Dream Job…

Wow!!! A year and a half ago I was a floor supervisor in a department store. I now have my dream job as a gardener in a beautiful historic garden. I’ve always been a keen amateur gardener but it was only a couple of years ago I realised it was the career I wanted. When I saw the advert for the apprenticeship at the Salutation I knew I had to apply. I was lucky to be offered the post (not your usual candidate at 27). It meant taking a pay cut and moving back home while I re- trained, a bit scary with no guarantee of a job at the end of it.

I enjoyed my training the year flew by and I learned so much. It was hard at times on a freezing cold day in winter after spending the whole day bulb planting I did wonder if it was worth it when I could have been in a nice warm shop. Of course it is when you see the results of your hard work the following spring.

Fortunately a full time position became available in the autumn just at the right time for me to complete my training. The transition hasn’t been easy at times especially with four new students to help train! Suddenly you are expected to know everything by both students and customers.

We are still a fairly new team but are all settling into our new roles well. There is still so much to do in preparation for spring. There is a big re-vamp going on in our work area we are re-building all our compost bays and making new ones to store, grit, leaf mould and our own blends of compost in as well as a new shed for extra tool storage due to the lack of space in the workshop. All our Roses will be manured, trained, tied in and pruned, with lots of new Roses to be planted in our re-designed play area. We are starting to prep a new bed to be planted with winter plants for winter interest at the beginning of what is going to be our winter walk and off site our greenhouse at Delf farm is being prepared for the storage of the thousands of plants that will be produced in our nursery. Some of our smaller jobs this month will include. Replacing three of our Laburnums we have lost on our Laburnum walk due to the high winds we had in the autumn, planting the last of our Tulips and Wallflowers, hedge cutting and at last in end is in sight for the constant leaf clearing we have been doing since the autumn. All the hard work put in by everyone over winter will be worth it to make the garden more impressive this year than last.

Working outside makes me feel alive, a bright clear day in the depths of winter lifts the spirit letting you know spring is around the corner. Gardening has become a love passion and obsession to me especially in an amazing garden such as this one.

Lou