Kevin Heinze

Kevin Carl Heinze (1 April, 1928 cite news |first=Lawrence |last=Money |title=Sunny skies for Kev in a week of tempests |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/sunny-skies-for-kev-in-a-week-of-tempests/2008/04/03/1206851106645.html |work=The Age |publisher= |date=2008-04-04 |accessdate=2008-09-02 ] - 1 September, 2008) was a pioneering presenter of gardening on television in Australia. He hosted a gardening program for ABC Television entitled 'Sow What', which was mostly shot on location at his one hectare home garden in Montrose, an outer suburb of Melbourne, from 1967 to 1988.cite news |title=ABC TV gardening pioneer Heinze dies | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/02/2352664.htm?section=entertainment |work=ABC News |publisher= |date=2008-09-02 |accessdate=2008-09-02 ] He also presented for ABC Radio in Melbourne between 1967 and 2004. He was known for his "cheerio" sign off at the end of his programs. Heinze was an advocate for gardening in schools and initated the School Garden Awards scheme in Victoria.

Following the death of his eight year old daughter Kim in 1974, an open day, attended by 50,000 people, was held at his garden to raise money for cancer research. cite web|title=Fact Sheet: Gardening Hero - Kevin Heinze|url=http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1471649.htm| accessdate=2008-08-02] He and his wife Jill eventually raised over half a million dollars for cancer research. He later became patron of the Kevin Heinze Garden Centre in Doncaster which provides gardening activities for people with disabilities.cite news |first=John |last=Elder |title=Kevin bids his last cheerio |url= |work=The Age |publisher= |date=2004-12-19 |accessdate=2008-09-02 ]

Following a heart attack, Heinze died on 1 September 2008, aged 80.Most of his garden was donated to the local shire council to enable the public to visit in the future.

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