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Head Gardener

Employer
National Trust
Location
Mottisfont Abbey, Mottisfont, Nr Romsey, SO51 0LP
Salary
£37,425 per annum
Closing date
10 Jul 2022

Job Details

Summary        
Could you be our new Head Gardener at Mottisfont? Do you have a passion for heritage gardens and historic roses? Is your approach to looking after designed parks and gardens forward thinking and adaptive? Then read on!

You'll have excellent leadership skills, to lead our beautiful world-famous garden into the next phase of its history. With a range of horticultural experience, you'll be excited by the diversity of the gardens and parklands of Mottisfont. Your role will include managing the designed formal gardens and garden features, and our walled gardens which is home to the National Collection pre-1900 collection of Old-Fashioned Roses. There is plenty of scope to put your stamp on Mottisfont too, enhancing our peaceful Winter Garden, and shaping how we take Mottisfont into the future with a changing climate and a biodiversity crisis that we need to play our part in. There is also a beautiful stretch of biodiversity rich chalk stream to look after; historic parkland with a range of veteran trees and hidden archaeology beneath pristine lawns.

What it's like to work here        
Located in the idyllic riverside gardens, between ancient trees, bubbling brooks and rolling lawns Mottisfont is full of surprises. Full of art, and featuring a colorful garden year round, Mottisfont is a popular visitor attraction and the team are always on hand to provide a fantastic experience for all. The wider estate includes 1600 acres of woodland, tenanted farms and Curbridge Nature Reserve, as well as relaxing walks.

Mottisfont is home to a beautiful riverside garden offering a sensory treat with glorious old-fashioned roses which are also left to produce ornamental fruit in autumn and winter.

Click here for more information about this location

The property is open 7 days per week, 363 days of the year; our busiest times are Easter, June, School Holidays, and Christmas. We are closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Weekend working is a requirement of the role. There is a Duty Gardener rota shared between the team to make sure there is a gardens presence on property every day of the week. As part of the Property Leadership Team you will also be part of the duty management rota. Duty Managers coordinate the property team on a daily basis and take charge if any problems arise at weekends. The rotas currently mean working one weekend every 6-8 weeks.

What you'll be doing        
A great leader you will lead our team of 8 gardeners and 80 volunteers, helping them to get the best from themselves, each other and the gardens. You will be creative in finding solutions to some of the challenges facing our garden, and able to collaborate with the team on the property, the wider organisation and specialist colleagues.

At home both in the office and in the garden, you'll be managing budgets, writing and implementing Garden Management Plans and project plans, and helping to showcase the gardens. You will be our ambassador, liaising with key stakeholders, donors and fundraisers, and comfortable with media and written content on our gardens. You will also be a visible and integral presence in the gardens, leading the work of the team, and driving the passion for this wonderful place. You'll be working for an amazing charity at a time when gardens are a key focus of our work. If this sounds like you, we'd love to hear from you!

If you would like to know more about the role or to arrange a visit before you apply, please get in touch with General Manager - email: Vicky.Fletcher@nationaltrust.org.uk or phone 07816 089981.

Who we're looking for        
As Head Gardener at Mottisfont, you'll be:

Setting an overall vision for the gardens and grounds taking into account visitor numbers and experience and the historic and horticultural importance of the gardens, grounds, and plant collections
Leading our team of 8 gardeners plus our volunteer garden teams. Set daily, weekly, and longer-term work plans, and foster a culture of open communication and collaboration.
Undertaking practical horticultural management, overseeing high standards of horticultural management and presentation across our formal gardens and wider grounds, plus the propagation of plants both for planting out in the gardens and for sale in our shop. 
Fostering communication with visitors and the public on both horticultural practice and gardens interpretation, through our dedicated volunteer teams, through events, and through collaborating with our visitor experience and communications teams  
Working in collaboration to identify funding and resources to deliver enhancements, improvements, and projects
Leading on the Rose Garden Restoration project, aiming to ensure that our National Collection of pre-1900s shrub roses is conserved and enhanced for the next 50 years, along with the carefully designed companion planting, and walled garden and visitor infrastructure
Setting and leading standards relating to environmental practice, in line with the National Trust's ethos
Responsible for compliance against legislation including the health and safety of the team, tree safety in the 'play zone', and environmental legislation. 
For more details please see our standard Head Gardener role profile and our welcome pack.

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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