Groundsperson
Our client is currently seeking a full time live-in groundsperson for a beautiful riverside home in North Dorset.
The gardens consist of around two acres of lawn and mature formal garden surrounded by a further six acres of woodland, orchard and meadow with a river running through the land. There are avenues of hornbeam hedges, walled gardens, and rills and a courtyard garden. The groundsperson will be working alongside a part time gardener, who is responsible for the roses and much of the plant care.
The successful candidate will be responsible for the general maintenance of the garden including grass cutting, lawn maintenance, strimming and edging, pruning of trees and larger shrubs including willows, fruit trees and Portuguese laurels, Hedge Cutting – mainly hornbeam and laurel, Pollarding and planting of willows, poplars and other trees and keeping the garden generally tidy. The client has a range of garden machinery and the groundsperson will be responsible for the machinery maintenance; arranging servicing and repairs as well as hiring from external contractors some machinery, diggers, high hedge cutters as and when required. The groundsperson will maintain the courtyard and gravelled area, supervise the irrigation and management pumps to ponds and fountains, and maintain the river level and carry out river care.
Other responsibilities include small restoration jobs inside the house, occasional exterior and interior Painting jobs, organisation of logs for house, organisation of rubbish for collection, booking of services for boiler and appliances, swimming pool maintenance and car cleaning. The groundsperson will have house security and keyholder duties. In case of very heavy rainfall, sluice gates will need to be opened on weekends/ at night. This has been made much easier by the existence of online weather forecasting and owner’s 22-year experience of the river.
Applicants must be able to use their initiative and work efficiently. The ideal candidate will have experience operating garden/grounds machinery (tractors, mowers, strimmers, hedge cutters, chainsaws). Knowledge of digger operation desirable but not essential. A full UK driving licence is essential and own vehicle.
Working hours will be: 8.30am – 5pm, Monday – Friday, some flexibility is expected. Some Saturday mornings may be required.
The position requires being based on site therefore an attractive two bedroom converted barn is provided rent free with the role. The accommodation includes a large sitting room, two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and good-sized garden with raised vegetable beds and greenhouses. Most bills are covered by the employer such as council tax, water, electricity and oil. Annual leave provided is 21 days holiday per year plus bank holidays.
SALARY: £25,000
LOCATION: North Dorset
JOB No: EC33378
If this Groundsperson vacancy is of interest, please apply or contact Sara Yassin on 01233 733510 or info@englishcountrygardeners.co.uk.
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Thank you for the interest you have shown in this Groundsperson vacancy. Unfortunately, due to the high volume of applications that we receive, it is not possible to respond to every one. Therefore, unless you hear from us within the next 14 days, your application for this Groundsperson vacancy will have been unsuccessful.
