Gardener

Our client who resides in one of Oxfordshire’s grand historic stately homes is looking for an exceptional person to be an important and valued member of the family’s already brilliant Gardening and Landscaping team.

You will be a discreet person who has respect for the family’s closely guarded privacy, maintaining a professional attitude towards your work at all times. You will take complete pride in everything you do ensuring all tasks are carried out to the very highest of standards.

The 3000 acre estate has over 80 acres of parkland and somewhere in the region of 30 acres of formal and landscaped gardens. This rarely available permanent full time position has a lot to offer someone who has solid professional experience in gardening and the maintenance of parkland throughout all 4 seasons.

You will be an important, trusted and valued member in a team of 6 full time professional gardeners. The main responsibilities to be taken on by the new member of the team will include the following.

• Mowing of all lawns in the Formal Gardens and some of the Parkland using push mowers and ride on lawn mowers which you must have previous experience and confidence in using.
• Strimming areas that can’t be mown such as around tree and sculpture bases and in and around delicate borders
• Meticulous maintenance of the croquet lawn, cricket oval and the 2 miles of lawn lining the main drive
• Leaf clearing using various tools and machinery including leaf blowers to ensure paths are always clear and beds are tidy
• Maintenance of the formal woodland, including pruning and planting of new trees
• Hedge cutting to a very high standard using a range of mechanical and manual tools.
• Maintenance of the lakes and various water systems on the estate
• You must have a head for heights as some pruning will be done at high levels in a cherry picker.

Whilst you will be largely responsible for the above other duties will include the maintenance of the walled gardens, vegetable gardens, poly tunnel system, fruit cages, parterre gardens, arboretum, plus a variety of different formal and informal borders. Depending on the season you will be required to complete a variety of different tasks on your own and as a team on an annual basis.

For the right person this position provides a rare and fantastic opportunity to further your career whilst working alongside some of the best people in the industry and training will be given where needed.

Working hours are 8am till 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8am till 4pm on a Friday. You will also be required to work 1 weekend in every 6 for just a couple of hours in the morning and again in the afternoon for which you are paid overtime at your standard rate. Holiday entitlement is 21 days per year plus bank holiday and after a years service you will be eligible to join the company’s stakeholder pension. Due to the location you would require your own transport to commute daily

If you would like to be considered for this rarely available position and be part of this very special team please forward your CV at your earliest convenience.