Graham Ross
Radio broadcaster and television gardening presenter and author, Graham Ross, has educated, entertained and inspired Australia’s gardening community and aspiring green thumbs during a career that has spanned more than 50 years. He is Australia’s most acclaimed horticulturist being presented with the prestigious Veitch Memorial Medal in London (2011) by the Royal Horticultural Society, the Horticultural Media Association of Australia’s Radio Laurel and Gold Laurel and Hall of Fame in 2011, and their Electronic Media Laurel in 2000, plus six horticultural industry awards, and 9 Logies for Better Homes & Gardens in the Lifestyle category.
Graham shares his passion for all things green and growing with more than two million people every week.
He has appeared on Better Homes & Gardens TV Show since 1995, presenting over 700 episodes, with BH&G winning 8 Logies in that time. He is one of the few personalities that has featured on television every week since 1978.
He has broadcast the 3 hour Garden Clinic Show every Saturday and Sunday each weekend on Radio 2GB since 1980 and simulcast on Melbourne’s MTR since 2011 and stations across rural NSW. Now in its 31st year, it is one of the longest running programs in Australian radio history and now broadcast around the globe on the World Wide Web, 2GB.com. His seasonal gardening tips can also be heard on 70 radio stations across Australia.
Broadcasting commitments aside, Graham and his wife Sandra share an exhaustive schedule that incorporates 25 garden tours a year in Australia and overseas through their Ross Garden Tours company, www.rosstours.com, with 440 tours to its credit; and running the family business, ‘The Garden Clinic’.
The couple’s children, Linda and Kent, have inherited their parents’ love for horticulture and both work closely with Graham and Sandra in all these projects. Kent lives in London and is the general manager of the UK and Sydney offices.
Their Garden Clinic Club, launched in 1982, is Australia’s largest garden club and they publish a quarterly, full colour magazine for members. Their Garden Clinic website, www.gardenclinic.com attracts over 40,000 hits every week.
Graham has co-authored, with his family, four major garden publications including ‘The Weekend Gardener’, ‘Our World of Gardening’, ‘Gardens of the World’, and ‘From the Ground Up’ in 2011.
When you ask Graham what he does for relaxation there’s no guessing as to his answer.
"When I’m at home, there’s nothing more relaxing than pottering around in our garden. On the weekends we’re often out working in the garden until dark. Gardening is such a passion for me and I’m very lucky to be able to share it with my family and, at work, with fellow Australians."
Graham began his career when he started working at his local nursery from aged eleven. He went on to graduate from the Ryde School of Horticultural TAFE with qualifications in Horticulture, Park Administration, Greenkeeping, Landscaping and Agronomy.
He worked as a seedsman, arborist, landscaper, nurseryman and park superintendent for 30 years before returning to Ryde TAFE in 1970 to teach horticulture. He was soon promoted to Senior Head Teacher of Horticulture and NSW Head of the Division, or Principal of Ryde, a position he held until 1980.
In 1978 Graham had moved into the media. He began producing and presenting gardening programs for ABC TV. While he has worked on all networks since then, he has spent 25 of his 33 years in television with Channel 7, initially as a horticultural journalist for Seven National News, Newsnight and 11AM.
He was Garden Editor for the Sun newspaper and later the Telegraph Mirror.
Graham has been involved with several professional and industry associations including the Royal Botanic Gardens Trust, the Nursery & Garden Industry, and the Horticultural Media Association. He and Sandra are patrons of the NSW Rose Society.
Awards
- 1984 Award Horticultural Merit, Australian Institute of Horticulture
- 1988 Graham & Sandra both appointed ‘Horticulturists to the Bicentennial Authority’ by the Australian Commonwealth Government
- 1995 Graham & Sandra received the Good Citizens Award for Services to the Community through Radio
- 1999, Horticultural Award for Excellence from the NSW Nursery & Garden Industry Association
- 2000 Graham awarded inaugural Electronic Laurel for his Services to Australian Horticulture by the Horticultural Media Association of Australia
- 2007 Award of Merit, Nursery & Garden Industry Association
- 2010 Award of Excellence – Horticultural Media of the Year, Nursery & Garden Industry
- 2011 Veitch Memorial Medal in London by the Royal Horticultural Society, the world’s most prestigious horticultural award, Graham being the fourth Australian to receive the VMM since Queen Victoria created the award in 1870
- 2011 Radio Laurel by the Horticultural Media Association of Australia
- 2011 Gold Laurel and Hall of Fame by the Horticultural Media Association of Australia
Honorary Positions
Trustee of the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens 1990-2001
Graham is the President of the Horticultural Media Association NSW and Vice President HMA Australia.
The Royal Institute for Deaf & Blind Children, 2004, appointed Graham an Ambassador for the Institute and Sandra and Graham Life Members for their support.
Graham is an Australia Day Ambassador, Ambassador for the Asthma Foundation (NSW) and Ambassador for NSW Seniors Week.