Ashley Filipovski, the Curator Manager at Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah, is a seasoned professional with over 20 years experience in horticulture.
As a versatile leader, he has held various management positions, cultivating expertise in conservation, landscaping, and business. His journey began as an apprentice in Geelong, Victoria, where he developed a passion for plants and nature, leading him to become the manager of several gardens before taking on his current role.
At the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah, Ashley skilfully manages and supervises a diverse array of projects, including landscaping, design, living collection management, conservation initiatives, arboriculture, turf, and horticulture-related operations. Leading a team of 26 dedicated individuals, he sets priorities and oversees the direction of projects, ensuring the Garden flourishes under his guidance.
Ashley's work involves strategic management, team collaboration, and on-site garden inspections. He finds great joy in supporting his team members and empowering them to achieve their goals. Through mentorship programs, Ashley has nurtured the skills and careers of people from all walks of life, from apprentices to experienced professionals, and he finds witnessing their personal growth immensely rewarding.
At the heart of his role is a passion for helping people. Ashley believes the Garden not only promotes horticulture and science, but also serves as a space for healing and contemplation. Amidst the challenges posed by the pandemic, he recognises the vital role public spaces played in maintaining mental health and wellbeing. Providing a sanctuary for visitors and employees alike brings Ashley a sense of fulfilment.
His educational journey in horticulture was guided by his early exposure to gardening with his Ukrainian Grandma, who always had something growing in her gigantic veggie patch. Amongst the vast and diverse plant collections at the Garden, Ashley finds it challenging to pick a favourite and instead prefers to enjoy the unique blend of native plants, cool-climate flora, waterfalls, and breath-taking lookouts that make it such an incredible space to explore and find inspiration.
Ashley believes that being well resourced and positioned amidst some of Australia's iconic conservation sites gives the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah enormous potential for impactful work, and his goal is for the Garden to become a global leader in cool-climate horticulture and conservation.
