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Gardening Career change at 40: how to become a garden designer?

#1 · 26th September 2022, 12:11 pm

Hi all,

After all the struggles and stresses caused by lockdowns and everything else, I found gardening to be a real boost and source of pleasure. So much so that I am considering a career change.

So I was wondering if anyone had any advice and guidance on where to start for someone with no formal experience or qualifications?

I have been investigating RHS qualifications, is this a good place to start?

Many thanks.

Lee Garden Ninja has reacted to this post.

#2 · 26th September 2022, 6:07 pm

Hi Pthresher81,

Great to hear that gardening has become a boost for you and you'r considering changing careers.

The good news is there's lots of career changers that get into gardening. It's not something that you have to have been doing from birth but you will no doubt need some experience along with some training or qualifications to really get to grips with it as a career.

I found that learning through courses with the RHS whilst still in my old job was the best way. I took it in stages so I wasn't suddenly unemployed and trying to do everything at once. I think this is the best way and it was the method I chose when I changed careers. The RHS runs plenty of courses and they're really good to get you started.

If you want to get into garden design, I'd say that the RHS level 2 is a must. It not only has a design module but the remainder of the course will project your plant knowledge far further than learning on the fly. Garden design from my experience has to start with solid plant knowledge, the rest of the design/hard landscaping is to support that. Other designers may argue otherwise but that's my experience of it. You can't fake the plant part with guesswork!

Once you've done some design training such as the RHS level 2 or another garden design school intro course my advice is to take on any work for friends and family as a freebie at first. As you start so you can make smaller mistakes and really get to grips with design and get honest feedback. This is the invaluable learning stage and people getting design work for free are more understanding of the odd hiccup!

Other than that let your passion for gardening drive you and see where the opportunities take you!

All the very best!

Lee