Galleries

Apprenticeship 1964-69

On the 28 July 1964 I started work at the Slough Borough Council's Central Nursery at Wexham on a 5 year indentured apprenticeship under the foreman Mr. Ray Waite (later to become Glasshouse Superintendent at RHS Wisley gardens). The nursery covered 7 acres which included 10 glasshouses of various types and widths and a frame yard, the rest being cultivated for spring bedding production and growing on trees and shrubs. How I survived that first week I don't know as my job was to clear the frame yard of weed and resurface it with clinker humping barrow load after barrow load of clinker in what was a hot week nearly killed me. I don't think I have ever ached so much in my life.

The first eighteen months of my apprenticeship were spent at the nursery and attending a day release City and Guilds course which was run at the nursery by Buckinghamshire County Council (Slough was in Bucks. then) agricultural department. Being involved in the production of bedding plants, growing a wide range of glasshouse plants for display work and trees and shrubs my knowledge of plants and growing increased considerably.

In my second year I was moved to work in the Salt Hill Playing Fields to help with and learn the maintenance of a park. The park had a main road frontage, which along with the Town Hall opposite was laid out and planted with seasonal bedding and this was continued either side of an entrance road to the car park. There was a rose garden between the road frontage and the tennis courts around which were various seasonal and herbaceous borders. Behind the car park and leading down to a stream was a large area laid out to shrub beds. Along with tennis courts there were sports fields and a bowling green. As well as seasonal bedding there were two beds laid out to carpet bedding. Although only an apprentice I was given responsibilities by the foreman, two of those being laying out and planting the spring bedding and bulbs and maintaining the carpet beds through the season. I also did various stints on the maintenance of the bowling green and grass cutting as well as planting and maintaining the borders. It was on one grass cutting expedition on a 42'' Dennis ride on mower that I lost control and ploughed across the edge of a newly planted rose bed, luckily for the roses they had been planted well back.

In the summer of 1966 I passed the first stage of The City and Guilds exams and in that September for stage 2 we had to travel each week to County Farm at Stoke Mandeville for our day release.
Towards the end of 1966 I was moved into the technical office where I learnt how to survey and draw plans for landscaping etc. Some of the jobs I was involved with were the landscaping around Parlaunt Park flats which involved the installation of an all weather sports pitch, redevelopment of Horsemoor Green Langley allotments and the drainage of Chalvey playing fields.
My next move was back to the nursery site in the workshops where I gained experience on the maintenance of mowers and believe it or not go karts (there was a go kart track in Upton Court Park). But by early 1968 I was back to where I started and where I wanted to be, the nursery.
The nursery was now under the manager Mr. Cyril Harvey who had been appointed from the nursery at Gunnesbury Park, Ealing, London to replace Mr. Ray Waite who had been promoted to Horticultural Officer. I was put with Propagator Bill Young whose responsibilities included growing the Ten-week Column Stocks and Charm and Cascade Chrysanths and other cool greenhouse which gained so many of the medals at RHS shows that Slough was presented with. Although I had helped out from the start of my apprenticeship at the shows my first main taste of exhibition work came in the spring of 1968 when we staged a group of Schizanthus and Cineraria which gained a Silver Gilt Flora Medal at an RHS Show in London, quickly followed by a group of Column Ten Week Stocks at Chelsea Flower Show which also gained a Silver Gilt Flora Medal.                                                                                   In the autumn that year we went on to show the Cascade and Charm Chrysanth at both the RHS and National Chrysanthemum Shows where we were awarded God Medal and Large Gold Medal respectively. The RHS also awarded Slougn Borough the Wigan Cup (awarded annually for the best exhibit by a Local Authority) for the second time for the exhibit  of Chrysanths.  In May 1969 we won our first Chelsea Gold Medal with an exhibit of Column Ten Week Stocks.                                                                                                                   

During the third year of my apprenticeship I passed the RHS General Examination in Horticulture and at the end of the fourth year I gained Stage 2 City and Guilds. In the fifth year I took and passed City & Guilds Horticulture, Local Government Supervision and Records and Accounts.

Certificated Gardener 1969-70

Becoming a certificated gardener after my apprenticeship I continued assisting Bill Young, whom I considered to have been my mentor as he taught me most of the practical nursery skills that have been the foundation of my career. Two other people at the nursery also had an influence my career at Slough were Pat Bennett (Propagator with responsibility for bedding and temperate and hot glass production) and Cyril Harvey (Nursery Manager). The principle work of the nursery was to produce seasonal bedding plants, trees and shrubs for the parks and provide plants for decorative work at civic functions throughout the year.
In the autumn of 1969 we again exhibited Charm and Cascade Chrysanths for the RHS show and the National Chrysanthemum Society's Late Show. The awards as the previous year were Gold Medal at the RHS and a Large Gold Medal at the Chrysanth Show. Again the RHS awarded this exhibit the Wigan Cup for the best exhibit by a Local Authority during that year, the third time Slough had received this cup. The Chrysanth exhibits annually created a centre piece in the New Hall at the RHS Hall in Vincent Square, London.

1970's Chelsea Flower Show exhibit was again Ten week Stocks but sadly we only received a Silver Gilt Flora Medal for this one. The flower stems were just not so large or of even height as the previous year.

During the spring of 1970 Bill Young retired and I became Propagator and took over his responsibilities

Propagator (Cool Glass) 1970-72

My responsibilities other than growing the Chrysanths and Stocks were to grow crops such as Cineraria, Schizanthus, Primula malacoides, Carnations for cut flower, Fuchsias and many other decorative plants needing cool conditions. My section of the nursery contained a four span dutch light house 66ft wide by 100ft long, a glasshouse 12ft x 100ft and a 100ft long span frame as well as standing areas for the Chrysanths. The Chrysanths grown were not only Charms and Cascade but a range of early and late varieties for cut flower and decorative work.

The autumn of 1970 gave me my first experience of sole responsibility for the exhibits of Chrysanths at the RhS and National Chrysanth shows. I decided to break with the tradition of the central display and have a wall site so to give the effect of a long cascade of colour using the Cascade varieties to staged up high and dropping down to the charms. For this exhibit I received a RHS Gold Medal and the NCS Large Gold Medal. Usually the group was staged initially for the RHS show which was on the Tuesday and Wednesday (either the last of October or first in November) and then refreshed for the NCS show on the following Friday and Saturday. This meant the plants being watered in situ and although polythene was used to cover the floor it was inevitable we would get a complaint because water had penetrated the floor through to the store room below.
In 1971 we went back to the island group in the centre of the hall and I rung the changes again by designing a centre piece for the cascades to give a large fountain effect. Traditionally Bill had grown the cascade variety 'The Bride' as a fan and this year I decided to also grow the variety 'Yellow Cascade' as a fan and I also introduced single chrysanths produced from late struck cuttings giving large flowers on plants just 12''-15'' in height. The group again was awarded the RHS Gold Medal and the NCS Large Gold Medal.
1972 bought about another centre exhibit at both the RHS and NCS shows. This year we grew and exhibited the cascade varieties as late struck cuttings to great effect as they could be used more easily in decorative displays as well as exhibition work. It was difficult this year getting the plants to flower on time and the exhibit for the RHS lacked colour as a lot of the cascades especially were not fully out and the RHS only awarded a Silver Gilt Banksian Medal but the NCS the following week awarded the Large Gold Medal.

Propagator (warm glass) 1972-74

Sadly in late 1972 the propagator responsible for the warm glass section of the nursery passed away and I was offered that position. The responsibilities included all the seed and vegative propagation and growing on of the seasonal bedding and tropical and temperate decorative plants. My association with the chrysanths finished but not with exhibiting.

After 2 years of showing Ferns at Chelsea Flower Show, which received in 1971 a Silver Gilt Flora Medal and in 1972 the coveted Gold Medal we returned in 1973 to exhibiting Ten Week Stocks and although I was not directly responsible for their cultivation, I did design and stage the group which again received a Gold Medal.

In April 1974 we had an exceptionally good crop of Primula malacoides and it was decided to exhibit these at a RHS show. I designed and stage the exhibit which received a Gold Medal. The Chelsea Flower Show exhibit this year was to be tropical or stove plants, however financial constraints were being applied and we had to stage it on a shoestring, and this showed when compared to other local authorities exhibiting there and although we staged a very good exhibit of plants the design suffered. However, we did receive a Silver Gilt Banksian Medal.

In late November 1974 we decided to exhibit a crop of Cyclamen that I had grown and I designed a group for the centre of the hall, the same position that the chrysanths had occupied just a few weeks earlier and again received Gold Medals at both shows. The exhibit received a Gold Medal, the first time that Slough had received three Gold Medals at RHS shows in one year and sadly this although we did not know at the time would be the last exhibit to be staged at a national show by Slough for some number of years due to financial restraints in local government.
Horticulture in the 1970's was changing considerably with plastic pots taking over from clay and soiless composts from traditional John Innes mixes. I started using both initially on the chrysanths and over this period with some resistance gradually introduced it into the whole nursery. Many thought that the same quality of plants could not be grown in plastic pots and soiless composts and although cultural techniques had to change to accommodate them this exhibit of Cyclamen proved it was possible to grow exhibition quality plants in them.

Chargehand (glass) 1974-76

1974 bought a change in management structure of the nursery with the position of Chargehand being made to oversee the whole of the glasshouse section and be responsible for the nursery in the managers absence. I was offered this position which over the next couple of years would give me experience in the management of a nursery including preparation of orders for seeds, plants and materials.

In the summer of 1976, we sweltered in one of the hottest and driest on record and ironically a position became vacant as Manager at Thames Water's nursery at Laleham near Staines for which I applied and was appointed, so my 12 years at Slough came to an end.

As with all success stories it is a team that achieves it not just one person and I would like to thank those people that helped me in obtaining the knowledge at the start of my career the nursery team that achieved all the success for Slough that put it on the horticultural map.