Mary Ryan always wanted to be a teacher. Born in Dublin and educated at St Louis, Rathmines and St Patrick's training college, Drumcondra, she started her teaching career at the De La Salle junior school in the Dublin suburb of Churchtown. She primarily taught third and fourth classes and she was perfectly content with her chosen career for the first 10 years.
"In about year 10 I found that I was still putting in the same amount of effort but I wasn't getting as much of a kick out of it any more," Mary Ryan says. "Something had changed. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what, but I found there was a changing attitude towards education, a changing attitude towards authority and the beginnings of a breakdown in traditional social values. As a result the teaching environment changed fundamentally and I was no longer as happy in my job as I had been."
The opportunity to do something completely different came when declining pupil numbers meant Ryan's school was forced to close. "I decided not to look for another teaching job and to try to make a living from what had become my hobby - gardening," she says. Initially Ryan started out in garden maintenance but her business has since grown and developed and she now designs gardens and planting schemes as well.
Ryan's first interest in gardening came when her family moved to a new house and her mother set about creating a garden from scratch. "I was about two and a half at the time and my job was to pick up stones," she says. "The garden was huge and my mother was very keen and I followed her around. After that I forgot about it until I started growing bulbs and seeds with the kids in school. I found I was really enjoying growing things and the kids got a great kick out of it as well. I loved all sorts of plants and I just started growing more and more things.
"I found myself wishing for the bell at 3.15 so as I could go and look after my plants. I started helping out in a flower shop and reading everything I could lay my hands on about gardening and watching everything on the TV with even a remote connection to it. I began looking for an evening course to do and eventually found a suitable correspondence course in Britain."
Around this time Ryan had begun teaching sixth class and she found the growing pressures on herself and the children unacceptable. "I was spending hours doing corrections and on preparations for Confirmation and entrance exams and I found myself getting really stressed out by it all," she says.
"I also found it distressing to see kids of 12 really worried about what would happen if they didn't get their entrance exams to the `right' schools. The numbers in the school were falling and when the school finally shut its doors I decided to embark on a new journey. I had had the opportunity to work in a garden in need of a major overhaul and having transformed it I knew this was something I could do." The school closed in June 1993 and Mary Ryan struck out on her own. She had business cards printed, put the word out among friends and assembled the tools and equipment she needed. "I was fortunate in that I lived with my mother and I didn't have a mortgage or a family to worry about. So the risk was quite low from that point of view," she says.
"I decided to give it a year and see what happened. People's reactions were interesting. There were raised eyebrows from some and questions about what I was going to do for five months of the year when you couldn't garden. My mother was very supportive and encouraged me to give it a go. She's been great and she's been the one who has had to put up with me and my mucky boots. She has also become an invaluable `secretary' because I don't have a mobile phone and she's very good at dealing with all my customers."
Ryan believed her service would be of particular interest to older people and those living alone who might be nervous of letting a stranger into their homes. As it turned out she was right and quite a lot of her referrals have come from this source. Apart from very heavy work, when she brings in help, Ryan does everything else herself.
"People pay for me and they get me. I don't believe in employing others and turning up at the end to check their work. By working in people's gardens I develop a relationship with them and I have met many interesting people with really interesting life stories to tell. I'm happy to work in all kinds of weather and in fact you don't end up with nothing to do for five months. There is always something to get on with."
Mary Ryan's business has grown by word of mouth alone and her client list is full with others waiting. However, she says that it took a good four years before the business began to show a return. "I had very little income to start off with and I lived on what I had saved before I left school. The first three years were absolutely hectic and I worked every hour there was because I was terrified to turn down a job in case the phone would never ring again. I think it's natural to feel like that at the beginning and it definitely takes a while for your confidence to build up. But when it does you feel secure enough to take a break or to turn someone down."
Ryan believes that being organised by nature has been a big help. "I tend to plan my schedule quite carefully and not to waste time. I turn up when I say I will and I come with everything I need. I have also been lucky with my plant supplier. I work a lot with K & M Nurseries who also source things for me and I'm very impressed with the quality of their plants. I have absolutely no regrets about giving up teaching. I love every minute of what I do now and it is enormously rewarding and satisfying to see a garden transformed and taking shape."
