Has anyone had a career change to become a gardener?

[zippyswife]

After twenty years in a stressful job I’m burnt out stressed exhausted and I’m looking for a career change which involves minimal stress and something I can enjoy even if the pay is less.

Im In my mid 40s and gardening is something I find relaxing and satisfying. It potentially could work around the dcs and I can’t imagine too much stress involved. Not sure if this is just madness given my age and not sure how you go about starting. Has anyone moved into this field later in life and how did you go about it? Would recommend it? Any advice?

i live in an area where a lot of people seem to employ gardeners and I would hope there could be a fair bit of work about.

A friend of mine did, after becoming disillusioned with teaching. He had an inheritance so was able to buy basic tools etc and do some advertising. He loves it and is way less stressed.

How are you going to do it when you're 60, still physically able?

Just remember you may be asked to do some quite heavy stuff. In my village people mostly tend their own gardens & only call in a gardener when something is too hard, big, heavy for them to tackle.

Not a career change but he’s always done it. Loves his job but it’s hard work.

Earning potential is determined by the weather and the season which can be very frustrating. In winter my partner earns a lot less, April and May are mad as there’s loads of planting out to do, you can end up working quite long hours to get it done on time.
Physically challenging. If you’ve not done it before it’s difficult to envisage what it’s like working outside in all weathers. It’s not like doing a bit of weeding at your own pace. You’ve priced up with your clients how much they’ll pay you. If you don’t time manage you can literally end up working for nothing.
You can’t just bail out if there’s a bit of rain. Clients can be very demanding and they expect you to turn up whatever. If you can’t finish your work because of inclement weather you make up for it at the weekends.
Obviously there’s the whole knowledge base to acquire. My partner went to horticultural college and studied for 2 years, many don’t but still call themselves ‘gardeners’ anyway so there’s a lot of competition and undercutting. Essentially anyone can call themselves a gardener.
My partner has been doing the job for 40 years. He’s had the same clients since the mid 80s and most of them are very well off. Some are more amenable than others let’s say. He’s treated like an odd job man by the odd one tbh.

Equipment breaks down. It’s expensive to buy and mend. If your only mower breaks down what then ?
Like I say he loves the job and is his own boss to a certain extent but hasn’t got a great pension, if he doesn’t work he doesn’t earn.

I'm doing this now. Studying the RHS Level 2 certificate at Capel Manor. People's minds tend to jump to self-employed gardeners, unreliable work in people's gardens, etc. There are loads of other career options in hort - you can work at big gardens in a team, in garden centres, for seed companies, even in glasshouses if that's your bag. I've written about my experience so far and some career-change options here crescentesempervivum.blogspot.com/

I can tell you’re a youngster. Sure OP will be physically able when they are 60. Especially if they start a career in gardening.

After a 10 year career break wheb I had the kids, I did this. Didnt want to work full time any more.

Studied rhs level 2. Self employed and work around 15 hours per week.

Have approx 12 customers which I see weekly / fortnightly / monthly as required. Customers in the main are absolutely lovely.

Worst thing about it is the weather - i didn't work at all last week. In the winter I just have a couple of weekly customers.

Another problem is that I'm now early fifties and post menopausal - energy levels are a very big concern. I doubt very much whether I'll still be doing this when I'm 60!!

Pm me if you have questions.

Not necessarily. There is substantial demand for someone who will go regularly to do the smaller jobs.