HEAD GARDENER JOB DESCRIPTION
Place of Work
Winton House lies 14 miles to the south east of Edinburgh and is home to the Ogilvy family. There are 25 acres of grounds which are a mixture of formal terraces, grass lawns, a loch, wetland, wild flower meadow, access drives, a private cemetery and woodland amenity fringes. The house and grounds are open for corporate hospitality as a venue for dinners, weddings, activity days, meetings, overnight accommodation and also for tours by the general public. It is one of the most important houses in Scotland architecturally and is surrounded by an agricultural estate with direct links back to 1150. Two further gardens are maintained in-hand for self catering properties nearby: Wintonhill Farmhouse which is often used for accommodation in conjunction with events held at Winton House, and Winton Cottage which will be available in the spring of 2007.
Background
The job has grown from a single part time position 10 years ago, shared with the caretaking of Winton House, to one now where the new head gardener will be expected to focus almost entirely on the management and development of the gardens with help from an assistant gardener and occasionally from the caretaker and seasonal labour at peak times. Greater use has been made of the gardens recently since activity days and wedding receptions, making use of the grounds, have grown in popularity. The house and the activities have changed considerably in recent years and the successful applicant will need to demonstrate a willingness to be flexible and not only embrace change, but also suggest where improvements can be made. The King's Master Mason built a fine house for the Seton of the day and set a high standard to which we now aspire for the gardens.
Character of Applicant
The position is one of trust and responsibility and can involve close contact with members of the public. The applicant must demonstrate integrity and initiative and have the capacity to work long hours where necessary. A qualification in horticulture or other relevant vocational qualification would be beneficial though not mandatory. Other skills needed are given in the following list:
- Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of horticulture and techniques and methods of working based on practical experience
- Organised & flexible
- Able to work on your own initiative
- An ability to manage and develop a team effectively
- Attention to detail
- Sense of fun at the right times
- Knapsack spray qualification.
- Basic computing
- An awareness of health and safety issues
The Job
The essential element of the job will be to take responsibility for the management of the gardens surrounding Winton House, the self catering properties and any other estate property with a keenness to develop these into areas with unique qualities worthy of any others in the south of Scotland. Duties and responsibilities will involve, but are specifically not limited to, areas of work noted below:
Groundcare
- Management of hedges
- Lawn maintenance throughout the seasons
- Grass verges
- Path maintenance
Formal Gardens
- Terraced herbaceous and shrub borders
- Walled garden (2.5 acres) maintenance and development
- Wintonhill Farmhouse garden
- Winton Cottage garden
- Fruit tree and bush maintenance
Policy Amenity Areas
- Amenity woodland areas (in liaison with the foresters)
- Policy ground maintenance including drives
- Wild flower meadow
- Loch surround, water area and supply
- Wetland
- General tidying of other estate let cottage gardens when required between tenancies
Nursery Work
- Bring on bedding plants in small greenhouse
- Develop ability to provide own stock of bedding and other plants
Miscellaneous
- Heating - monitoring of woodchip boiler for heat and hot water (shared role)
- Assisting with activity days especially with large scale outdoor events
- Potential caretaking holiday cover
Liaison
The successful applicants will be answerable principally to Sir Francis and Lady Ogilvy. They will also be expected to work as team players with the Events Team, the Caretakers and others generally in the Winton Estate Team.
Accommodation
A cottage can be provided nearby on the estate with central heating and hot water coming from a newly installed woodchip fired boiler, maintained and supplied in-house within the gardens.
Terms and Conditions
Hours: The working week will be from Monday to Friday between the hours of 8am to 4.30pm and 4pm through the winter months.
Holidays: 28 days including public holidays. It will be unlikely that extended holidays will be possible during the summer.
Transport: There is an estate vehicle shared with other staff although it is recommended that the applicant should have personal transport. For private car use on Winton business a mileage allowance will be paid.
Salary: The salary is dependent upon experience and requirement for accommodation. If accommodation is required, it will be inclusive of Council Tax, heating, lighting and telephone rental.
Conclusion
The extension and development of the gardening team for the first time in several decades has been keenly awaited but has required other groundwork to be in place beforehand. It is hoped that the successful applicant will quickly assume a degree of ownership of the gardens around Winton House and elsewhere on the estate with an eye for bringing out and developing the extraordinary from the ordinary. By involving the gardens as part of commercial events and activities focused at Winton House, justification for future investment will be positively considered.
The successful applicant will need to demonstrate an ability to apply lateral thinking not only to bring a practical and economically sound answer to a problem, but also to find and work towards new but appropriate garden uses that will bring financial reward to sustain the work in the gardens and the livelihoods of those who work in them. The potential for the gardens is huge; there is a willingness to address this with a network of support and enthusiasm from others. It is hoped therefore that the successful applicant will be keen to see the transformation which is anticipated.
Application form (opens in a new window)