After a career in publishing, I wanted a complete change of direction when returning to work after the birth of my two children. I had gardened ever since I was small and had an allotment for fourteen years so the obvious choice was horticulture - as a chance to make a career of something I really liked. I studied for the RHS Level 2 Certificate with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. Then I found the website for the Historic and Botanic Gardens Bursary Scheme and, though I was only able to work part-time, I was lucky to get a secondment at Little Sparta in the Pentland Hills - the garden created by the poet and sculptor Ian Hamilton Finlay.

Twice a week, except when it was too snowy to get up the track, I dragged felled timber to the bonfire, cleared leaves, dug over the two allotments, tied in raspberries, cut heather for thatching and made a start to drag away pondweed cleared from the loch - to a chorus of croaking frogs. The garden is up in the hills and to begin with I gardened in a thermal t-shirt and two fleeces under my waterproof jacket, casting off the layers as the weather warmed up. When I started the garden was already beautiful but it really came to life as the snowdrops came out. I learned the sheer hard graft involved in looking after a garden where the wilderness is so carefully managed, but a gardener couldn't have been happier, out in the countryside, surrounded by hills. I am grateful to the HBGBS, the Little Sparta Trust, and to Ralph, the gardener at Little Sparta, for the opportunity I had to spend time there.

Now I hope to find work in a historic garden, or on a small estate - any offers considered!