Kew Guild bestows lifetime honour on Tim O'Hare

The Kew Guild – the association for alumni of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew – is recognising the outstanding contribution to the environment of soil and landscape consultant Tim O’Hare by electing him as an Honorary Fellow. This exclusive class of membership is limited to just 25 at any one time and is bestowed for the lifetime of the recipient.

Tim qualified as a soil scientist more than 25 years ago and since starting his own consultancy, BALI Registered Affiliate member Tim O’Hare Associates, in 2006 he has been instrumental in the successful delivery of some of the most iconic and influential landscape projects in the UK and abroad, including the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the King’s Cross Regeneration, and the Oman Botanic Gardens. He has also, during this period, sought to enhance the knowledge of landscape professionals about soils and the crucial role they play in the success of landscape projects, and for the wider environment. He regularly delivers talks and workshops across the country and, in 2016, instigated an industry soils conference – SoilsCon – which takes place again this year at Henley-on-Thames on 26 September.

Commenting on his Honorary Fellowship, Tim said:

“I have to admit I was completely shocked to receive the letter from the Guild’s President, Peter Styles. When I saw the names of other Honorary Fellows – Piet Oudolf, Tim Smit, Nigel Dunnett, James Hitchmough – I wondered for a moment if they had the wrong man! It is an incredible honour for me personally but I also feel that the discipline of soil science and its vital role in landscaping and horticulture is being formally recognised by the Kew Guild, and for that, I am particularly proud and grateful.”

Tim will be presented with his Fellowship at the Kew Guild’s Annual Dinner in May 2020.