An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Decorative Gardener to develop and maintain the herbaceous and mixed borders on a beautiful private family estate, located near Hastings.  The Estate includes a 15-acre pleasure garden and is surrounded by pastures and woodland in the sunniest part of the country.  

Our client is looking for a Decorative Gardener to assist with horticultural duties such as developing and maintaining two long herbaceous and mixed borders of approximately 100 metres containing perennials in pastel colours, a hot border of mixed perennials and shrubs, a white border, a tropical border, terrace, front of house borders and various other decorative areas. The position reports in to the Head Gardener and the successful candidate will join a friendly and horticulturally passionate team

The ideal candidate will have good horticultural knowledge and hold a level 2 horticultural qualification. He / She should be prepared to work outside in all weathers, have the determination and drive to get a job done and a have a vision for maintaining and enhancing the borders as required. The property is open to the public several times a year and is also a private garden, so you must always be presentable and personable for the owners to enjoy.  The role will focus on horticulture rather than general maintenance, so it is essential that you have good plant identification abilities and a genuine passion for plants.

In addition, the estate gardening team participate in a local in bloom a community horticultural group devoted to enhancing the local village environment and support for this programme will be required (during the working day), from time to time as well as mentoring trainees as necessary. 

This is an excellent opportunity to work in one of the country’s great estates, and to utilise your horticultural skills in a beautiful and friendly environment.  The Head Gardener encourages career growth and development and would be happy to support trainings, development programmes, should the budget allow for that year. The owners also keep bees on the estate therefore if there was an interest or you have experience in beekeeping, there is an opportunity there to get involved.