From Allotment Grower to Career Changer

After moving out of London to Maidenhead 10 years ago, Steve Wrelton had a decent sized garden for the first time, and that was when he started to get interested in gardening. He said, “I built some raised beds and started growing my own vegetables and it took off from there, really. When the pandemic struck and during lockdown I made a firm decision to do something different. I had worked in journalism, PR and media relations for almost 20 years. I hated working from home and I found the whole situation incredibly stressful. I also quite liked the idea of being my own boss. That’s when I started seriously considering jacking in my job and doing something I truly enjoyed. I was sat in the garden one evening with my wife and said to her ‘I’ve had enough of this…I want to do something different - I think I’d like to be a gardener’.

Steve studied for an RHS Level 2 Practical and Theory qualification, completing in September 2022. He said, “The course gave me confidence. I knew a few things when I started, but I was 100 per cent self-taught and so my knowledge was pretty narrow and I felt a little out of my comfort zone at the beginning. The course took me back to the fundamentals of what makes plants tick - their biology, the importance of soil and its structure, as well as all the amazing things plants have evolved to do in order to survive”.

At around this time Steve managed to get a plot at his local allotment, which gave him the chance to expand his fruit and veg growing capabilities, saying it was one of the best things he ever did. He said, “It’s hard work, but the value in plucking your own potatoes or rhubarb or whatever it is you have grown yourself from the ground is just huge. I also use the plot to grow flowers and other perennial plants and shrubs as well, so that I can use the space that I have to experiment and learn what works and what doesn’t. The best thing I love? Sitting in my deckchair after I’ve done a few hours hard work and just being still and at peace - listening to the birds and thinking about what I need to do next as I sip a cup of tea from my Thermos flask!

Understanding the soil that I have was definitely helped by doing the qualification. I think otherwise I would have just rushed into planting and growing stuff that may have failed because I didn’t understand the soil I had, its structure and texture, or appreciated the importance of properly preparing and cultivating it before you actually put plants in the ground! I am also now employing a no-dig approach to my allotment - and that is something I learnt about on the RHS course. I wasn’t able to employ the ‘no-dig’ approach right at the beginning because the plot needed a lot of work initially. But now it is under control, I can hand on heart say that it works for me and saves a lot of energy. 

My staples in terms of crops are potatoes, green beans, corn, leeks, onions and tomatoes. I am also lucky enough to have a decent selection of fruit bushes - raspberries, gooseberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants. My ethos is to grow what I know I will eat and so I don’t need to buy as much from the supermarket! I grow what I like and what I know will give good results. The next thing on my hit-list is to grow asparagus - I have a decent sized area earmarked for it and I am looking forward to getting that on the go.

Plant selection and learning what will grow well in different environments was also incredibly useful. Learning how to take cuttings and pruning everything from Dogwoods to apple trees. Plant taxonomy was also new to me - learning the scientific names of plants and understanding the biological links between them. Who would have thought that Wisteria is related to the humble garden pea?!”

Following achieving his Level 2 Qualifications, Steve started his own gardening company, Green Steve’s, aimed at serving domestic clients with small to medium sized gardens. He offers general maintenance services, planting advice, design and consultancy sessions to help people plot a way forward when they have a specific problem or simply if they don’t know what to do with their garden. He likes to work with people who are open to new ideas, as well as those who understand and value the importance of encouraging wildlife, particularly pollinating insects, into their gardens.

He said, “The fact that I am able to converse with my customers with a modicum of confidence is totally down to the RHS qualification. For reasons I am yet to fully comprehend, people seem to listen to me and that has definitely helped me combat a latent sense of horticultural imposter syndrome!  The best thing is getting positive reviews from my first few clients on Facebook. To know that they have not only willingly paid me for my time and expertise, but that they took the time to review my work and they valued what I did for them - that is priceless. 

If you are serious about getting into horticulture, then taking on an RHS qualification is a no-brainer. You will absorb new things that you didn’t know before, and you will also get the chance to cement any knowledge that you already have, which will build your confidence and get you off to a flying start. The other thing to mention is that having an RHS qualification makes you much more employable and will give you the ability and legitimacy to charge higher rates in an industry that is woefully undervalued”.

If you’re interested in growing your skills to make the most of your allotment space, or potentially making a career out of what you love doing, then visit rhs.org.uk/qualifications for more information.

Find out more at rhs.org.uk/education-learning/qualifications-and-training/rhs-qualifications

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