John Mitton, who played a major role in developing Glendoick garden centre as one of the foremost horticultural outlets in Europe, has died suddenly aged 64.
He was nursery manager at Glendoick for more than three decades where he was responsible for its famous rhododendrons and azaleas.
Ken Cox, managing director of Glendoick garden centre said: “Thousands of gardens all over the UK and Northern Europe are filled with the plants which were grown at Glendoick under John’s care.
“Glendoick is a very strange place without him and he will be sorely missed. Glendoick owes a huge debt to John.”
Early days
John was brought up near Southampton where he studied, and married his first wife, the late Janice, and went on to have two of a family, Karl and Lee.
During the early 1980s he worked as a nursery propagator at the Rothschild Estate of Exbury Gardens in the New Forest.
In the late 1980s, he took up his post at Glendoick, in the Carse of Gowrie, which opened for business in 1973, where he remained for 33 or 34 years.
Under John and the Cox family, Glendoick went on to win multiple national awards including UK Garden Centre of the Year in 2009 and 2013.
Tribute
Ken Cox said: “I can barely remember a time when John wasn’t here. He started work at Glendoick at around the time by father and mother were starting to hand over the running of Glendoick to me.
“He took on the running of the nursery and looking after the gardens and had kept this role for well over 30 years.
“Glendoick is very much in his debt for his long service and professionalism, and gardens all over Europe are filled with the plants whose production he oversaw. He won the Royal Caledonian Horticulture Medal in 2020. ”
Outside work, John enjoyed curling for Rossie Priory Curling Club, dancing, and took up paddle boarding latterly.
He is survived by his wife Chrissie and sons Karl and Lee. His funeral takes place at Perth crematorium on Friday March 31.
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