A TALENTED young gardener is to show off his green-fingered skills after being named one of the top in his profession.

John Foley, 24, who runs Holden Clough Nursery, said he felt ‘over the moon’ after he was named as a one of four finalists in the BBC Young Gardener of the Year.

He runs the Bolton-by-Bowland business with his girlfriend, Kate Lawson, 22, after taking over from his father, Peter Foley, who bought the nursery in 1978.

John beat competition from 100 other contestants at interview stage and next month will appear on the BBC3 show.

He said the show has been filmed with four different endings, so he has not been told who won.

He said: “The whole experience was a real eye-opener to actually see how many young people are interested in gardening as the initial number of entrants was over 700 across the country.

“It was great to have a spotlight on young people going into this line of work and enjoying it so much!”

In July the nursery was featured on BBC Gardeners World when it won our an RHS Gold Award at the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show.

The programme is aired on Sunday, February 12, on BBC3 at 8pm when he takes on his three fellow finalists.