On 2013-12-02 18:41:17 +0000, Bob Hobden said:

"Sacha" wrote

http://www.rhs.org.uk/News/Success-s...culture-career


I wonder why they don't mention my friend, took early
retirement/redundancy from being a Bank Manager at 47 and talked RHS
Wisley into employing him ( I'll work 7 days free and if I'm no good
you can look me in the eye and tell me to leave) became second
wheelbarrow man, his words, and is now a senior gardener in fruit.


Because they're trying to get young people, school leavers, into
gardening, I suppose? You may have heard the young gardener whose
school master told him that if the 'didn't pull his socks up', he'd end
up as a bin man or a gardener. And he said "I'd love to be a
gardener"! And now he is. Horticulture suffers from this image of it
as a 'last resort', rather than a real career. All power to your
friend and congrats for having the courage to make such a profound
change in his life but this is about school leavers and raising
horticulture from some kind of Cinderella position in last-chance job
saloons to a specific career choice, And may I say that there are some
high-profile garden experts who encourage that, even if unconsciously -
Alan Titchmarsh, Christine Walkden, Toby Buckland, Roy Lancaster,
spring to my mind. All have a thorough grounding in horticulture, not
a come-to-it-late-in-life amateur enthusiasm and really know plants,
soil, gardening. We need young people in the industry who have made a
career choice, not a "my careers teacher says I'm no good for anything
else". The skill in real gardening, real plant raising is enormous and
it needs to be recognised as such in career programmes for school
leavers.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon