Gardeners' rich rewards

12:24pm Friday 9th May 2008

Gardenersf pay might be a pittance, but the job has other rich rewards such as working in beautiful natural surroundings

I THINK that I can say that throughout my horticultural career I have had the good fortune to be located in beautiful settings. At Chatsworth I had the rolling Derbyshire hills and purposeful forest clumps with history secreted around every corner.

My office was a wooden hut in the adventure playground which meant that I was surrounded by tall, mature beech and oak trees.

My journey to work involved passing through a two-mile stretch of enaturallyf sculptured estate parkland, and my first job every morning was to test out the playground equipment (which included screaming down the zip wires, balancing along 25-foot high aerial walkways and descending down rope ladders) to make sure that it was safe for visiting children.

Naturefs World, despite being in the middle of Middlesbrough, formed its own 30-odd acre tranquil haven of wilderness among a wide variety of habitats that were teeming with natures bounty. My office there was in a side room to a well-used cabin, which formed the rest room for all the volunteers and placement students. It wasnft pretty, and it housed all the important, valuable or sharp gardening tools, as well as my two dogs (plus their beanbags), files and an array of practical weatherproof coats, but it was fun. I never had much time in it on my own as there was always a queue of volunteers knocking on the door wanting to chat, have a moan, cry on my shoulder, offer advice or share ideas. Within two minutes of leaving the office, though, and I could submerse myself in the world of urban nature.

THE allotments in East Durham were places of peace, many of which looked out over dunes towards the sparkling blue north sea.

They were patches of sacred ground which were fenced off with buttressed wooden panels and padlocked gates from the nearby rows of mining terraces.

The volunteers toiled in an undisturbed, repetitive but calm silence; the rows and rows of perfect vegetables reflecting their skill and passion.

Clow Beck Eco Centre was simply wild. Animals and birds crawled out of every nook and cranny and countless exciting plants grew beside the river, around the ponds and along the rich valley floor. My office was first a prototype straw bale building, with a urine separating compost toilet and wood burning stove, and then a static caravan that looked out over the 35-acre ecological learning centre. Binoculars stood next to up to date computer equipment ready to catch a glimpse of the otters by the stream, the deer in the woods and the woodpeckers in the sky. My morning tasks involved quietly moving through the countryside identifying the tracks in the undergrowth, and tending to the rows of vegetable beds. If there were volunteers staying on site then I would have to make sure that the previous eveningfs fire was securely laid to rest, that a good few handfuls of compost were thrown down into the compost toilets and that the visitors had enough provisions for the day.

Now, at Houghall College, I get out of my car to the cries of jays, the flitter of gold crests and the flicker of tree creepers.

I open the large metal gates and frighten off clouds of goldfinches. Rabbits run, weasels scuttle and grey squirrels leap lightly as I walk down the path to the greenhouse. My office is in the potting shed. What a great place for a gardener to be. It is next to the greenhouse boiler room too which means that in winter it is always warm. I open the blinds and look out over bays of potted plants in various stages of readiness for the retail area, and beyond that, through the high mesh fence, the arboretum. At the moment the leaves are fresh with the bright green of new spring growth and the grass is bejewelled with daffodils and dandelions. I donft know which is more beautiful, the carefully planted bulbs or the randomly self-sown yellow weeds.

The gardenerfs pay may not match that of the computer analyst; the work may be more physically tiring than that of the classroom teacher and the returns may be more subtle and personal than those reflected in the world of global economics. However, we do get to work in some beautiful places and are rewarded by inner tranquillity and contentment.

Brigid presents the BBC Tees Gardening show every Sunday from 1- 2pm. Questions can be answered on the day by emailing brigidpress@bbc.co.uk anytime during the week, or texting 07786- 200995 and phoning 01642-225511 during the show. Written queries can be addressed to Brigid at East Durham & Houghall College, Houghall, Durham, DH1 3SG

Jobs this week

* While you are planting up your veg patch try and incorporate companion planting in an attempt to minimise pest attacks. Tagetes, limnanthes, chives and garlic are all good plants for either distracting or attracting the creepy crawlies away from your main crop.

* Primulas that have finished flowering can be split and divided now. Dig them up (or empty from their pots) and simply pull them apart into individual small plants. Make sure to water them in well after replanting or repotting.

* Get gladioli corms and lillie bulbs off to an early start by planting them up in pots in a greenhouse. Once they have reached a good size, and the weather is more consistently warm, then they can go straight out into the borders.

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