Blue Daisy Blog

I think most of you who know me and/or read my blogs know that I'm quite passionate about the horticultural industry and I always encourage my customers to learn new skills in their garden.  In Victorian times we had so much knowledge and many skills we were world leaders in the horticultural industry.  These skills were being passed down the generations, sadly both World War 1 & 2  took many lives and with them the vast horticultural knowledge and skills we had disappeared. 

I am so pleased to read in the RHS magazine that the RHS has recently begun to lobby the government for the first time regarding this industry and as such children in England could be taking gardening lessons at school from September 2014.  The proposed changes could apply to children in both primary and secondary schools who could learn how to cultivate plants for practical purposes whether that is for food or for decorative displays.  

There is also linked to this a distinct lack of careers advice for school leavers for this industry which means that many school leaves either don't consider that horticulture is an option or it is seen as an industry to enter if you have failed at school. I know we can't change everything overnight, it saddens me that some people feel that horticulture is a dead end job but where would we be without crops for food, trees for timber and of course every plant in existence allows us humans to breath and exist.  

I am so pleased that there may indeed be a few organisations out there lobbying for our industry, well done to those that have put horticulture on the agenda and I will play my small part to encourage my team to continue to learn every day as I will and also my customers to pick up a trowel and have a go!

Please, if you feel as I do about our wonderful industry share this article on Facebook or Twitter, contact me and give me your thoughts and opinions and if you have children talk to them about their options which could include horticulture.

While I wouldn't exactly say I came to horticulture 'late in life' I have come to it after spending many years as an HR professional first.  I'm now loving my new job and in the words of the RHS and Alan Titchmarsh I am honestly just as 'proud of my new career' as I was when I was doing my first one.  I worked just as hard to qualify as a garden designer as I did to achieve my HR qualification – and I still have much to learn in my new chosen field.

Perceptions of Gardeners

It saddens me then to hear and read that the majority of young people's perception of a career in gardening is as one only to be considered if they have 'failed' academically.  In Victorian times gardeners and head gardeners were held in high esteem – it was their knowledge and skill that delivered one of the most coveted of status symbols: a beautiful and bountiful garden. How things have changed.  Nowadays we seem to think that anyone can pick up a lawn mower and it makes them a gardener.