The first time I considered a career in gardening still seems so fresh in my memory, thus I can scarcely believe what I write next. I have finished my apprenticeship, and my time at Hyde Hall is at an end. For two years it has been my centre point, about which so much of my education, my thoughts and conversations have been - and no small measure of hard work. I have become familiar with its gardens and its toolsheds and its routines, and I have grown to care deeply for some of the people there. I'll miss it, and when I imagine new apprentices who'll work on and witness further chapters of Hyde Hall a flicker of envy shall pass across my face. Indeed, I cannot pretend I didn't try to stay a little longer. No one before me has made the leap from apprentice to horticulturist, yet I cannot fault my ambition - and the faces of those who have not appreciated me will serve as a reminder that there are aspects to Hyde Hall I shall not regret leaving behind.
Endings are a time of sadness, but also a time of celebration. If I cannot believe I am leaving Hyde Hall, then words utterly fail to express my astonishment at the news I have passed my RHS Level II Theory exams with commendation. The staggering breadth of knowledge that I needed to retain truly dwarfed anything I battled at degree level, something which many students far more brilliant than myself agreed unanimously. I had to check with at least two sources before I believed the good news, and claim with utmost sincerity that this was a miracle of God.
As for the successful completion of the apprenticeship beyond the classroom - the two years of blood, sweat, and raindrops in the garden - I am rather proud of an engraved trowel from the RHS stating I've made it through. It's not quite a sword to put over the mantelpiece, but a lovely touch.
Somewhere a door is opening. I must lift my head and turn my eyes toward a new horizon. I wonder what it shall bring.
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