College Alumnus Enjoying Garden Success!

A former Craven College student is using skills he used on his course to create the most perfect of outdoor spaces and was delighted to be able to display his glorious work on a recent episode of Gardener’s World!

Steven Medley studied Royal Horticultural Society Level 2, Royal Horticulture Society Level 3 and a foundation degree at Craven College, and his garden in Mirfield is showing his skill in the sector.

Receiving rave reviews and gaining quite a reputation, Steven’s beautiful garden has featured in a number of magazines and was recently the subject of an episode of Gardener’s World.

Steven Medley said on the programme, “This garden was my first post-retirement project. I did half a day at work, half a day at Craven College in Skipton on the Horticulture course, and then the day after started lifting the grass from the garden to start the meadow, my first day of retirement!”

Michael Myers, Lecturer in Horticulture said, “‘Steven was a student at Craven College for a number of years, following his retirement as a GP. He studied several RHS courses with me and garden design with Richard Easton.

“Following his retirement Steven also started to develop his large garden in Mirfield using planting schemes and styles associated with the famous Dutch garden designer, Piet Oudolf, a pioneer of the ‘New Perennial’ movement, which attempts to mimic natural plant communities. The result is an exuberant and colourful garden that has astonished those lucky enough to visit, especially since Steven looks after the garden by himself.

“Following his appearance on Gardener’s World I am sure there will be many more people wanting to see what is undoubtably one of the finest private gardens in Yorkshire. It is wonderful to see former students using their skills and knowledge to do exceptional things.”

To see Steven’s garden in all its glory, you can watch Episode 22 of Gardener’s World dated 22 August 2025 on BBC iPlayer.

If you’d like to start your journey to creating a garden masterpiece, find out more about studying Horticulture at Craven College.