Alan Titchmarsh warns gardening is undervalued

It’s safe to say that the majority of young people aren’t interested in gardening, it can be seen as a chore or something that just ‘old’ people do.  Alan Titchmarsh has spoken out, warning that gardening is undervalued. Alan has said that young people must be taught that gardening jobs are not for the “thick dull and unadventurous”.

Alan stated that gardeners work is “undervalued by Government, by the population and by young people in particular – in every instance because they just do not understand the breadth of what we do and its importance in terms of the well-being of the planet and its population”.

A study conducted by some of Britain’s leading horticultural organisations has shown that more than 70% of companies are struggling to find skilled workers and more than 80% of those businesses surveyed believed it is the poor reputation of horticultural jobs. Due to the perception of horticultural jobs, 19% of companies have been forced to recruit from abroad and 10% of vacancies took over a year to fill.

The Horticultural Trade Association director Carol Paris said “With such a serious skills shortage in the sector we need to change perceptions to show the diversity of exciting opportunities that exist within horticulture and how this can offer a serious and rewarding career for talented people.”

Interested in working in horticulture? Take a look at the Horticulture jobs website to find vacancies in your area and to learn more about career prospects in the horticultural sector.

Statistics provided by the Telegraph.