Budding gardeners offered 12 month student bursary at a West Wales heritage garden

The Bursary is a 12-month funded training opportunity at Aberglasney’s historic and wonderfully diverse gardens.

Chosen students will spend the year gaining hands-on experience and being trained on all common UK garden tasks as well as more specialist subjects including meadow management, specialist bulb planting and a variety of propagation methods.

Aberglasney’s Director of Operations Jim Stribling said, “Our training covers a wide range of subjects, focusing on core horticultural practices including pruning techniques, plant husbandry, turf care and propagation whilst also giving a comprehensive insight into kitchen garden management, woodland garden maintenance and elements of both hard and soft landscaping.

“Since our gardens are ever evolving, we are often able to provide students with unique and valuable opportunities to participate in significant landscape projects. Recent examples include our Valley Garden and Clematis Arbor where students were instrumental in their development and construction.”

Aberglasney say students will work closely with its gardens team and have regular contact with its Head Gardener. A safe and supportive learning environment will be provided whilst allowing them to learn first-hand from experienced professionals. International applicants are very welcome at Aberglasney and the garden say they’re pleased to provide safe on-site accommodation for our students.

Jacky Hall (pictured top) was the successful recipient of the 2022 Bursary place. In 2019 Jacky began volunteering one day a week in the garden at Ordsall Hall, a Tudor mansion in Salford. The gardens there are small but a beautiful green space for the local community in an otherwise very urban area. The Head Gardener encouraged her to apply for the Heritage Historic and Botanic Garden Training Programme (HBGTP) scheme and she was successfully offered a full-time placement at Ness Botanic Gardens in Cheshire for a year from September 2021.

Jacky said, “Gardening has always been part of my life and as a child I had to earn my pocket money by helping my parents in their garden. Aberglasney really appealed to me because of the mixture of formal and informal areas, plus the walled kitchen garden means I’m in my element. I’m thrilled to be working with such a skilled and knowledgeable team and be given the opportunity to finesse my horticulture skills as I continue to develop my career in the industry. The experience I am gaining in the beautiful surroundings here at Aberglasney is outstanding. I would highly recommend the bursary to anyone who might be considering it.”

(Lead image: Aberglasney Gardens)