Chance in Dragon's gar-den

What makes a great set of green thumbs into a top horticulturalist? Amanda Leek digs for the answers.

A white microwave, plug trailing behind it, bobs past our noses. The landscape gardener, on whose shoulder it rides, nods at us.
Alex Stewart confidently sidesteps tender shoots just planted without looking down. He cuts a bold figure against the clear blue sky.
"The others give me a funny look, but they can have their cold lunches while I have my hot lunch," he says. After one particularly bitter, cold winter, Alex now takes a microwave with his lunches to every job.
It is this creative problem-solving and sharp forward-thinking that mark the 30-year-old as a competitor to watch. He is the only Auckland finalist in the Young Horticulturist of the Year 2010, the winner of which will be announced on November 4.
Alex has been hard at work on his AGMARDT (Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust) Market Innovation project, which he's been developing and making out of biodegradable, black, hemp plant bags that can be put straight into the ground instead of the more commonly used non-biodegradable PVC ones.
He already knows what it's like to give a presentation to the three judges: Auckland Botanic Gardens curator Jack Hobbs; organisational and leadership development consultant Lesley Slade; and Errol Hewett, Emeritus Professor of Horticultural Science at Massey University.
Alex finished second in the competition last year. "It's a bit like Dragon's Den," he says, while planting in a garden in Remuera.
So does he have the winning idea? "I would say so," he says. "But everyone's would be."
The competition means more to him than just prizes. "I met a whole lot of people I wouldn't have otherwise met in the industry from around the country."
One of the prizes is a travel package that would enable him to extend this network and see speciality horticulture overseas. But Alex doesn't want to visit just one country. He says he'd go to the UK, tour Europe, and stop off in America on the way back. He would like to compare international landscape design - his ultimate ambition. A management course is also among his ambitions and he's more interested in the experience of the project, the event and the people he meets.
Alex, from St Heliers, says there are many expert plant nurseries and fruit growers in South Auckland and cites a lack of interest from others in the industry as the reason he's the only Aucklander among the competition's eight finalists.
His nicest job, he recalls, was his first with his employer, Landscape Creations, and involved creating a vegetable and flower garden. He says all jobs look great when they are finished - it's up to the owners to keep them great.
Alex says putting in vegetable gardens is a growing trend. It saves money. Vegetables grow quicker and produce more tangible rewards than plants such as flowers.
The competition involves activities from all the sectors of Auckland Botanic Gardens so does it require contestants to be all-round confident horticulturists?
"I'm not going to say I know everything," says Alex. "You can learn as much theory as you want but, in this practical field, you're always learning."