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Starting A Career As A Professional Gardener

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A career in professional gardening is one that is very attractive to a lot of people. It offers the perks of being able to work outdoors, get fresh air and be surrounded by beautiful natural plant life. Therefore it suits those who like to keep active, do hands on tasks and be interactive with their work. It is something that you usually have to get into at a young age to turn into a proper career. A lot of gardening jobs in the horticultural sector start with apprenticeships (which are mostly given to younger individuals).

This article will talk about the career path of becoming a professional gardener and what traits/skills are required to succeed.

In the current climate jobs are hard to come by in most sectors. Therefore experience is an increasingly important factor when applying for jobs and even training courses. Experience usually has to be gained by volunteering and giving up your time. Luckily there are a lot of companies and organisations that are willing to take people on for free! Some good places to look are garden centres, park maintenance teams, private estates and local council volunteer schemes. Gaining this valuable experience will allow you to have an edge over competing candidates when applying for paid work.

When gaining work experience you likely won’t be given highly specialised tasks to complete. But what you will get is a taster for the industry and an understanding of the kind of work that you’ll be engaging in. It’s always good to test the waters before going into a career type job; as often it’s hard to turn round and change what industry you work in.

The best way to enter the gardening trade is to gain certain recognised qualifications. This is usually part of the apprenticeship process if you go down that route. Gaining industry accredited horticulture qualifications opens you up to a wide range of opportunities and jobs. Being a qualified gardener allows you to work on projects such as private estates, botanical gardens, display gardens and other prestigious locations.

One thing to note about the gardening trade though, is that it is a year round job; which means working in all weather conditions. You need to be able to hand the cold winter grounds and surrounding environment, as well as the warmer summer temperatures. Although a gardener’s work is most visible during the summer months, the work continues all year round. Work needs to be put in to make sure that everything is set up right for spring. During winter there is a lot of ground treatment work, fertilisation, seed sowing and top dressing. This is done so that when things start growing again they are already set up to go.

Overall being a professional gardener can be a very rewarding job. It is hands on, healthy, in a great environment and you can actively see the fruits of your labour. If you’re an outdoor type who likes hands on work this would be a very enjoyable and satisfying career.

For more information on commercial gardening, groundcare and landscaping work have a look at the advice section on www.sgm-uk.com

This article was written by Peter McAllister, who works for SGM, a supplier to many commercial gardening contractors, companies and individuals.






Wake Up And Smell The Flowers – Why Gardeners Are The Happiest Workers

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There is this hallowed idea among the general working population that some of us are happy. Do you know any of these people? I know a few but I also know a few more that aren’t  Maybe in your social circle job satisfaction is the norm but there are an awful lot of people for whom this is not the case. They may have had ideas and dreams as a child or teen but somehow life didn’t pan out that way. We’ve all heard the cliché that money doesn’t bring happiness. According to a City and Guilds study, gardeners are the happiest workers and the least happy are, wait for it… bankers! What is it that makes us happy and contented in our work and why is it so important? We spend such a large part of our week at work. Even when we’re not there, we’re often thinking about it or preparing to go back, so it makes sense that our feelings towards our work will affect our general well being. Apparently, to be truly happy and contented at work, we need to feel recognised, appreciated and supported. We need to feel as if we’re doing something worthwhile while being able to use our skills every day, as well as receiving training and having the opportunity to learn. Gardeners, it would seem, are getting all of this in spades. Ahem. Read on to see how they manage to tick all these boxes.

Exercise

It’s good for us! We all know that really. Many of us spend the day sitting at a desk and call at the gym after work, or go out for a run. Well, I have heard of such people anyway, but gardening is pretty much hard core exercise all day long. Bending, squatting, digging, weeding, hoeing and raking makes a pretty good workout for the whole body and most gardeners will be fit and toned, presumably adding to their general contentment as well as filling them with endorphins.

Breathe

An added bonus of all of this lovely, happy exercise is that it is executed outside in the fresh air. Plenty of sunshine, vitamin D, and lots of lovely oxygen in the lungs contribute to a healthy lifestyle. The downside is being required to work in bad weather but fresh air is mood boosting even if it is a rainy day.

Creation

People tend to feel real pride in creating things and gardeners are constantly surrounded by the fruits of their labour. Planting a seed and watching it grow into a plant is one of life’s simple pleasures and in gardening this will often be happening on a grand scale. Being surrounded by beauty that has been cultivated and created by ourselves is extremely pleasing, leading to that all elusive job satisfaction.

Nurture = Love

Creating a wonderful garden is an act of love. It requires the gardener to nurture and care for their plants and raise their babies into healthy adults. This is the same for relationships and well, if it can be done in the garden…

Dirt is good for you

As well as the digging part being good for you, there is actually something in the mud that improves mood and reduces anxiety. A particular bacterium has been shown to be present in the soil that can have all sorts of health benefits as well as increasing serotonin. With all of these pointers for happiness and well-being, I, for one, am going to log off now and get out in my garden.

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Sam Wright is happily growing and working as a journalist for HorticultureJobs.

Update the look of a room with custom window treatments and designer fabrics

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It’s spring and I’ll bet good money that a few of you have thought about updating the look of one of the rooms in your home. I think many of us begin to think about re-decorating when spring rolls around. Perhaps it’s the fresh air and that sense of renewal that spring brings that makes us think of giving our homes a new look?

It would be nice to hire a decorator every time we get the urge to redecorate a room, but few of us can afford one, especially these days with the economy, high gas prices and other expenses! I think it’s best to do what you can yourself and purchase decor items at wholesale prices whenever possible in order to save as much money as possible. Plus when you come up with your own decorating ideas and then redo a room you get quite the sense of satisfaction when your project is finished, don’t you?

When you are decorating a room consider fabric as a decor item. Certainly updating your curtains or adding decorative pillows can change the whole look and feel of a room.

If you are about to start redecorating a room or are thinking about your next project and want to get some ideas visit FabricWorkroom.com. They have a huge selection of luxury bedding, designer fabrics, decorative pillows, shower curtains, Window Treatments, upholstered headboards and more to choose from at reasonable prices. In fact you can save 25% to 35% just by shopping at their online store.

I spent some time looking at the wide variety of custom window treatments offered at FabricWorkroom.com and I was impressed. You can view classic, semi and full custom styles for drapes, curtains, valances, shades, swags and other types of window treatments.

Just browse through the selection and once you’ve found a window treatment style that you like you can then move on to selecting the type of fabric that you’d like to use. Fabric choices range from silk, linen, cotton, faux silk, satin and many more. In fact there are thousands of fabrics and fabric designs to choose from at FabricWorkroom.com.

So if you are redecorating don’t forget about fabrics! Visit Fabricworkroom.com for ideas and to save money! They also have free shipping on most items!

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