Britain’s budding gardeners of the future develop skills

FORTY new students from around the UK have beaten nearly 5,000 applicants to secure a place on the ground-breaking Homebase Garden Academy, offering them a once in a lifetime opportunity to kick start a career in gardening.

Now in its third year, the 40 students will undergo a 12-month programme to develop their gardening skills and knowledge, in addition to working alongside award-winning garden designer Adam Frost.

Over the next year the students will spend time learning from Adam about garden planning and design; working with top garden suppliers to develop detailed product knowledge covering planting and landscaping; and learning practical horticultural skills to earn them an RHS Level 1 Award qualification.

All the students will also be working full-time at their local Homebase store, putting what they’re learning into practice by helping customers with their gardening dilemmas and making the most of their outside space.

Gareth Evans, 22 who will be based at Homebase Birmingham Sutton Coldfield said: "I’m thrilled to have secured a place on the Garden Academy programme. I’ve always loved gardening, so to be given the opportunity to turn my passion into a career is great, I can’t wait to get started.”

Garden Academy mentor, Adam Frost explained the thinking behind the programme: "This is the third year we have run the Garden Academy training programme, and I’m delighted to be involved again.

“It can be challenging for our industry to attract young people to gardening and show them that it can be an exciting career. By working with Homebase, we have the opportunity to do something special and inspire a new generation of gardeners.”

Jonathon Kemp, Head of Garden and DIY at Homebase said: “As one of the UK’s leading garden retailers, we are committed to championing horticulture as a great career choice.”

“The academy is a fantastic opportunity for people from different backgrounds and ages to come together to share their passion for gardening and the outdoors and develop it into a great career. We are excited to welcome our third intake of Garden Academy students, to what we know will be a great start to their careers.”

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