I’ve been asked how you can become a gardener accidentally. I wouldn’t like to generalise, but this is how it happened to me.
I was at a loose end one day and decided to power washing my front drive.
An elderly lady walked past and said: “You can do mine when you’ve finished”.
So I did, and when she asked how much that would be I said £200, and she paid it!
At the time I was at a pretty general loose end professionally, and wondering what I might do next. I had also started a correspondence which would lead to the Royal Horticultural Society’s General Certificate in Horticulture, and was spending a good deal of time in my own garden.
We get a free local glossy mag through our door once a month, and have used it to find decent – if expensive – plumbers, electricians and so on.
Looking through the listings there were pages of garden designers, but no one who seemed prepared to do the dirty work – clearing, weeding, mowing and a spot of planting. So I placed my own ad that read: “RHS student will maintain your garden to the highest standards.” Which was true, but did lead those who called – and they did, from day one – to expect a keen 18 year old rather than a man of middle years.
And I’ve never looked back. I get calls from well-heeled punters – you only get the mag if your house is worth over £500,000 or something – who are delighted to find a middle class gardener who will keep things looking nice. And I’m delighted to find something I can do in my middle age.
