Curator Name: Matthew Wilson Age: 35 Occupation: curator, Royal Horticultural Society Garden, Hyde Hall, Chelmsford, Essex Salary: £27,000 Route to Job: A summer job on a Kent estate working for his father - who was director of gardens for the Saudi Royal Family - steered Matthew into horticulture. He'd spent five years in the hotel businessafter leaving school aged 18. But he needed job qualifications and dug in at college for a National Certificate and Diploma in horticulture, finishing in 1992. After a spell as a single-handed gardener in Watford, he went into landscape subcontracting to build expertise. This led to Hever Castle, in Edenbridge, and the post of deputy head gardener. But after nine months, Matthew was keen for a bigger challenge. Hyde Hall was looking to develop 10ha of land and expand thegardens to nearly 30ha. He seized rthe moment in January 2000. Typical day: "Around 150 e-mails greet me in the morning. I live on site so it's an early start: 7am. Then I'm talking over the day with section leaders and supervisors before giving a group talk to the 18 staff. By 8.30am, I'm in the garden. I walk around the six hectares of ornamentals three times a day. I still manage to do some hands-on work and today I'm helping junior staff mulch our woodland garden. I'm also meeting contractors and later I'll be drawing up specification and management papers. By 3.30pm, I'm inside meeting the property manager. But I'm also thinking about lectures I'm giving giving next week, which take time to plan. Then there's the articles I write for journals and my TV work. This includes judging for the BBC's Gardener of the Year Award. The day ends around 5pm." Best aspect of the job:"Thinking for yourself and working for an organisation that puts horticulture before making money." Worst aspect: "There are times I just can't escape the paperwork." Ambition: "To develop Hyde Hall for five years or so and then take on a more senior role at the RHS."