ICL Professional Horticulture is proud to announce that is a main sponsor for the newly-formed Young People in Horticulture Association (YPHA). This trowel-blazing group already has as many members as a centipede has legs – and it’s hatching big plans to help future-proof our dynamic horticulture industry.

Appealing to generation “blue dot”

Do people just wake up and want to plant rhododendrons? This was one of the pivotal questions that Happy Plants’ Natalie Porter put to the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA)’s futures and sustainability manager, Dave Denny. Dave was discussing population demographics at this January’s HTA Contact Conference 2020. There, he noted that we are about to have a peak in the number of over 60s – and that this will be great for the gardening industry because the over-60s tend to love gardening.

But, when Natalie and her colleagues considered their business’ future, they wondered whether today’s younger generation – those who perceive themselves as being a blue dot to whom a burger can be delivered faster than you can say “lit”* – would feel the same about horticulture when they are older. As Natalie ponders: “If they’ve only ever spent their lives on Facebook and Instagram, are they not just going to become 60-somethings who spend their life on Instagram?” Hmmmm.. good question.

As Natalie points out, gardening has, to date, been an inherited hobby – but the generation of hobby gardeners is dying out. “We need to be proactive in making ourselves appeal to more technology-driven minds,” she notes. Based on my own experience of cajoling my young son away from the iPad and into my allotment, I can assert that getting youngsters off Roblox and into rhododendrons is not an easy task. But the new Young People in Horticulture Association (YPHA) is setting out to achieve just this. Natalie and her colleagues Mollie Higginson, of New Leaf Plants, and Liam Cleary, of Old Railway Line Garden Centre, formed the group following a series of thought-provoking conversations with Dave and other inspirational industry speakers. Given the traction that YPHA has so speedily gained since its inception in February (2020), I have every faith that it will succeed.

Natalie explains: “YPHA’s primary focus is to consider how the industry might evolve to appeal to a younger demographic better than has previously been the case – both in terms of future horticultural employees and future garden centre customers.” She is pleased to announce that ICL Professional Horticulture has become one of the YPHA’s first official sponsors. The group’s membership has also (by mid-March) quickly blossomed to nearly 100 people – and the association has garnered some high-profile industry support in the form of its official ambassadors. These include: the HTA’s head of horticulture, Pippa Greenwood, the HTA’s president Boyd Douglas-Davies, and television’s Mr Plant Geek, Michael Perry.

Tackling the trends

To escape the craziness of being a parent of two under-12s, I often sign up to arty-crafty events to loosely disguise the fact that I’m really just out drinking wine with my friends. One such event was (I kid you not) a macramé workshop, where I made a trendy houseplant holder out of rope. Because house plants are (as my fellow Generation X-ers would say) “where it’s at”.

With the trend for houseplants in mind, one of YPHA’s many forward-thinking strategies is to infiltrate the mainstream media to encourage people to feel the same way about gardens and gardening as they currently do about house plants. Natalie explains: “Part of the reason why houseplants are so successful is because, when you look at high-fashion shoots, there’s always a house plant in the background. And when you buy a notebook, there’s invariably some sort of houseplant print on the cover.”

She adds: “People have been made to feel like they need house plants. How can we emulate that – how can we make people feel like they need a garden, not just houseplants? All the benefits you can get from house plants you get from a garden – and more.”

Certainly, the YPHA has its work cut out for it – not less because another part of its ambitious strategy is to encourage more young people to choose a career in horticulture. Again, having been into my children’s school to give a presentation on this very subject, I understand that this can be a tricky job. Whilst I succeeded only in embarrassing the TikTok out of my ten-year-old daughter, the energised YPHA’s planned school road show will no doubt inspire dozens of youngsters to put down their tablets and pick up a trowel.

Another “toughy” that the group is already smashing is the bringing together of our industry’s young professionals – who are scattered across the UK. Taking inspiration from the fruit industry’s NextGen group, YPHA is hoping to host a range of national and international fun and educational events for its members – from crazy golf adventures to trips to look at alpine plants in the Swiss Alps.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? Those who are keen to get in on the action (and who are young enough to not be the target of anti-wrinkle creams) can email [email protected]. Those interested in sponsoring this pioneering group should also get in touch using the above address.

*For us over-35s out there, “lit” means something that is especially awesome. I, for example, might say: “This pair of furry slippers are totally lit.”

By Rachel Anderson