On 2/6/04 14:15, in article , "Stan The Man"
wrote:

In article , Sacha
wrote:

snip
NOTHING is a substitute for a keen ear and eye, a genuine interest, a lack
of self-interest versus a love of plants and a large dose of humility,
carefully applied, as a mulch. Please, for your own sake, do NOT be
convinced by bits of paper alone and don't endorse or dismiss people on
those grounds, either. While I wouldn't dream of knocking those who work
hard to get a diploma or such qualification, I'll take experience over a
diploma any day when it comes to gardening and I always have.

So possibly you would agree with me that the combination of a diploma
AND experience would be the best of all possible worlds. Unfortunately,
those who have never been properly trained can never achieve both.

Simon

Given how few genuine, old-style gardeners and nurserymen with experience
are around now, perhaps diploma courses are necessary. But were that not
the case, I'd go for someone with years of hands on experience every time,
if I had to choose.
I don't just feel this about gardening BTW - I think it applies to many
fields. One of my friends was a brilliant skipper and navigator and wasn't
even a member of the RYA. He'd crossed the Atlantic single-handed,
skippered many boats in big races, worked for the British team in the
Americas Cup etc. He only had to cave in when he skippered a boat for the
Clipper Race and insurers insisted that skippers had to have RYA qualis.
Until then neither he nor anyone he sailed with or employed him to sail, saw
any point in a piece of paper that says you can sail a boat!
As I've said earlier, I'm really not knocking the people who have worked
hard for RHS exams; all I am saying is that it is no substitute for real
experience which they, too, will gain over the years. And given our love of
letters after a name, I imagine that some jobs simply won't be open to
people who *don't* have that piece of paper.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)