Gardening for women

by Viscountess Frances Garnet Wolseley

Who looks after these small gardens? Often an uneducated working man, whose chief idea is to keep them tidy. This is commendable, but tidiness is not the only pleasurable feature of a garden. To plan successful combinations of colour really brings happiness, to have means of tending little bits of tender, precious plants, gifts of friends, is what contents us. It would help many owners of such gardens to hand them over to the care of a lady. The size of the piece of ground is not too much for her to look after, the work is not arduous. In fact, she can limit her work to a given number of days a week, or even half days.

This kind of jobbing gardening, although well paid, would only content those who are obliged to live at home and require some light garden work, after their course of training is completed. It is remunerative, very little responsibility is entailed, and, to a certain extent, it is possible to combine it with home duties. The interest of it need not be restricted to the actual manual labour of mowing and rolling the small lawn and planting out seedlings. A small greenhouse is perhaps attached, and pleasant social intercourse may be had, if the owner is also interested in gardening.

To those who are ambitious for a wider scope to their capacity, this kind of jobbing gardening will be insufficient. If they have a little capital and some experience, it will well repay them to start a small nursery garden and not only supply labour for these villa gardens, but also sell plants to them. Some business capacity is necessary, but if, in addition, strong, healthy plants are raised, there is no limit to the possibilities of such a business. Should friends combine in such an undertaking, it can be worked without assistance from working men. If, however, as is very likely to occur, the staff of lady assistants is called upon to give advice in laying out small gardens, arranging plants in window boxes, decorating rooms for concerts, dances, etc., men would have to be employed to do the heavy work. The planning, organising, and directing is what ladies should excel in.

By procuring large instalments of bulbs, raising quantities of perennials from seed, keeping up a plentiful supply of bedding-out plants on their own land, a satisfactory effect can be produced in many villa gardens at comparatively small cost. For a fixed sum per annum the jobbing gardener could undertake to keep in good order, plant and tend all in each small garden. It is easily estimated that this kind of work becomes, after the first outlay, exceedingly remunerative and interesting. There is employment for old and young, strong and delicate; a happy combination of interests and tastes is what should perhaps be most sought for by the staff of ladies in such an enterprise. Secretarial work, planning tempting price lists, would fall to the lot of one, whilst landscape gardening would belong to another.

In all branches of horticulture the remuneration to be obtained by a lady should not be less than that earned by a man. She is indeed entitled to receive even more than a man head gardener, as compensation for her superior taste and good education. The particulars which I am able to give of Mrs. Chamberlain’s work on p. 257 show how large a sphere can be covered by jobbing gardening, and in Miss Agar’s account (p. 253) will be found particulars of the remuneration that can be usually claimed by a lady expert.

Floral decoration may be combined with jobbing gardening, or it may be undertaken apart from any other interests.

All will agree that the work of arranging flowers is undoubtedly suited to ladies. It needs good taste, an eye for colour, lightness of touch and great patience. These qualities are possessed by most young gentlewomen, but if they are not natural to them, practice will, as a rule, teach sufficient for the execution of the mechanical part of the work. The preliminary stage of training is perhaps least tempting, for it involves long, tiring hours, spent in a hot, unrestful florist’s shop. It will be found best to serve an apprenticeship in this way for some months. Possibly the people met there are not very obliging or polished; often work has to be done under extreme pressure, as many orders have to be ready at the same moment, and the freshness of flowers has to be greatly considered. Bouquets, dinner-tables, all have to be postponed until the last safe moment. Consequently there remains but little time for enjoyment of completed work, and there is very scant appreciation. Work which has to be hurried is seldom pleasing. Being chiefly mechanical, however, it rapidly becomes easier to carry out the different orders, and then real enjoyment begins. The business becomes interesting to the novice when she is sufficiently trusted to exert her imagination, and make suggestions as to blending different flowers and foliage. From the moment when she comes into contact with those who give the order, that best incentive, personal interest, is aroused. As in the case of jobbing gardening, it is possible for a girl to live at home and yet have floral decoration as a daytime interest. This, too, is a saving.

The premium for acquiring experience is a heavy one. It varies according to the position and reputation of the florist’s shop, but it is never less than £15, and it often reaches £50. During the first year it is not usual to obtain a salary. There are exceptions to this rule, as will be seen on p. 257, in the account of the Women’s Gardening Association.

Only those who have tried it know what tiring work flower arrangement is, and only strong, able-bodied girls should contemplate such a profession. Success, as in all undertakings, comes after long perseverance and patience. The ideal method of carrying on this business is to have a nursery garden and raise suitable flowers in it to supply one’s own shop. It is then merely necessary to superintend, and give general ideas as to arrangement.

With thorough business habits and very good taste, there is no saying what sum might not be realised by a woman in this direction. Like millinery or dressmaking, it needs a combination of qualities, and is essentially a woman’s art.