Post by Lucy Forsey, Horticulture Apprentice, Grounds Team, University of Exeter
In May 2024 I was fortunate enough to spend two weeks working at the National Botanic Garden Wales (NBGW). I went there as part of a horticultural placement and spent the time working in the gardens with their talented horticultural team. I learnt a lot, gaining experience in a different workplace and working with interesting plants. This was especially valuable to me as I am relatively new to the horticultural industry, having joined the University of Exeter Grounds team as an apprentice in 2022. I was also going with a goal of gaining knowledge about what it is like to work for a botanic garden, especially in light of our efforts to become an accredited botanic garden here at the university.
I spent a lot of my placement working in the Great Glasshouse. This is a unique horticultural setting divided into six key botanical regions with some interesting plants. The main jobs I helped with were weeding, watering and planting out. Propagation is also a key activity and plants are grown on in the on-site glasshouses.
Melaleuca elliptica
Banksia praemorsa
I was lucky enough to work on creating a new succulent bed in the Great Glasshouse. This involved helping lay the groundwork for when they plant out the succulents. I also worked with the outside gardens, plant sales and herbarium teams. It was invaluable working with different people – everyone had so much knowledge and I really enjoyed picking their brains. I was given such a warm welcome and really appreciated the time the team took to answer all my questions!
Creating the new succulent border
Planting out cauliflowers in the Wallace Garden
It was a fantastic opportunity to work within a botanic garden. I learnt about the importance of plant labelling & recording, signage & interpretation and plant conservation. The University of Exeter Grounds Team are currently in the process of applying to become an accredited botanic garden, so it was great to take note of what works well at NBGW. They also use the Iris plant database – which we are setting up here – and we could gain valuable knowledge from NBGW’s experiences. This is one of the best things about being an accredited botanic garden – the opportunity to share knowledge and experience (as well as plants)!
Signage in the Great Glasshouse
Overall, I felt like it was a very enriching experience and I would strongly encourage anyone considering doing a work placement to go for it. You learn so much by ‘doing’, and visiting new places really opens the mind. In horticulture in particular, it really pays to visit other gardens – they can give you so much inspiration.