Horticulture needs new blood, which is why during 2007 a dozen representative bodies from the different branches of the industry decided to pool resources to attract people who might overlook horticulture as a possible career.

The chairman of the initiative is Leigh Morris, who is also head of education at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. He says the first part of this task was to find out how school and college leavers view horticulture, and that this threw up some interesting findings.

He says: "Traditionally, horticulturists have blamed poor wages as the main reason why young people do not want a career in our industry.

"However, research has shown that fun, fulfilment and satisfaction are important to young people in their career choice and we know that this is something horticulture can offer."

A web portal was the obvious way to make the industry appealing, according to Morris. "We want to promote careers in horticulture in a way that young people will better appreciate. If they're interested in careers in science, arts, technology, management and commerce, then it shows them how these can be attained in horticulture."

The launch of the Grow website (go to www.growcareers.info) at the end of 2008 was the culmination of this task of matching up young people's interests and aspirations with the huge range of jobs in horticulture.They are listed under the same headings as you will find in this guide.

Ciaran Flanagan is managing director of Idea, the firm that designed the site. He says the result is a simple yet memorable brand that defines the horticulture sector. "We're trying to capture people's interest in an area that they may not have thought about before," he explains.

"Everything we offer through Grow has been made as simple as possible, while retaining enough information to get the message across."

On the website there are more in-depth explanations of some of the careers mentioned in this guide, but also news of the latest job vacancies.

The website also has a searchable course index, which will take you straight to listings of courses if you already know the location or course type you're interested in.

Site developers early on realised that the campaign needed to be fronted by a figurehead that the target audience could identify with, while also being a respected person in the industry.

Flanagan says that BBC presenter and landscape architect Chris Beardshaw stood out for the role. See below for details.

The Royal Horticultural Society's Simon Thornton-Wood believes career development within the sector requires long-term commitment from employers and he sees Grow as part of this.

"People should be enthused about horticulture as a career for them," Thornton-Wood says. "The Grow initiative brings a varied sector together to develop a powerful set of focal points for horticulture at a time when they are needed most."

Richard Watts, publishing director of Horticulture Week, which built and administers the Grow website, adds: "Without attracting many more people into the sector we will be storing up problems for the future.

"Our staff and the people they talk to every day have an overwhelming enthusiasm for horticulture and most love the jobs they do. We need to get that message out in order to create sustainability in the workforce.

"The website allows us to continually update careers advisers and students while promoting all that the industry has to offer in terms of training and career prospects."

The next step will be information packs for schools, available later in 2009. For further information, go to www.growcareers.info.

HIGH-PROFILE SUPPORT

Grow figurehead Chris Beardshaw has first-hand experience of bad careers advice. Though his passion for horticulture was sparked early by sowing a few seeds on a windowsill at the age of four, he was disappointed throughout school that gardening was viewed as an option for remedial students.

Even his careers adviser dismissed his interests, recommending a career in the Navy submarine corps instead. He explains why he sees Grow as a valuable resource: "The Grow initiative is a starting point which I think will have the most phenomenal knock-on effect and bring an improvement across the industry.

"It raises the profile of a sector that has not always been very good at celebrating what it does. We are fantastically modest but I don't see any other industry sitting back and expecting the public to understand it. I hope the website will fire people's enthusiasm and imagination, and bring a sense of respect and awareness.

"I also hope it will mean that horticulturists in all their guises are no longer the last people brought into a project. As a landscape architect I've lost count of the number of times a developer or architect will ring up during the final stages of a project and ask for some green stuff.

"Horticulture should be at the leading edge of those processes."