As a Gardener for the National Trust, you’ll be a hands-on member of the garden team, involved in every aspect of gardening at Farnborough Hall. Responsible for day-to-day maintenance, and the highest standards of horticulture, you’ll also play a vital role in improving the experience of visitors to the garden and wider estate.
You may be asked to work occasional weekends, bank holidays and evenings.
What it's like to work here
As a Gardener at Farnborough, you'll be managed by a lead Ranger who will work with you as part of a small team. You'll expand on your horticulture skills and knowledge in all areas of both the formal garden and wider landscape, whilst learning new Estate skills from the lead ranger. There are several volunteers in the team who you'll work with on a regular basis from border work, formal mowing to hedge cutting. On a regular basis you'll also work across the portfolio at Upton House & Gardens, to enable you to progress in your horticulture career learning from other highly skilled Gardeners from an advanced level of propagation of plants and shrubs, border maintenance tasks to formal turf maintenance.
Farnborough hall is an 18c Grade 1 listed property and is set in the heart of the village. The gardens around the mansion include formal lawns, herbaceous borders and a rose garden with formal box hedging. To the north of the mansion the mile long green terrace is planted with early spring bulbs, trees and shrubs and is an integral part of the landscape, as it includes the iconic temple and pavilion which overlook the serpentine lake in the lower parkland and a large stone obelisk marks the end of the terrace with views back across to the edge hill escapement.
What you'll be doing
You'll be helping to keep the garden and parkland in tiptop condition every day. This might involve daily checks to make sure all areas are safe for people visiting, routine tasks such as weeding, pruning and mulching, and using machinery such as hedge cutters, leaf blowers, lawnmowers and tractors.
Other duties might include propagation of plants and shrubs, tree safety work and planting trees in the wider landscape and maintaining the water features. You'll be involved in recycling and managing garden waste, from composting to dead hedging.
Who we're looking for
We'd love to hear from you if you’re:
* an enthusiastic horticulturist and hands-on gardener, who’s worked with hard landscaping before
* knowledgeable about plants, with a great eye for detail.
* experienced with machinery, including tractors, chainsaws, rotary and cylinder mowers, and with some knowledge of maintenance
* a driver with a full licence
* able to manage a demanding outdoor role
* good at talking to, and getting on with, all kinds of people
* equally confident working within a team, with volunteers or on your own
* able to keep to time, plan and meet deadlines
The package
The National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.
• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary
• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
• Rental deposit loan scheme
• Season ticket loan
• EV car lease scheme
• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts
• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.
• Flexible working whenever possible
• Employee assistance programme
• Free parking at most Trust places