Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.
LJN's professional business forum is unrivalled and open to anyone within within the UK landscape industry
LJN's Business Objectives Group (BOG) is for any Pro serious about building their business.
For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.
Replies
If you make search for the Gardeners Guild
http://www.landscapejuicenetwork.com/forum/topic/search?q=gardeners...
you will find plenty to read.
I would of joined but then I came across.
"Who can join?
Only gardeners with a nationally recognised horticultural qualification can join. Qualified gardeners have been trained and assessed to a nationally recognised standard in their chosen field of horticulture. Acceptable qualifications include licenses for specialist equipment such as chainsaws and pesticide application. Gardeners must send evidence of their qualification before being accepted as a member."
which I have non of,only have 10 years of experience but no written conformation or qualifications in my area of expertise.
That is why LJN is so, so important in our industry for people such as yourselves....
Qualifications can mean absolutely nowt unless backed up with good common sense and experience :-)
Ashley Meredith said:
Yeah , I saw that. I was lucky enough to get an RHS level 2 paid for me when I worked at Bristol Zoo as a trainee gardener, so I'm thinking about joining. It's mad that with 10 years experience you can't join, though?!
Thanks :)
Geoffrey King North Yorkshire said:
If you're experience is 10 years of potentially doing something that might be inappropriate and you have not been advised or learnt differently then experience counts for 'nowt' as well.
Just gets on my nerves when people want to see a piece of paper that says qualified.
All of my clients ask what qualifications I have, I just tell them iv been interested in gardening since I was 15 years of age and I was trained full time at Packwood House (National Trust) for 2 years and to me thats my qualification.
Maybe I should get the head gardener to write me a letter saying "qualified" and send it to the Gardeners Guild, wonder if they would except it?
Anyhow you seem to have a suitable and valid response to any such question.
Have you ever engaged a solicitor, doctor, plumber, electrician, car mechanic,tree surgeon.
Would you want to engage any of these without some form of formal training or qualification ?
How do you define qualification?
You don't need paperwork to be qualified, proficient and skilled at a job. Many people have spent their life in the horticulture industry and learn far more than anyone can do in a college over a few short years.
When was the last time you went to a doctor and asked to see his certificate:-))
Clearly some in our profession require/need qualifications to feel confident, secure or show to clients. Hence the multitude of courses, online learning etc. They can spend their entire life gaining qualifications, never practising what they learnt, but boy can they talk a good story :-)
Many do acquire 'formal' training by working alongside a 'master craftsman' or participating in toolbox talks etc and gain probably far more than those stuck purely in classrooms.
Some become qualified by life's experiences.
Where the law requires it (ie Doctors, Solicitors etc ) to practice then absolutely one should be qualified.
However, I really can't see the comparison between a Doctor and Gardener/landscaper/designer being fair and valid - landscaping and gardening is hardy life threatening and common sense / experience in our industry helps deals with any 'dangerous' scenarios.
The right answer is somewhere between the two extremes and is unique to that's individuals needs..
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