The arrival of spring always brings with it energy, enthusiasm and excitement. It is very infectious, rapidly charging each of us into action. Suddenly anything is possible when the lust for life comes roaring back.
This is the time of year that whips the horticultural community into action. Plants are growing faster by the week. So of course everyone wants to get cracking with those garden projects. Everyone is caught up in the rising tide of spring.
At this time in my career I find myself surrounded by students of Horticulture and Landscaping who are experiencing their chosen careers for the first time. Like the darling buds of spring they are loaded with possibility and boundlessness. How wonderful it is to be surrounded by such eagerness and passion.
The spirit of landscaping is just like the nature of spring. It holds a promise of what’s to come, and yet does not reveal that secret so readily. We wait, watch and marvel at every new leaf that emerges from every one of our newly planted little specimens. We wonder how these newly planted gardens will ultimately take shape. Will we ever really know?
For just as we move through the passage of time, ever changing so will our gardens. Like people, our maturing gardens have qualities that surpass all expectations and still they never stop changing. The garden always holds the promise of more to come whilst at the same time keeping secret its future. That’s why Horticulture and Landscaping are such dynamic and wonderful professions.
I wish my students a great future as you are the growers and the garden planners of tomorrow. It is you to whom we entrust the earth and all her flora.
Spring buds
The Cape Peninsula University of Technology offers a National Diploma in Landscape Technology and Horticulture.
Contact Johan van Rooyen, the head of programing for landscape technology.
Johan can be reached
