All About Maria Greenhill

I have been interested in the environment as long as I remember. In the early days I persuaded my mum to buy free range eggs, collected newspapers for recycling and got all my neighbours to sign a petition to save the whale.

When I became a teacher I ran an environment club at school. We recycled, planted a tree and the children gave presentations on different subjects like the rain forests. Living a sustainable, organic lifestyle and sharing knowledge with others on how to do this is a key part of my life. 

I love gardens and joined the Soil Association many years ago. In 2004 I left teaching in schools and studied Garden Design at Oxford College of Garden Design. I then set up a garden design practice and wanting to continue using my teaching skills, I also ran training and coaching sessions for other garden designers. I started giving talks on aspects of garden design and as well as an occasional garden design commission, I now run a Design Your Own Garden course.

I joined Neal's Yard (NYR Organic) in 2009 and lead a large team. I qualified as an aromatherapist in 2018 and in addition to training my own NYR Organic team, I now run courses and workshops on essential oils for interested amateurs.

My degree was in History and I have an enduring passion for archaeology and history. I regularly lead education groups as a volunteer at Milton Keynes Museum and independently I run workshops on the Home Front in World War 2.

A diverse collection of experiences have lead to me undertaking an interesting range of activities and commissions every day but underlying it all, is my love of teaching and my desire to ensure that Education should be FUN.