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[dEEcor]

I´m going to apply for an apprenticeship as a gardener. Can you recommend places?

[plantlight]

I´m going to apply for an apprenticeship as a gardener. Can you recommend places?

It depends on what type of work you have in mind.  There are various levels of skills and qualifications that may or may not apply. Could you elaborate on what you would like to accomplish with the apprenticeship?

Not sure if this is possible where you live but I started a lawn and garden maintainance business with a small, borrowed, investment in tools and equipment.  Local business licensing requirements prevented me from doing certain kinds of work, but there was still much I could do. 

I ran the business for several years before I chose to go in a different direction. Sometimes I wonder if I chose correctly since I'm more interested in gardening than the other direction I chose.

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[dEEcor]

Wanna have a big time around lots of plants and learn a ton. Later mix the hobby with an occupation in gardening.

An alternative long term strategy is to work as a lab assistant not full time so that there is a solid financial background and enough time for gardening etc.. Not easy to get a job, cause people sense when you´re not really interested in a topic and most of the chemical labs are not overly interested in sustainability and degrowth cause they have to serve the investors need for profit. You know what I mean..

I have a friend here who owns a tiny local business like yours. He can do the work in the quantity he likes so there has been enough time for various hobbies.

[plantlight]

Wanna have a big time around lots of plants and learn a ton. Later mix the hobby with an occupation in gardening.

Seems like a botanical garden would be a good choice.  Might be especially interesting if it were a zoological botanical garden - I enjoy that atmosphere.  Not sure what it takes to get an apprenticeship though.  Is that a possibility for you?

[LIBERTYNY]

 I know nothing about outside the USA, but hear we have agriculture schools such as cornell and in many local colleges which will most always have 'Help Wanted' flyers somewear their. They are also great people to be friend's with, Im constantly getting free plants and such from them.

  I have a friend that started graphting fruit tree's and donating them to local churces and charitys for tax recipts, now works for a large orchard.

[MadPlanter]

No money in it but for an experience you could try WOOFing. It could help to serve as a basis for needed skills and overall hands on gardening with many random farmers. Giving you ideas of how a variety of farmers do things. Not sure if there are many of these sort of programs outside the USA though.

[happyconcacti]

If it's some place local, just keep showing up till they give you an opportunity.

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[dEEcor]

Thank you all. WWOOF works well everywhere.
I´ve found these possible routes in Germany:
Apprenticeship: Gardener for shrubs, arboretum, orcharding, vegetables or landscape (three years in a company and school, 300-900€ salary) plus maybe a master exam afterwards
Study: horticulture, sustainable agriculture Bachelor/Master... (requires a loan without interest or mini-job)

In ger we hire guest-workers from Poland, Romania and Bulgaria for 4€ per hour. We also have lots of threshold worker around. I´ll get to know more companies to sort the good ones. Guess you need some creativity (a monopoly or product with high information asymmetry) as an entrepreneur to be able to pay your employees at least the minimum wage of 8,5€/h.

happyconcacti that´s kind of a universal rule I follow. Just find something that´s interesting and go for it. It´ll become ever more interesting and you´ll get lots of opportunities because people sense that you´re burning for this. For me the start of a new direction always has been slow but over time it breaks all boundaries like our monetary system 

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