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The Conversation

Factual: Life Stories

Two women from different parts of the world share the stories of their lives

Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.

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The Conversation: Head Gardeners

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Head Gardeners

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Head Gardeners

Two women in charge of popular botanical gardens

Kim Chakanetsa talks to two female head gardeners in Barbados and Toronto about why gardening is still seen as a hobby for women but a career for men.

Planting, pruning and giving the orders - Kim Chakanetsa meets two female head gardeners who are challenging the idea that gardening is a hobby for women but a career for men.

Sharon Cooke runs Andromeda Botanic Gardens in Barbados, the only Royal Horticulture Society Partner Garden in the West Indies. The garden was created in the 1950s by award-winning horticulturist Iris Bannochie. After Iris died, the garden fell into decline, but Sharon is now restoring it to its former glory. Sharon says that when people ask to meet the Head Gardener, they usually expect a man, and are surprised to see that she is in charge. 

Sandra Pella has been the Head Gardener at the public Toronto Botanical Garden in Canada since 2008. Sandra is self-taught, but came from a family of green-fingered farmers. She quit her job at a bank and made the change from gardening as a hobby, to gardening as a profession. She says that because of her gender, people sometimes don't believe she is strong enough to use a wheelbarrow or climb a ladder.

(L) Image: Sandra Pella. Credit: Paul Zammit
(R) Image and credit: Sharon Cooke

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