Gardening is a top choice for post-pandemic career changers
Gardening is an increasingly popular career choice, with record numbers of students signing up for horticultural qualifications at every level. Student numbers have doubled at Pershore College in Warwickshire, while Writtle University College in Essex, Scotland’s Rural College in Aberdeen and Capel Manor College in London have all seen ‘significant’ rises in applications for horticulture. “Last year I did wonder whether it would be a blip – but people still want to do it,” says Michael Fairclough, head of horticulture at Pershore.
The Royal Horticultural Society has also reported a 58 per cent increase in applications for work-based training courses at its gardens, with 800 people applying for 40 places. There’s been a similar jump in enquiries about its part-time qualifications, such as RHS Level 2.
Most new applicants are mature students: “Many have been rethinking what they want to do with their lives, and current topics such as the environment and healthy food, plus the job opportunities, make horticulture an attractive option,” says John Cullum, horticulture lecturer at Writtle University College.
Former musician Stefan Romer, 29, lost his job at Sony Records during lockdown, but says redundancy was just what he needed. He has now joined Kingston Maurward College in Dorset on a horticulture apprenticeship.
“I had stopped loving life in London – it was stressful and fast-paced and I hated it,” he explains. He is now part of a team of gardeners looking after 140 acres of gardens at a hotel in the New Forest. “I’ve never been happier, and I owe it all to horticulture,” he says.
It’s hoped the spike in interest may go some way towards closing the ’green skills gap’ and fill thousands of vacancies due to a shortage of trained gardeners. Jamie Butterworth, garden designer and managing director of Form Plants, is among those who have struggled to recruit new staff. “Horticulture suffers from a huge image issue – people have the perception that it’s just weeding, but it’s so much more than that,” he says. “But during Covid people have had the opportunity to live it, and they’re saying I don’t have to do what
I do for a living – I can do this instead.”
Many have been rethinking what to do with their lives