Popular broadcaster John Cushnie, a regular Gardeners' Question Time panellist, died on New Year's Eve, 2009, aged 66.

He was an experienced landscape gardener who ran his own business and had featured on the BBC Radio 4 show for some 15 years.

He was also involved in projects on Radio 2 and Radio Ulster.

BBC Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer called him "a brilliantly knowledgeable panellist" who "laced every programme with warmth and joy".

He said: “His trademark acerbic wit was deployed with terrific timing against a wide variety of plants he did not like - and it was always done with an affectionate twinkle in his eye, with an exuberance of voice and with unrelenting sympathy for fellow gardeners."

Mr Cushnie also gave frequent talks on gardening across Northern Ireland and Britain and was a regular columnist for the Daily Telegraph's Saturday gardening supplement.

He contributed to a number of specialist publications and was a published author.