Sophie Davies explains making a career of gardening in her book ‘Design Grow Sell’

There can’t be many gardeners who haven’t spent an idle moment wondering what it would be like to turn their hobby into a career. Perhaps you dream of using your knowledge of woodland plants to start up a specialist nursery. Maybe you want to share the joys of grow-your-own with the wider community. Or are you someone who loves pruning hedges and thinks that keeping other people’s gardens spick and span would be just the thing to earn some extra income? It’s a big step from amateur to professional gardener, but help is at hand in the form of a new book: Design Grow Sell (£12.99, Brightword Publishing) by Sophie Davies.

It’s been ten years since Davies herself changed career from magazine writer to garden designer. “The book draws directly on my own experiences, as well as those of the other designers, gardeners and nursery owners I interviewed to write it, and I hope it conveys as much of this as possible,” she says. “I have first-hand experience of what it is like to juggle study with work, setting up a company with the help of an accountant, getting my first few jobs through friends and tentatively building contacts. I also made a list of the things I wish I had known at the outset of my new career and made sure I addressed them all in the book.”

Design Grow Sell takes an in-depth look at the wealth of garden-related business opportunities that exist, from landscape designer to commercial grower or even gardening coach. Featuring case studies of more than 20 gardening businesses, it examines the nuts and bolts of researching, setting up and developing your business. “The aim of the real-life profiles in the book is to hopefully bring the facts contained in the various chapters, on training, company set up, PR and so on to life and give readers concrete examples of how, for example, others have tackled the planning process or gone about choosing a course,” says Davies. “I hope the interviews will inspire readers and help make the process of changing career seem a little less daunting.”

The case studies in the book show that the skills you’ve gained in a first career can be used effectively in a new horticultural venture. These include Sam Ellson of the Traditional Flower Company who exchanged a role as a fashion merchandising director for a career working on the family farm growing flowers. Other examples include doctor-turned-garden designer Juliet Sargeant and software manager-turned-garden coach Alison Marsden. Whatever direction you want to go in, Davies says you’ll need to think about further training. “It depends on your previous experience and your circumstances, and also what you plan to do,” she says. “There are people profiled in the book who don’t have formal horticultural training but who have learned on the job, surrounded by people who do have that kind of expertise and can advise them. There are others whose skills in their former working life have proved useful. But for the most part I do think it is important to get adequately trained, whether on-the-job, through an apprenticeship or other training scheme.”

Design Grow Sell gives advice on the practicalities of setting up your business, whether it’s where to buy polytunnels or uncovering the best ways to promote what you’re doing. No matter how good your plant identification skills, Davies says that there will be plenty more to take on, from managing orders, deliveries and dealing with suppliers, to accounting, advertising, marketing, and working with clients. “You are definitely not just dealing with plants,” she says. “One of the contributors to the book says you almost need to spend as much time in the office actually running your business as being outside doing the thing that you love. Working outside when it’s cold and wet can come as a bit of a shock, too. I think that’s why getting some kind of practical work experience before you embark on any kind of career change is important, so you really understand what your new chosen path entails.”

During her research for the book, Davies found that many of the people she spoke to “multi-skilled”, so there were garden designers who might also write, nursery owners who also organised workshops and gardeners who might also give talks. There were also cases where the business as initially envisaged changed considerably as it developed. Take Alan Shipp who set out with the idea of becoming a commercial hyacinth grower and through a series of events ended up becoming the holder of the National Collection of Hyacinths. He is now the UK hyacinth expert on the RHS Daffodil and Tulip Committee as well as looking after 180 varieties of hyacinth and hosting an annual open weekend which attracts hundreds of visitors. Another success story is Mike Kitchen of Rocket Gardens who started up selling young veg plants grown in dilapidated, 1920s greenhouses and whose business has now grown to such an extent that this spring he shipped two million plants UK-wide.

There is no shortage of success stories to provide encouragement, and plenty of suggestions of who you can speak to for advice and support – Davies says it ranges from horticultural trade associations, business support organisations and online forums, to local growing groups, fellow horticulturists and complementary businesses in your area. At the end of the book she includes words of wisdom – advice that came up time and time again from those she interviewed. This ranges from “there is no shortage of work out there even in these finance-stricken times for reliable people who can do a good job” to “ultimately word of mouth will become your most powerful marketing tool”. Davies says that having made her own transition to a gardening career, she feels that “it is wonderful to work outdoors, choose your hours, do the thing you love and to some extent make your own luck,” adding, “I’m always struck by how open, cheerful and happy to share information people who garden in some form or the other for a living are. So for me, the rewards are worth it.”

Design Grow Sell by Sophie Davies is released on 3 December in both paperback and eBook formats. Buy the print edition for just £10 including free UK delivery, when you use promotional code DGS1112 at the Enterprise Nation shop – www.enterprisenation.com/shop/designgrowsell