Why so negative?

It's a question I get asked fairly frequently, so today I think I'll answer it openly.

Like most jobs, horticulture can be very rewarding. Sometimes you make great leaps or get to achieve something big, and the sense of satisfaction is enormous.
Most of the time, however (and as with most jobs), the job is just about soldiering on. Media perception of professional gardeners is always fake; the gardeners on TV and in magazines are CLEAN! Yes they're real gardeners but it's rare that gardeners stand smiling next to shrubs.
Neither do real professional gardeners waft around in £100 jackets with little pockets for snips. The gardener's uniform is usually jeans, or similar, with a rough and slightly faded jumper. We wash our clothes frequently but often still end up with embedded soil stains. Patina!
But we're so lucky to be working outside, as we're frequently told in summer. Well, to a degree. Often the job requires us out in the heat of the day (often unavoidable) and we're baked, but also we're out in the cold and wet. We become brutally familiar with weather!
But we push on and still put in an extraordinary effort to create and maintain gardens; the job is very physical! While non-gardeners have to make extra effort to do their 10,000 steps for a gardener this is something we can do on a normal working day!
Some people get to do their dream jobs. They get jobs where they avoid the daily trudge of the job and get to focus on the nice bits. These people are rare, and often swap the less desirable bits of horticulture for meetings and paperwork. Is this a great improvement?
So if life as a gardener isn't all sweetness and light then why do it? About 80% of a gardener's work is hard and unglamorous, but 20% is the nice stuff. We do the crappy bits from day to day because the fun stuff is the bit we enjoy and we work towards.
We love the bit where someone is genuinely excited about the garden. We love finishing off a big project. We love our moment to shine. Without the day to day tedium these moments would never happen, and would never be so sweet.
Every part of horticulture has its good days and bad days, and every part is filled with people who work very hard in sometimes challenging conditions to make gardens and nurseries work. The job isn't always glamorous, but we love our chances to shine.
So yes the job is tough, but it's not unrewarding. If you're put off by horticulture because it's not all about fun and flowers then I've got bad news for you:

Most careers are about endless unseen work but with occasional moments of glamour and fun.
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