Head Gardener
- Employer
- Private Garden - Surrey Hills
- Location
- Guildford, Surrey
- Salary
- Competitive Salary
- Closing date
- 1 Mar 2021
View more
- Function
- Gardening Jobs
- Sector
- Forestry & Woodland
Head Gardener Wanted to help Restore Historic Woodland Garden in Surrey Hills
Head Gardener wanted for lovely large private woodland garden in the Surrey Hills, a few miles from Guildford, due to the retirement of the current garden contractor and his maintenance team.
This is an exciting opportunity for a knowledgeable and energetic gardener to work with a young family restoring and bringing back to life an historic garden with stunning views from the top of the Surrey Hills. Currently the garden consists of wide, open lawns with limited planting around them and a large woodland garden consisting of trees and mainly rhododendrons in its acidic soils. The new gardener would play a key role in the garden restoration and replanting, bring heart and life back to this wonderful place.
The gardener’s role would be to work with landscape designers Mazzullo+Russell alongside the client with a gradual programme of replanting and restoration of this garden originally planted in the 1880’s around a remarkable country house with further additions approximately 20 years ago. We are looking for someone who would genuinely enjoy the restoration and improvement process and also be able to bring knowledge and enthusiasm to this exciting project.
The suitable candidate must be interested in plants and plantsmanship with a good experience of all forms of horticulture from maintaining borders to propagation, shrub pruning to turf maintenance. An interest in acid loving trees and shrubs would also be useful along with experience of woodland gardens.
The candidate would be expected to be very hands on physically but also recruiting and running a small team of assistant gardeners and outside contractors as required. The job also includes responsibility for a full range of mechanical equipment, tennis court maintenance and general garden cleanliness. The job entails everything from basic border mulching and digging to skilled pruning and is never dull. The job will also involve a certain amount of administration, including running a garden budget, ordering plants and supplies plus supervising the work of the garden team and outside contractors.
The garden is designed in two parts, an upper level consisting of an entrance drive, walled herbaceous border and large lawns surrounding by trees and shrubs with stunning views across the valley below. The woodland garden covers the slopes below with a myriad of paths through overgrown planting along with a small pond and damp loving planting. The property also includes fields and a tennis court where a new gym building, and surrounding garden is currently planned. An existing swimming pool and pool house is maintained by others, but paving and surrounding borders need to be very well maintained.
Salary will be attractive and is commensurate with experience as no accommodation is offered and it is hoped the gardener would live within a sensible travelling distance.
Please give details of all training and experience, including details of all proficiency certificates achieved. Horticultural qualifications and experience are essential, and references will be required as well as a driving licence. It would also be helpful to know about your interests and hobbies.
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