Tucked in a corner of Wolverhampton, the master gardeners of tomorrow have been learning their trade for 45 years.
And today staff and students at the Cedars Horticultural College in Compton are celebrating after winning approval as an official Royal Horticultural Society centre.
It is a major achievement for manager Darren Rudge, who can’t help smiling as he proudly hangs up the framed certificate from the Society.
“To become an approved centre for the Royal Horticultural Society is a real step-up in status for us,” he said.
“I have been here 20 years and when I first walked through the doors I fell in love with the place.”
The college shares its site with the Compton Hospice and has become an important part of life in Wolverhampton. It helps tend the hospice gardens, but is also involved in major contracts throughout the city.
Mr Rudge said: “We have developed so much and now we are inundated with NVQ contracts from various local companies.
“These include work that we are doing at the Chapel Ash roundabout in Wolverhampton and the Mount Hotel in Tettenhall Wood. The centre of the roundabout is set below the traffic in an underpass.
“People tend to not want to use underpasses and we are hoping that our work will make it more pleasant for visitors.
“We were overjoyed when managers at The Mount chose the college for the redesigning of their gardens.
“The hotel is going through a transition, upgrading all its facilities, and they also wanted to improve the landscaping.
“It is a five-year project at The Mount and students have been researching the Mander family, who lived at the manor house, which was built for them in 1860. The gardens were developed in 1909.”
Darren says that receiving national recognition for their work has brought a number of prestigious offers their way.
“We were not going to do a show garden at this year’s Gardeners World show at the NEC,” says Darren. “However, when they heard this the organisers asked us to do a special feature, which will go in a prominent position next to the main doors.
“I think it is fantastic that we have built ourselves up to a position where we take pride of place at one of the biggest horticultural shows in the world.”
The Cedars underwent a thorough inspection by experts from the Royal Horticultural Society before being given its new status.
Mr Rudge said: “They looked at the resources that we have here, as well as the qualifications of staff.
“They had no problems with approving us and this new status will help with recruiting students.” The college is based in the gardens at Compton Hall, which was built in 1878 for well-known brewer William Butler.
Although Compton Hospice has taken over the building, the grounds are listed.
They remain owned by Wolverhampton Council and can only be used for educational purposes.
“We have two-and-a-quarter acres of landscaped gardens and we are looking at returning them back to the style created in 1878 for William Butler,” said Mr Rudge. “I’m sure we will be here for many years to come and we are building a log cabin, which will become another classroom and double up as a conference room.”
Students can do a range of courses from basic hands-on level right through to academic qualifications. Soon GCSEs and A-level students will be able to choose horticulture and floristry as part of their studies. Mr Rudge added: “Seven years ago we had 80 students and now we have 550.
“We have really built a good resource for people to study horticulture and floristry.”
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