Rob Dowling, 32, assistant park manager, Hyde Park, the Royal Parks

“It’s not all gardening and getting your hands dirty. I spend a lot of my time in meetings, talking about the future direction of the park, forthcoming events and major horticultural projects. “We have a variety of user groups, including the military – which uses the park to rehearse for ceremonial events – horse riders, cyclists and the public; as well as a diverse range of habitats, from meadowlands to the formal rose garden.

“I usually get into the office at about 8.30am, answer any e-mails, have a look around the park and see what our 40 gardeners are doing. In the winter we focus on improvement projects such as redoing shrub beds, creating new gardens and major works, such as new memorials.

“The summer is the quieter time in horticulture because, apart from watering and day-to-day care, everything is in place. This allows me to focus on the events and ensure that the organisers adhere to the terms of their licences and that other park users are not being neglected, which adds variety to my work.

What not to do when motivating people

It should come as no surprise that there are probably as many ways to demotivate people as there are to fire them up

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“I attend conferences and visit other parks to see what colleagues are working on and I am a judge for the London in Bloom competition and the Green Flag awards – the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales.

“My advice to anyone wanting to work in this field is to get experience. Despite having a degree in landscape management, I found it difficult to get into the sector initially because of a lack of experience, so I took jobs in garden centres and worked my way up from there.

“I joined the Royal Parks in 2004 and was promoted to my present role after two years. I now get to do the planting scheme design each year, which is one of the really enjoyable aspects of the job.

“We put in an enormous amount of seasonal bedding and have our own nursery to grow the tens of thousands of plants needed. It’s a big task to get it all planned a year in advance but when I walk through the gardens and someone says how nice it’s looking, it puts a smile on my face.

“The sector is not known for being particularly well paid, but I am provided with local accommodation at a reduced rent, which is the only way I could afford a house with an SW7 postcode. The downside is I sometimes feel as if I’m always at work, especially when friends visit and all they want to do is go out in the park.”

A second opinion

Clare Trivedi, 35, international co-ordinator, Millennium Seed Bank Project, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

“The Millennium Seed Bank Project is a ten-year programme to collect and conserve seeds from 24,000 species of plants, which runs to 2010. I am one of five UK-based co-ordinators working with the 50 countries in our plant conservation network. Coordinating the work between the seed banks at Kew’s facility in Wakehurst Place, Sussex and in the partner countries involves a fair amount of travel. I have responsibility for collections in Bulgaria, Georgia, Canada, Kyrgyzstan and Slovakia and make annual visits to each country to assess the project’s progress.

“I join the fieldwork teams when possible, but often I’m abroad to organise delivering Kew’s skills and resources to assist the country’s ongoing work.

“At Wakehurst the job is primarily desk based, but I also work with colleagues to process and research the collections in our laboratories and gardens. My role is to coordinate the work of in-country teams and advise on training, equipment and facilities, project financing and to ensure that seed transfers are carried out legally.

“The most challenging aspect is working with overseas partners. There are language barriers and you have to be culturally sensitive, but it’s fascinating to meet and learn from people around the world.

“I joined Kew in 2001, with a degree in environmental biology from the University of Liverpool and a masters in environmental science from University College London, having spent two years working in the science policy department at the Royal Society and two years researching environmental agreements for NGOs.

“I joined Kew because I wanted to work for an organisation that is doing hands-on work and it’s a great mix of the two that I have now. I believe in what I am doing. It’s not just a job, it’s working on a project that is helping the world and one that I hope will leave a lasting legacy.”

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