EXPERIENCED GARDENER

Bressingham Gardens, Bressingham, Norfolk

Full time – 39 hours per week
average market wages, depending on horticultural knowledge, experience and qualifications

Bloom Nurseries is looking for an experienced, practical and knowledgeable gardener to join the established garden team at Bressingham Gardens in South Norfolk.

You will work under Garden Manager Jason Bloom, alongside our Senior Gardener, Ian, and the wider Bressingham garden team, caring for and developing the Dell, Winter Garden, Summer Garden and other areas of the gardens.

This is not an entry-level or trainee position. We are looking for someone who already has professional gardening experience, good plant knowledge and the practical skills to work confidently and independently when required.

ABOUT THE GARDENS

Bressingham Gardens have been developed by the Bloom family over several generations and occupy an important place in the history of British horticulture.

At the heart of this role is Alan Bloom’s historic Dell Garden.

Alan began creating his revolutionary free-standing island beds at Bressingham in the 1950s. Instead of placing herbaceous plants in conventional borders against walls and boundaries, he developed beds that could be viewed and worked from all sides, creating informal sweeps and associations of perennials within an open landscape.

This approach had a lasting influence on garden design and helped change the way perennial plants were used in gardens.

Today the Dell contains an important surviving collection of plants associated with Alan Bloom’s work and is entering a period of renewal and restoration.

The successful applicant will also work within our Winter and Summer Gardens, both containing an exceptionally varied collection of trees, shrubs, grasses and herbaceous plants, including many unusual, rare and interesting varieties.

THE ROLE

This is, first and foremost, a hands-on gardening job.

The gardens currently require a substantial amount of everyday maintenance and recovery before some of the more detailed restoration and replanting work can take place.

We are therefore looking for someone who takes as much satisfaction from a day spent weeding, edging, clearing, cutting back, pruning and bringing a neglected bed back into good condition as they do from dividing an important perennial, propagating plants or helping to create a new planting scheme.

Good gardens are made by doing the ordinary jobs consistently and well.

The work will include:

• Maintaining herbaceous and mixed borders
• Weeding, hoeing and clearing beds
• Edging and maintaining paths and planted areas
• Planting and transplanting
• Lifting and dividing perennial plants
• Pruning shrubs, climbers and small trees
• Tree and shrub care
• Deadheading and seasonal plant maintenance
• Soil preparation, mulching and composting
• Watering and irrigation
• Lawn and grass maintenance
• Pest, disease and weed control
• Spraying where required
• Using and maintaining garden machinery and equipment
• General garden and estate maintenance
• Assisting with propagation, replanting and restoration work
• Helping maintain the gardens to a high standard throughout the visitor season

This is a physically active outdoor role throughout the year. Some jobs are repetitive and some are demanding; others offer the opportunity to work with unusual plants and become involved in the gradual renewal of historically important areas of the gardens.

We need someone who values both sides of the job.

THE PERSON WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Above all, we are looking for a gardener who genuinely likes gardening and plants.

You should be someone who notices plants, cares about how they are growing and takes pride in the appearance and health of the garden.

You should also enjoy the practical side of the profession. We need someone who is prepared to get down on their knees and weed properly, clear an overgrown bed, spend a day edging or pruning, and tackle the necessary everyday jobs with the same care and enthusiasm they would bring to propagation, planting or restoration.

You must be capable of sustained physical outdoor work and comfortable working in different weather conditions.

You will work as part of the garden team but must also have sufficient knowledge and experience to be given a task or area and work on it confidently without continual supervision.

We are also looking for someone who wants to stay.

Gardens benefit enormously from continuity, familiarity and commitment. Knowing a garden means seeing it through different seasons and different years: understanding individual plants, remembering what has worked, recognising what is changing and following the results of decisions made months or years earlier.

For that reason, we hope to find someone who sees Bressingham as a long-term position rather than a short placement or a year spent gaining experience before moving on.

There is an opportunity here to build a real relationship with these gardens, to see the results of your own work develop over time and to play a meaningful part in bringing important areas of Bressingham back into good condition and caring for them into the future.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Applicants should have:

• Previous professional experience working in an established garden, horticultural organisation, nursery or landscape environment
• Good practical knowledge of ornamental plants
• Good plant identification skills
• Sound understanding of general horticultural principles
• Experience maintaining herbaceous borders, shrubs and trees
• Knowledge of correct pruning and plant maintenance techniques
• Understanding of plant health, pests, diseases and weed control
• Experience using garden machinery and equipment safely
• Current PA1 and PA6 pesticide application certificates
• Willingness to undertake spraying when required
• A good eye for detail and garden presentation
• Ability to work independently and reliably
• Ability to work constructively as part of a small team
• Ability to undertake sustained physical outdoor work
• A practical, positive and flexible approach
• Genuine interest in plants and horticulture
• Commitment to maintaining high standards of gardening

A relevant horticultural qualification such as City & Guilds Level 3 in Horticulture or equivalent is desirable, although substantial professional experience and strong practical plant knowledge will also be considered.

Practical skills in areas such as machinery maintenance, fencing, basic estate maintenance, tree work, irrigation or propagation would also be an advantage.

HOURS, PAY AND BENEFITS

39 hours per week, full time.

Pay: £13.00–£15.50 per hour, according to horticultural knowledge, experience and qualifications.

The role will principally be worked during normal working days, although willingness to work occasional weekends, Bank Holidays or event days when necessary is required.

Benefits include:

• Pension
• Holiday entitlement
• Sick pay
• Bressingham Gardens and Steam Museum family seasonal passes

TO APPLY

If you are an experienced gardener who genuinely enjoys both the everyday work of maintaining a garden and the opportunity to care for interesting plants — and you are looking for somewhere you can put down roots professionally and become part of the long-term future of a garden — we would be very pleased to hear from you.

Please send your CV and a covering letter telling us about your relevant horticultural experience and why you would like to work at Bressingham Gardens to:

info@bressinghamgardens.com

Please use “Experienced Gardener Application” as the subject of your email.