Head Gardener
Rockingham Castle is looking for an enthusiastic, experienced, hands-on head gardener with great plant knowledge to maintain the 18 acres of formal gardens and the wider grounds to a high standard. The Head Gardener will manage a small team. The gardens and grounds include formal lawns, formal gardens, herbaceous borders, a rose garden, yew topiary as well as a vegetable garden, greenhouses, cottage garden, orchard and wild garden.
This role will suit someone who is self-motivated with a keen eye for detail who has a strong interest in the care of the historic gardens and grounds of Rockingham Castle. This person will be a passionate and knowledgeable gardener who has a great understanding of plants and horticultural techniques. This position is hands-on and an active role requiring working outdoors all year round.
This person should be keen to further develop and improve the gardens and grounds working closely with the owners. The ideal candidate should fit well into the small established estate team while being able to work on their own initiative.
Responsible For:
- Maintenance of the formal gardens.
- Key duties such as weeding, deadheading, trimming, plating and mowing.
- Care and management of plants, shrubs, lawns, hedges and trees.
- Working with handheld machinery including but not limited to, lawn mowers, strimmers, blowers and hedge cutters.
- Assisting with new garden and landscape projects as required.
- Maintenance of the Kitchen Garden including propagation and glasshouse work.
- Assisting the forestry department with maintenance of the Wild Garden.
- Producing house plants and cut flowers for the Castle throughout the year.
- Maintenance of the cottage garden, pool and tennis court area.
- Routine garden machinery maintenance and upkeep of workspaces.
- Management of a small team.
- Keeping well-ordered and correct health & safety paperwork and to ensure a safe working environment in line with current legislation.
The successful candidate must have
- Minimum level 3 Horticultural Qualification or similar.
- Minimum of 3 years’ experience in a similar garden role.
- A positive and hardworking attitude.
- Excellent plant knowledge.
- Confident people skills. Must be able to meet and greet visitors, give tours and liaise with other estate team members and outside contractors.
- Able to work alone but also part of a small friendly estate team.
- Possess excellent attention to detail and take pride in their work.
- Full clean driving license.
- A cleared DBS check will be required of the successful candidate.
- PA1 & PA6 Spraying Qualifications.
- Chainsaw license. (desirable)
- First aid Qualification. (desirable)
Package & Benefits
- Salary c. £25,000, depending on experience.
- Cottage provided, rent free, on the estate. Council tax and utilities payable by the employee.
- Assistance with relocation expenses is available.
- 20 days holiday plus Bank Holidays.
- 40 hours per week with occasional weekend, Bank Holiday and evening working with overtime paid.
- Training as required.
