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Senior Gardener

Employer
National Trust
Location
Shaw's Corner, Ayot St Lawrence, Welwyn, AL6 9BX
Salary
£25,662 per annum pro rata
Closing date
3 Jul 2022

Job Details

Summary            

We are looking for an experienced, qualified Senior Gardener to join our team at Shaw's Corner.   

You'll join a small team of property staff, and work with dedicated garden volunteers to look after the garden and home of George Bernard Shaw. You’ll love working outdoors and understand that our gardens and grounds are as significant as our mansion houses, collections and our historical places.

What it's like to work here            

Shaw's Corner was once the countryside retreat of famed Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. The garden surrounds an Art and Crafts influenced house, with a variety of garden areas and ornamental herbaceous plantings and shrub borders.  The orchard provides beauty on a spring afternoon, and the small dell adds a touch of theatre with the statue of St Joan looking across the Hertfordshire countryside. The main lawn, once used for tennis, is now used for picnics and events.   

We are at the start of an exciting multi-year project within the garden, and it will be up to you, as the Senior Gardener, to help run the project and design new beds and borders supported by your regional Gardens Advisor. At times you'll also have the opportunity to explore other National Trust gardens and meet your colleagues within the wider region.   

Shaw's Corner is open from the end of March to the end of September.      

What you'll be doing            

Our visitors tell us how much they enjoy the peace and tranquillity of our well-kept outdoor spaces, which makes your role vital in making sure that our visitors have an amazing experience. 

Reporting to the House Manager, you'll supervise and work with a group of dedicated volunteers to ensure that the garden at Shaw's Corner looks beautifully maintained all year round.

Managing our beautiful gardens is an important part of the role; in addition, we’d like you to help support the property leadership team to help creating visions and actions for the wider property and your input is welcome. As the Senior Gardener in our team, we’d like you to lead by example, with good gardening skills, but you’ll also understand how to manage workloads, enjoy engaging with our visitors and deliver exceptional training to new and existing volunteers.

Please also read the full role profile attached to this advert.

Who we are looking for            

To be successful in this role you should be able to demonstrate the following:

  • Significant practical experience in horticulture supported by relevant qualifications
  • Have supervisory experience from a similar role
  • Excellent knowledge of plants
  • Competent with the use and maintenance of garden machinery including chainsaws, tractors, hedge trimmers, pedestrian and ride on mowers
  • Knowledge of relevant health and safety legislation and practice

Company

There's no other organisation like the National Trust. No other organisation that brings such an amazing variety of places and spaces to life.

We are a charity founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, three people who saw the importance of our nation’s heritage and open spaces, and wanted to protect them for everyone to enjoy. More than a century after we were founded, our values are still at the heart of everything we do. And we do a lot more than you might think. 

We welcome some 22.5 million visitors, from all ages and backgrounds, every year. We care for historic houses, gardens, mills, forests, castles, miles of coastline, islands, holiday cottages, pubs and inns, whole villages and even a goldmine. We also run a huge retail chain, a multi-million pound food and beverage business and much, much more. And we do all of this so that everyone can enjoy and make the most of the green spaces and beautiful places that England, Wales and Northern Ireland has to offer. 

The National Trust is described by its employee gardeners as “dynamic, supportive, inquisitive and fun”, where its beautiful places “lift your spirits naturally” and “somewhere you can expand new skills”. The organisation is currently recruiting for a number of gardening roles. 

Read more in our latest articles:

What makes the National Trust a special place to work?

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