Finding contentment as an accidental gardener: Nicky Rennie

I have learned more about myself in other people’s gardens than in a 9-to-5 job, writes Nicky Rennie. Photo / 123rf

I am an avid newshound, so I constantly keep an eye on everything that’s current. One woman’s story struck a chord.

Suzanne George is 35 and has been job hunting for over a year in Wellington.

Before that, she worked for 12 years in the public sector in various roles.

She has applied for about 400 jobs in the past 13 months. So, essentially, she does have a fulltime role – applying for jobs. Soul destroying in the present climate.

Suzanne says, “I went from earning six figures, so that in itself has been a huge shift for me. I think it’s also done a number on my mental health. I won’t deny that, the constant rejection and ghosting every time [means] I feel like I just get left to sit and rot.”

Among the 156,000 unemployed are thousands of workers culled in the coalition Government’s programme of public sector cuts.

I, too, have lived this situation. I am a marketer and have run my own business since 2015, but am now caring for my parents.

I have also applied for jobs and been horrified at the lack of courtesy with regard to companies getting back to you; however, most of my time is spent on my parents' home and garden.

This has cemented that “necessity is the mother of invention”.

There are jobs out there to do. Generally, they are the jobs that nobody else wants to do.

Think oven cleaning, organising pantries or cleaning the fridge out (all of which I love and am good at).

Then there is gardening. People most especially want help with weeding.

I am not somebody who sits down easily. Can you imagine how much this annoys my long-suffering parents.

There are times I am more of a liability than a help because I have to be on the go all the time.

But then I got asked to help in their friend’s garden. When you have where you lived whipped into shape, I said “yes, I’ll give you a hand”.

Starting a garden is like going on a blind date. You don’t know what to expect. You don’t know how good or bad it is going to be, or how much of your time and effort it will take.

Generally, getting to know a garden and what is required of it takes about the same amount of time as getting to know a person on a superficial level. Two or three sessions.

It’s like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. I know this because I was then asked to help in two other sections.

I have to be grateful because I have made myself learn far more than I ever thought possible.

Anything you don’t know, you can simply google. I had cause to do this the other day when a weed-eater broke and I had to learn how to re-string it.

I’d been a bit nervous of a weed eater because I hadn’t used one before.

Now I am a weed-eating machine. Edges are now a strong point, however, having OCD is also a gift that you can bring to a garden.

I love straight lines, especially when it comes to lawns. I have also learned how to use hedge trimmers (a little more enthusiastically than was necessary to be fair), but my point is that rather than sit and wait to be ill-treated by potential employers, I have filled my days learning.

The other positive thing about gardening is that you are out in the elements and that is something that, as I get older, I appreciate more than sitting at a desk.

I have learned more about myself in other people’s gardens than in working a 9-to-5 job and having a 30-minute lunch break.

I don’t have breaks if I garden. I just work until my body tells me it’s had enough.

The other beauty of this blind date is that you can see results at the end of it.

That is hugely satisfying. You can also make other people happy because they haven’t had to do the job and they can come home and enjoy the view.

To continue on a theme, the blind date that is the garden hugs you back. You see it in the plants that flourish, the tidy lush lawns and the changing of the seasons.

It doesn’t criticise, it just grows weeds. It’s kind of the same thing really, but it’s far easier to pull out weeds than deal with a critical partner. Boom, gone.

I’ve never been a flower girl at a wedding, but I am one now in a garden. I grow vegetables too. This is a bit more of trial and error, but again, I’m learning.

Whilst I’m no Eion Scarrow (that ages me), I’m more content in a garden than I’ve ever been with a partner because it’s constant and it never disappoints.

In this economic climate, we have to think outside the square.

Rather than moan, I’ve got busy. I’ve learned so much, but the most important thing is that a garden is like a partner because the only time it will let you down is if you neglect it.