Tragedy at loss of hero

The man who brought the voice of Northern Ireland to gardening passed away suddenly after a heart attack, he was 66.

The experienced landscape gardener who ran his own business in Killyleagh, Co Down, was a gardening expert for the BBC and wrote a column for the Daily Telegraph.

He was born in Albert Street and showed early signs of his green fingers when his father split the family garden in two giving one half to John and the other to his brother.

And John - unlike his brother Tom- made a success of the project.

John was a pupil at the Lurgan Model before attending Lurgan College where he went on to study at Greenmount College of Agriculture and Horticulture in Antrim.

He then worked for the Housing Executive for 10 years before establishing his own business, Cushnie Landscapes.

Employing up to a dozen people, John took on contracts throughout the UK, for both private gardens and local authorities.

A man of great energy and enthusiasm, he concentrated on practical matters and had little time for passing fads, preferring to create traditional gardens. Soon he found himself invited to appear on BBC Radio Ulster to talk about gardening topics.

It was the beginning of a second career for John, who for 15 years was a regular panellist on Gardeners’ Question Time.

He became a regular columnist for The Daily Telegraph’s Saturday gardening supplement, while also contributing to a range of specialist publications, among them the magazines Gardens Illustrated and Gardeners’ World, Ireland’s Homes Interior & Living and the News Letter.

He gave frequent talks, workshops and after-dinner speeches in Northern Ireland and across Britain, and published a number of books.

More recently he had taken the role of the Hedge Man on Radio 2’s Chris Evans Show, and also presented Greenmount Garden for BBCNI, offering tips to the viewers and instructing them about the practical jobs to be done in the garden.

He married, in 1969, Wilma Taylor, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

The sudden death came as a big shock to his many friends in Lurgan.

A family friend told the 'MAIL': "John was a Lurgan man at heart he never forgot his early childhood and the fact that he lived in a terrace with a back yard.

"He was a man of wit with a droll sense of humour and his contribution to Gardeners' Question Time on radio will be sadly missed."

Tributes also poured in to the Daily Telegraph where he was a columnist.

One contributor wrote: "His acerbic Ulster wit and no-nonsense advice on BBC Radio 4 Gardeners' Question Time will be sadly missed. He never 'beat-about-the-bush' when giving his preferences.

"Always a joy to listen to. I expect he will have some tips for St Peter and his celestial lawns."

John is survived by his wife Wilma and children Simon, Richard and Laura.

His funeral was on Sunday to Down Cathedral, Downpatrick, followed by interment in the adjoining graveyard.