Rose: 0; Me: 1 (just)

Well, the deceased climbing rose certainly put up a good fight, no doubt about it. My hands, neck and face are now covered in scratches and I'm rather glad I had my tetanus booster last year.

It had pretty much done what was required of it, ie climbed up and surrounded the nearest tree, a large Scots Pine. It had got pretty far up, in fact. But then it had evidently become infected with a fungus, a bracket type that could be seen growing at its base. There was still the odd green branch here and there, but the rose was to all intents and purposes deader than a very dead thing. However this meant that the branches snapped all too easily, making the job rather difficult. As many were interwoven, it was very difficult to extract branches without whipping oneself in the face (not a good idea given how thorny it was) or pulling down the entire ball of twigs. Ivy and a nearby Escallonia that had both grown through the rose's branches added to the difficulties, and so the whole job took considerably longer than expected. I was tasked with cutting back the Escallonia while I was there, but in the end I didn't have time.

I was interested to see Paul's job has been advertised on Horticulture Week, and I was somewhat disappointed at the (seemingly) low salary - £19-19.5k - for the knowledge and experience required. This is what the industry is notorious for, but it comes at the same time as Tim Smit criticises the National Trust, RHS et al for paying their gardeners too little. Smit is right, although he's got a bit of a cheek as Eden's basic horticulture salaries aren't anything to write home about either, but it's a debate that needs to happen. The problem seems to stem from the fact that people feel the gardening they see done in NT or RHS gardens is the same as they do at home, and so doesn't require any specialist knowledge. Well, obviously it does. Punters wouldn't be very impressed if they asked a gardener what he or she was planting and received "I dunno, I'm just sticking it in the ground" as a response. Large gardens such as Knightshayes need seasonal planning, maintenance and development, and this requires specialist knowledge. Industry head honchos whine about not getting any new blood into horticulture, but who's going to go for a job that pays barely more than minimum wage, even when you've got five years' experience and a degree under your belt? Not to mention the perception of horticulture in schools - it's the remedial option. If I'd said I wanted to go into horticulture when I was at school, I'd have been sneered at by my careers officer. It just isn't considered a viable option for anyone with half a brain, and this is something the industry and schools have to work together to change. I also hope that the Eden Project and its ilk inspire schoolchildren to consider horticulture, whether inadvertently or directly.

Speaking of Eden, I was very pleased to receive a phone call from Mark Paterson, our practical week contact, confirming my work placement there and at the nurseries this summer. Now I just have to sort out a fortnight at Heligan and that's my summer sorted. I am dead chuffed!

5 hours