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Institute of Horticulture Slips Back Into Edwardian England - Phillip Voice
- 17 September 2014
I got an email from a colleague this week in which he commented on the Institute of Horticulture's (IOH) recent ascendancy into Chartered status.
'Have we slipped back to Edwardian England!' he quipped.
I'd briefly read the IOH press release but got bogged down quite quickly. There was much name dropping with Marchioness such and such, Lady this, Chief Whip, Honorary Secretary. And of course the Queen, who bestowed this magnificent honour.
Indeed the language used is far removed from the horticulture world myself and many of my professional colleagues can possibly relate to.
I have to agree that raising the profile of horticulture should be on everyone's agenda. Recognition of skills and talent has got to be a positive but I think the IOH's outdated approach further distances itself to the thousands of ordinary people working in horticulture today.
Ben recently asked: "Just what does the IoH do to earn its high-end membership fees? I gather you get some letters after your name...?"
As yet, no one has offered up an answer.
After starting my garden maintenance and landscaping business in 1984 and running it for 21 years I decided I needed a change of direction (probably a mid life crisis, no seriously! :-0) Together with my family, wife Donna, Son Henry and Daughter Fleur (not forgetting Hector the Black Labrador) I moved to France in search of an old farmhouse to renovate. In the interim period whilst waiting for the contract to go through I started writing a blog. Initially just to keep a diary for family and friends to keep up with our progress if they wished but then it occurred to me that there isn't a real time watcher of the landscape industry in the UK. I didn't want to waste my experience and experiences so I decided I could put all of this Juice to good use so I started Landscape Juice.
