Garden Studys

Hi Snappycroc, Sounds like you're going to have your work cut out for you! I only started gardening this year when we moved out of a flat to somewhere with a garden and definitely agree it's a rewarding experience.
Good luck with your studies!

Looks like you will be really busy, Hope you are going to use the my garden facility, then us amateurs will be able to learn from yours!
Apparently the soil stimulates natural seratonin and immunity, so gardening is esp good to lift depression.

Hello! could you please enlighten me - did you start your studies with RHS 1? I am seriously considering doing this, and would like to hear from someone who has done it.

Thanks Peter, the day I move out of my flat into a house with a garden will be awesome.Five months left on this contract.The walls are damp, and i have had numerous plants keel over from the environment.They want some soil, fresh air, and sunshine!
Hi Tussiemussie I will look at the My garden facility, and see if it can help others.I am just a passionate amateur really, although the courses will hone my passion i hope :)
Spritzhenry,I am starting with the Level 3 because I did A'level biology before my Bsc in Nursing.The level 2 I looked at was quite basic, like a GCSE.If thats what you want to do go for it.I am doing it because I have felt the urge to do something I love.The learning and stretching my brain again will be good I think.I want ultimately to progress to the RHS Diploma, and Ultimately the Master Gardener certificate.To do that you need to pass the Advanced certificate.Its the first door that opens the others.Let me know if you decide to start.I need all the support I can get!

Hi, I see you are a nurse, My wife is a staff nurse in geriatrics, and I am a senior Operating Department Practitioner in hospital operating theatres, so we use our garden as a wind-down space for after work. Here in Fife, the miners used to be the prizewinning gardeners, because they loved the outdoors after being confined, like we are, for hours on end. And, in reply to tussie, I have just read an article on seratonin and the effects it may have on you if you get your hands dirty in the garden. Do you know, Monty Don has also written several articles about his depression and how gardening alleviates it? As for the Wizard of Oz, you must remember that it was my son's idea and that, at first, I dismissed it totally. But now, I can see all the relevant messages for us, children and adults alike, in all the oz series of books (I prefer the original stories to the film (s). So, the theme stays until I can depict all our ideas and interpretations. Also, many, many thanx for the plant suggestions for Tin Man (written elsewhere on this site). - Best Wishes - david. ps. a theatre nurse I work with ha just sat her exam in the same RHS course as you, and awaiting her results .

I think the Miners would appreciate the light and air of a garden after being down the pits!I bet they used to grow delicate roses and Dahlias and Chresanthenums.Who's going to argue with a strapping Burly miner?Those plus large vegetables.I truly think Gardening is one of lifes activities that crosses gender, age, nationality, or even Country.The very rich have elaborate gardens, the very poor will grow but on a smaller budget.
If you know where the Monty Don articles are I would be pleased to read them.I know he has a history of severe depression, and indeed on TV I can see how he is beneath the exterior.Thats a nursing trait reading what people are like.He is most animated and excited talking about plants, salads, herbs, or fruits!
I love the Wizard of Oz theme.Record it all in photos and when its do you will have a record.Its like a show garden idea at Chelsea.
I have found a lot of health care workers (Doctors and nurses,esp) love their gardens.I always put it down to needing to unwind.I know how Surgeons can be and they are worse in Theatre!
I work in a Medical Admissions unit, the front line of hospital admissions.The gardening is the antidote to the chaos and stresses.
Thats why I always felt better after walking around the garden?The Serotonin levels in my head perk up.If you are on your knees examining a newly budded flower, or smelling the most fragrant rose then the stress melts away.
I hope the theatre nurse passes her exam.Im a long way from that yet :)

Hi, some of the Monty Don articles (written by himself or interviews) were in gardening mags and the press, but can't remember where or when. perhaps of you Google you may find some. Tues mornings in my theatre is like a gardening club, because the surgeon, anaesthetist, the gardening nurse aforementuioned and myself are all present. i keep all my copies of gardening mags in a blue bin in the anaesthetic room and we xchange plants. A couple of weeks ago i went in to find some chilli and bell pepper plants in the sink, in xhange for tumbling ted tomato plants I had left for the anaesthetist. he had grown all his greenhouse plants in his office to take advantage of the free heat! It is wierd that you mentioned Chelsea, bacause I kept thinking - how can people survive the stress of it all ,ensuring that the plants are in bloom at the correct time, etc. I have found it bad enough trying to get everything looking right for this coming week, coz I entered the garden into our local competition in the kids' names (mine and school class), in order to, hopefully, see that they can be rewarded for their efforts. the judges should be round any day now, and, although not everything is in bloom yet, coz of the lousy weather, most are almost in their prime, and it is such a relief. Hope you enjoyed Tatton Park, I saw it on TV. best wishes - David