About the role
and about you
Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) is the independent charity that loves and looks after six of the most wonderful palaces in the world. The palaces are the setting for the stories that shape us all, and we’re bringing them to people in ways that mean more to them. We want everyone to find themselves in the spaces and stories we share.
Our gardens play an important part in attracting visitors and we want to be able to grow this engagement in line with our ambition to be a charity for everyone.
Working within the gardens and estates team helping maintain the gardens at Hampton Court Palace, this role is based within the glasshouse nursery and involves working without supervision to carry out the propagation, production and maintenance of a wide range of tender and hardy plants.
Our Nursery covers one acre of glass and it is where we produce a wide range of seasonal bedding plants for our HRP Gardens, including Kensington Palace. We are also proud of our unique and fascinating collection of exotic plants which are displayed through the Gardens during the summer, along with three National Collections which we present on a regular basis.
The successful candidate will have significant experience of growing plants from plugs, seeds and cuttings within a commercial nursery. It is essential that you are positive, team focused and competent in high quality horticulture, and can work independently and supervise others (such as apprentices).
With a keen eye for detail, you will have a passion for gardening and experience in horticultural maintenance tasks. A good knowledge of plants, in particular the care of perennials tender plants and shrubs is important, whilst an understanding of modern sustainability practices and a knowledge of garden biodiversity would also be useful. Some experience of using a range of horticultural equipment and machinery will be helpful. This role requires the driving of tractors and vans, so a clean driving licence is an essential requirement (please confirm this on your application).
Ideally you will have horticultural qualifications at QCF level 2 or 3, and NPTC PA1 and PA6 spraying certificate are desirable.
Closing date: Sunday 16th February
Interviews: Monday 24th & Wednesday 26th February