The future of gardening is a debate that has waged again and again throughout the blogosphere and also via online gardening sites and media sources. In each argument and rebuttal the same point is made that gardening as a hobby is slowing down and gardeners are getting older.

Depending on your viewpoint we could argue ad nauseum the factors causing this disturbing trend and suggest possible remedies. While that dialog would be fun and possibly amusing from a blogging stance I think the discussion may not be needed.

Why?

Because our schools are taking up the slack and offering horticulture courses.

While I was in Tasmania recently we were hosted by a local school Principal who, after discovering my addiction for gardening, was only too keen to display his school's horticultural program (a course that we never had the luxury of studying while I was at school).

This course of study was highly maintained and a sizable portion of land was dedicated to the program. It included individual vegetable beds for students, propagating areas (outdoor and within a shadehouse) and a garden that the students themselves had created.

This garden featured a lake pond with many plants that were either local or had been grown by the students. Walkways, structural features, plantings and systems to encourage bio-diversity were all part of the schema and this horticulture course had educated these students to create and manage it.

I was even fortunate enough to meet up with a couple of ex-students, one of whom now works in a nursery and the other who has a keen interest in home gardening. Their enthusiasm for their hobby was contagious and they paid tribute to the school's horticultural program and it's zealous teacher.

As more school's offer horticulture courses, and they seem to be springing up quicker than alfalfa sprouts on a warm window sill, the future of gardening will be safeguarded. When young people are equipped with the skills and knowledge to continue their craft they are more likely to return to it when they have homes of their own.

Hopefully, we may even see better home gardens as a result.