The research will form the backbone of an industry-wide campaign, Horticulture Matters, to change perceptions of horticultural careers and help bridge the skills gap. As part of the campaign, the industry will call for the Government to better understand the true value of horticulture and horticultural careers in the UK.
The RHS is calling on anyone employing skilled horticulturists to complete a questionnaire by 31 January.
The feedback from this will help to determine the number of skilled horticultural vacancies that there are today, anticipate skilled vacancies over the next three years, highlight the extent to which the industry is going overseas to fill skilled roles and find out why fewer people are now attracted to horticulture as a career.
RHS director-general Sue Biggs said: "It's vital to address the issues surrounding the green-skills shortage now. If our industry is going to implement a much-needed campaign for change and call for Government support, we need a comprehensive piece of research that provides hard evidence and evaluates the bigger picture.
"Please help us achieve this - we're calling on everyone in our business, including growers, garden centres, garden design companies, horticultural research centres and businesses across the industry to help us by completing the questionnaire to make a real difference to the future of Britain's horticulture."
The questionnaire can be downloaded online via www.surveymonkey.com/s/GR8Q67F.
