Route
to Job: Some
days he'll be working on a science park near St Albans. Other
times he is building up displays in offices in Cambridge.
Quitting school after O'levels put Paul on the road to College.
He followed up his National Certificate in horticulture in 1985
with a job as nursery assistant at a local nursery. He went
on to pass his Higher National Diploma before upgrading it to
a degree. Before joining Cambridge Plant Interiors last August,
Paul spent six months in Spain overseeing quality control on
a salad farm.
Typical day:
"Timing is important in interior
landscaping because we have to get into board rooms or meeting
areas where access is often limited. The day starts at 8.30am
and we sometimes have to do round journeys of 300km.
"Today I'm working on one of our biggest displays, including
eight trees of about four metres in height, for a bio-engineering
park. This can be fairly hefty work and we tackle such projects
in small teams to ensure weights and workloads are not too onerous.
"Havig spent several years in commercial horticulture,
toiling away in nurseries or garden centres, it is good to see
the plants where they are meant to be seen. Nothing sets off
a glass atrium or plush foyer quite like a display brimming
with ferns and palms.
"The day ends at around 5pm, but the driving adds to the
tiring workload. We recently did a run that included Harlow
and St Albans. Sometimes I work on my own but I'm just as likely
to be part of a close-knit team. Though you work hard, you can
stand back and see exactly what you've done at the end, and
it's always beautiful."
Best
aspect of the job: "Using
plants to improve fairly sterile environments like offices."
Worst
aspect: "Seeing displays marred with rubbish
and cigarette butts after you have put a lot of effort into
the plant arrangements."
Ambition:
"To
keep working on the creative side of horticulture and improve
my skills of plant presentation and display work."
|
