Head Gardener

Head Gardener

Howick Gardens and Arboretum

Salary :  in excess of £35,000 dependent on experience + family house and pension scheme.

Contract : permanent full time.

Location : east coast of Northumberland in an AONB.

Closing Date :  6 October 2024

This vacancy arises from the retirement next April of our current Head Gardener after 41 years; we are now looking for an enthusiastic and knowledgeable replacement to take everything forward for another generation.

Howick Hall has been the home of the Earl Grey family. From about 1530, Charles, 5^th Earl Grey and his wife Mabel followed the natural style of gardening pioneered by William Robinson.  Their grandson, the present Lord Howick, has added an arboretum grown from seed collected in the wild from 1985 on expeditions with either Kew or Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; it now covers about 60 acres.

Howick Hall, its garden and arboretum are owned by a charitable foundation, Howick Trustees Ltd. (“HT”) and gets about 40,000 visitors a year.

A full description of the garden and arboretum is available on the attached PDF file.

There is strong feedback from visitors that they particularly like the natural and non-commercial ‘feel’ at Howick compared to many other places and HT want to keep it that way.

The key requirements are :

• Detailed and extensive knowledge of all horticultural matters.
• Professional qualifications are good evidence of this but valid experience of at least 5 years will also be taken into account.
• Excellent personal skills to bring the best out of the staff, volunteers and interaction with the public.
• A thorough understanding of all health and safety regulations and issues.

Please send your CV with a covering letter explaining why you are interested in applying to gwaller@howickuk.com