Summary
As a Gardener, you'll be a hands-on member, involved in every aspect of gardening at Attingham Park and Sunnycroft. 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 will also be required to work weekends, bank holidays and evenings.
What it's like to work here
Reporting to the Head Gardener, you'll be joining a team of 5. You'll be working alongside and leading teams of volunteers, with the support of the rest of the staff team doing various tasks across the garden including mowing, strimming, harvesting, planting, pruning, fencing. We have around 90 volunteers that we work alongside, 7 days a week. We help with events onsite, our main one being a Christmas build in the walled Garden.
Attingham welcomes everyone - our supporters, members, and visitors are vital in helping us continue our work. Whatever your role, you'll play your part in helping us build relationships and make connections with our regular visitors, those new to Attingham, and those yet to visit, so we can keep Attingham a special place now, and for everyone, and for ever. Attingham Park is arguably Shropshire's greatest estate.
Click here for more information about this location What you'll be doing
You'll be helping to keep the garden & parkland to the highest standard every day. This might involve daily checks to make sure all areas are safe for people visiting, routine tasks such as weeding, pruning, propagating and mulching, and using machinery such as hedge cutters, leaf blowers, lawnmowers and tractors.
Main duties will include working in our walled garden looking after our veg from seed to harvest and onto supplying our shop, café and Mansion whilst finding new and intuitive ways to promote vegetable growing in the garden. This will also include pruning a wide range of fruit trees from trained fruit to our stately apple trees. You'll be helping to support, look after and manage our large teams of volunteers throughout the week. Whilst engaging with visitors about the garden its plants and rich history. You'll be responsible for presentation around our visitor entrance and stables including the upkeep of a small cottage garden. This will also include assisting in the upkeep and development of Attingham's parkland planting beds.
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)
- Tax-free childcare scheme
- 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
Click here to find out more about the benefits we offer to support you.