Time seems to stand still sometimes, particularly when you're in the final year of your degree and finding it really hard going. You dream about what it might be like when you've finished and, if it's the MHort, you see the preceding year's graduation in 'The Garden' magazine and question whether you'll ever get that far. Then, suddenly, you're there and, let me tell you, it's an excellent feeling! The ceremony was held at the Lindley Hall, home of the RHS library in central London and a place which feels full of horticultural history. The MHortees were being recognised alongside those who had excelled at the RHS shows in 2023 and those who were being honoured for their contribution to horticulture over the years - it felt wonderful to be among them and I was starstruck, particularly when chatting to Roy Lancaster who I discovered by the loos on my way out ... sometimes it is good to meet your heroes.
My sister came with me which was icing on my cake. My dissertation had been about a field on her farm, chosen because of its ecological importance. It's an area of degraded peat and a potential site for riparian woodland extension with a need to implement innovative gardening techniques to cultivate the waterlogged land without destroying its biodiversity and ecology. I handed the dissertation over to big sis and family on completion so that, if useful, it could form the basis of further study by them and an application to the North York Moors National Park for investment and support in whatever they do next. One of my wonder-nieces has taken up the mantle and so the dissertation lives on.
The graduation day was a real memory day for me; at times I definitely felt that completion of the MHort was out of my reach and so I enjoyed the relief and celebration of the day very much. Due to the on-line nature of the course, it was also the first time that I had been able to meet my fellow Hortees in the flesh and that was hugely enjoyable too.
I now feel enthused to go on and use my learning and so am going to set up a series of workshops which I will advertise on the website as and when they are available. As for further study, well, I'm happy to just wallow for the time being and maybe leave the doctorate to a later date... a much, much, later date!