Senior Gardener in Oxfordshire

Job Title: Senior Gardener - Full-time, permanent. Live out.
Salary: £30k - 40k depending on experience.
Location: Private Estate, near Banbury.
We are offering an exciting opportunity for a senior gardener to join our small team looking after the beautiful gardens of an organically certified, private estate in North Oxfordshire.
The sixteen acres of estate gardens and wider grounds that surround the sixteenth-century manor house, have been well known for many years going through different phases of ownership and have been photographed and featured in many high level publications. A recent change of ownership has brought impetus for new direction and redesign across the estate, with new landscape designs led by a well known landscaping studio. It is an exciting time to join us at a formative stage of the garden's development.

The gardens comprise of ornamental gardens, an orchard, a productive walled garden and glasshouse, cutting gardens, gravel garden, nuttery, wildflower meadows, pond and wetland, flowering tree and shrub walk; the overall character is naturalistic alongside formal hedging, lawns and topiary providing structure.

We are looking for an outstanding, passionate, experienced and skilled gardener who will thrive in a rich and diverse horticultural environment, who is a genuine plants person, with the plant knowledge and practice to tend to detailed border schemes. This person will also have a great work ethic and will work tidily and professionally at all times. As a small team we are also looking for someone with a positive outlook who enjoys working with others, who can take direction from the Head Gardener, but it is also essential that you are happy to also work for long periods on your own. Due to the size of the team you must have the experience, capability, and self-motivation to consistently work to a high level routinely, without supervision.
The estate is managed according to organic principles and the existing gardeners share the owner's passion for regenerative methods of managing landscape, promoting biodiversity and exploring and developing methods to garden with sensitivity to nature and the wider landscape, whilst simultaneously ensuring that the ornamental gardens are kept to the highest standard. Previous experience in organic gardening techniques would be a plus but is not essential.
Additionally, a cut flower business is run from the estate grounds and the new gardener will be required to assist in the maintenance of the cutting gardens as directed by the Head Gardener. A real interest and curiosity for growing cut flowers would be a plus.

Essential Skills

• Excellent gardener with a minimum of three years in a similar level role in a similar context - private or historic estate.
• Excellent and demonstrable plant knowledge.
• High level border work, working with attention to detail and craft in border maintenance work.
• Excellent pruning skills - competency in this area with a range of perennial plants, shrubs and climbers.
• Demonstrable experience in the routine annual maintenance of hedges; lawns; areas of hard-landscaping; assistance with the care of the wildflower meadows. Ability to keep these to an excellent standard.
• Experience using power tools for garden maintenance, including hedge-trimming and strimming.
• Experience in productive gardening: vegetable & soft fruit production
• You will ideally have at least a level 3 horticultural qualification in addition to the required professional experience.

Desired Skills

• Experience in producing organic cut flowers a plus, including picking and conditioning flowers (training can be given in this area).
• Management skills - on occasion you will be required to work with freelance gardeners at busy times of the year, and in the absence of the Head Gardener you will need to be responsible for managing any freelance gardeners on site.

Routine Hours: 8am - 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, however flexibility will be required on occasion as will occasional weekend working.
Reports to: Head Gardener & Estate Manager