Dave Poole wrote:

Well the 'General' will help you or anyone else in their understanding
of basic horticulture. It is an excellent course for keen hobbyists
and those just starting out, but it is only the 'taster' and the real
stuff comes in at levels 3 and 4. To really make folks sit up and
take notice, diploma training at Wisley or Kew is still recognised as
being the best you can get - anywhere.

Ho, absolutely. My friend with her RHS 'Mention' just landed a job at
Wisley. Prior to this she worked at Tattoon. (Her lotty is next to
mine). I don't want to go deeper than knowing the differences within
the vascular bundles between dicots and monocots nor do I really need
to know how to draw the main component of the palisade cell, but want
to know what needs must be met when siting top fruit trees such as
malus or what may cause forced bulbs to fail to flower ... I however
will never stop to read, because I am fascinated, but I unfortunately
have a living to make because I have two growing children and sadly I
do not have the time to progress to RHS 3 and 4.

The 'bods' at Oldham really should be sending their lads on the NVQ
Landscaping (Amenity) course since can deal with their everyday work
more effectively.

The lads already had the NVQ landscaping. They just LOVED sitting on
the mower and do very little else. They didn't bother sorting out
rubbish and dog craps from their grass cuttings - they don't understand
the needs. They told us horror stories when preparing ground for tree
planting etc. because they don't have the passion, but they do like the
fresh air and the cuppa and ciggie breaks they get throughout the day.
The course has brought them the understanding they needed to understand
the consequences to doing a job well. This is only an example, you
understand. I know there's hundreds of devoted lads in environmental
works!

In my experience, the RHS level 2 (General)
provides too much of what council workers do not need to know, and not
quite enough of what they do.

This is generally combined with the C&G practical skills which I had
started in Sept. 04 but sadly the course was closed by the college
because we were 13 and they needed 15 students to meet their costings.
I was devastated. It started again in Sept. 05, full day on Tuesday but
I cannot give a full day. However, I feel that I've had 'practical' all
my life. What I need is an understanding, in English, in a different
environment, climate and with differents people. This is the challenge
I've set myself - I'm not good at kniting, nor kept indoors put it this
way ;o)

This causes more than a few problems
from the motivational point of view. The NVQ can be tailor-made to
fit employers' and employees' requirements with hands-on assessment in
work. By contrast, the basic RHS course has a set curriculum and is
paper-based with only a modicum of 'practical', which isn't assessed.
However, if employees undertake both courses, they get an extremely
well-rounded insight. Unfortunately few employers can afford to allow
sufficient time off for both courses.

Yes and that is so frustrating indeed. On Saturday we demanded to
plant trees around our college, and not leave it to the NVQ and the
practical course students. Our tutor bend over backwards for us. She's
so committed to us, it's wonderful to see. We also did a soil pit. She
studied geology at Edinburgh for years and is more her passion than
horticulture is. We managed to dig a 7ft deep hole and it was as fun as
it was fascinating. I've found 6 clay pipe bits, and enough ceramic
chunks to make a small coaster )