Liz Rees-Graham

Liz is on her 3rd (and last…?) career change. Although she has worked as a personal assistant and a nursery nurse, Liz has always loved plants and gardening and is hoping to use this passion to create peaceful outdoor spaces that encourage  wellbeing.

Liz completed our Access to Higher Education course to help her return to studying and was delighted to discover our degrees in horticulture. She gained her Foundation Degree in Garden and Landscape Design and is now spending a further year studying for her BSc (Hons) in Landscape Management.

She then plans to complete a PGCE so that she will have the skills to teach people, particularly those suffering from mental illness and stress, about the therapeutic benefits of being outdoors.

Liz was one of a team of undergraduates who designed and built our award winning show garden at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park in 2017, a garden which was very close to her heart.

‘From a Different Angle’ was built for special school Sandside Lodge and needed to provide a safe, usable outdoor space suitable for young people with special needs. As many of the pupils are keen gardeners, Liz and her fellow undergraduates made raised beds, chose sensory planting and used colour therapy, particularly the use of orange to encourage socialisation and stimulate mental activity.