC, and he also writes a weekly column for the News Limited-owned newspaper, The Australian. Adams is (or was) on the Advisory Board of Wikileaks.
Priscilla Van Den Broek
Priscilla's role at Diggers is not only Manager of Gardens, she is also instrumental in developing our off-site event displays, including our annual garden display at Melbourne's Food and Wine Festival. Priscilla travels widely, visiting and working at overseas gardens (particularly in Europe) with experienced gardeners to broaden Diggers gardening skills and techniques. Her qualifications include a Certificate II in Horticulture and she has a Diploma in Landscape Design.
Rex Ennis
Rex has been growing vegetables in his own backyard for over 40 years and brings that wealth of experience to Diggers seed production and seed saving processes and to our members through the articles he contributes to our magazines. Rex keeps busy at Diggers during the seed production months of summer and autumn then travels during the cooler winter months when production slows.
Rosalind Creasy
Rosalind Creasy is an American garden and food writer, photographer, and landscape designer with a passion for beautiful vegetables and ecologically sensitive gardening. She has been a pioneer in the field of edible landscaping and is an award winning author of many books and a regular contributor to newspapers, magazines and radio covering gardening issues.
Samantha Scott
Samantha Scott is a Melbourne based artist whos cross-disciplinary practice employs various permutations of organic abstraction via natural and industrial materials to convey an artistic language that embodies a connection between the self and the wider biological universe.
Simon Dodd
Simon began his career as a volunteer at Chelsea Physic garden, followed by a period as Head Gardener for London's largest historic private residence Crosby Hall. After moving to Australia he worked in many private gardens before joining Diggers. Simon has a RHS Diploma in Horticulture and City in Guilds practical certificate in gardening.
Stephanie Alexander
Stephanie has had a lifelong passion for food after originally becoming a Librarian. A trip to France inspired her interest culminating in the opening of her famous Stephanie's Restaraunt. Other restaraunts followed but her passion for food led to her authoring 12 books on the subject. Her interst in the future of food in childrens cooking led her to set up the Kitchen Garden Foundation in schools, to assist children in the growing and cooking of food to improve their passion, palatte and skills. She a champion of the quality & diversity of Australian food.
Talei Kenyon
Talei is Diggers Communications and Education Manager and passionate gardener and experienced overseas garden tour leader. She has travelled extensively visiting gardens and events internationally, observing plants and people and the relationship between.
Tim Marshall
Co-founder of organic certifier NASSA in 1987, and author of certification standards and guidebooks. Deputy Chair of Organic Federation of Australia Board. Tim has inspected/visited over 3000 organic farms (or farms in conversion) in Australia and 20 other countries and was the first Certification and Standards Manager for the world peak body in organics IFOAM. He has extensively trained thousands of people in organic practices, horticulture, land management, chemical safety, environmental safety and roadside/bushland management.
Tim Sansom
Growing up with a passion for nature, Tim studied Environmental Resource Management before travelling extensively and working for a time in the UK, where his interest in gardening began. On returning to Australia he completed a Grad.Dip. in Horticulture, leading to a career based around the idea of living lightly on the planet through gardening - the natural link between gardening and the broader environment was Permaculture. Tim ran a landscape design business and worked at Bendigo's Gravel Hill Community Permaculture Gardens before joining Diggers in 2004 as a gardener. Today Tim is one of our joint CEOs, looking after the Horticulture Division.