Head Gardener

Crarae is looking for a capable, motivated, and knowledgeable Head Gardener to lead its small, dedicated team of gardeners and volunteers in an exciting period of redevelopment and restoration for this garden and important plant collection.

This is a particularly important and exciting period for the property as we look to both conserve and develop the garden and its plant collection further over the coming years, with a key aim being to make the garden and infrastructure more resilient to a changing climate. The team are seeking a suitably skilled and motivated individual to join them on that journey. Working closely with the Operations Manager and Gardens and Design Landscape Manager for the South & West region, the post holder will play a key role in moving the gardens forward.

The whole of the landscape is loosely divided into the garden, forest garden & waterfall. Lady Campbell, aunt of the famous plant hunter Reginald Farrer, began the development of the garden from woodland in 1912. The plant collection was developed greatly during the subsequent years before Sir Islay Campbell inherited the garden and in 1978 gave the garden to the Crarae Garden Charitable Trust. The NTS took over ownership of the garden in 2002.

Crarae Garden is a hillside, gorge and burn surrounded by woodlands comprising of tree and shrub collections which are rich and diverse, primarily planted to create a naturalistic and artistic effect. The plantings, generally, are in blocks which gives the garden its linkage to nature and provides a sense of drama. The lower garden, a formal component, continues with trees, shrubs and herbaceous plantings however this area is more notable for its significant aspect of archaeology seen in a Neolithic burial chamber and cairn. The trees within the plant collection mainly comprise of excellent examples of the genera Rhododendron, Eucalyptus, Nothofagus, Acer and Eucryphia.

The surrounding views are perfectly borrowed from the adjacent & marine protected Loch Fyne and the importance and variety of the woody plant collection offers the unique selling point for the visitor.

The biggest challenge to the long-term sustainability for this collection is that many of the plants are overgrown and in some places over mature, there is a need to conserve the plantings through a careful mixture of propagation and renovation pruning to bring the landscape and features back into the garden. Following on from several recent storm surges, there is significant erosion throughout the landscape and burn edges, this will create challenges in managing Crarae in the future but also provide new opportunities to move the visitor journey away from the burn itself to safeguard the garden for future generations to enjoy.

Key Responsibilities

Ensuring the conservation and practical maintenance of the garden and policies – whether through delegation to other staff/volunteers, or personal participation - in terms of:

Practical horticulture (e.g. including managing trees and shrubs, herbaceous and bog plants, half-hardies, annuals and bulbs; turf care; pest/disease/weed control; composting and soil improvement; hard-landscaping and path care; glasshouse care and plant propagation; plant sales management);

Plantsmanship (e.g. the identification, knowledge and understanding of this high calibre plant collection, including recording [using IrisGB database], and labelling of individual plants and recognized collections);

Research and development (e.g. research into historical precedents and practical contemporary solutions to inform proposed activities and projects; support to the planning, design and implementation of restoration and/or development projects);

Interpretation (e.g. through the development and delivery of events such as introductory talks, presentations, guided tours or practical demonstrations and workshops, garden trails, digital media and contribution to guide-books or leaflets) to include the impact of Phytophthora at the property. In particular, the Head Gardener will take an active role in promoting the garden and property through digital media.

Ensuring appropriate management of the garden and policies that includes the management of:

staff and volunteers (e.g. recruitment, induction, direction, development, performance management) such that they are fully equipped, organised and motivated to undertake their duties to the required Trust standards;

budgets (e.g. helping set future budgets, phasing, monitoring, pro-active and re-active adjustments to current budgets, managing project finance) such that the gardens’ finances are in line with budget within the context of the wider property and project budgets;

health, safety and the environment in line with stated Trust policies and approaches to ensure the health and welfare of staff/volunteers;

machinery and equipment (e.g. ensuring timely and appropriate repairs, purchases and servicing) and its use (e.g. training, risk assessments and HAVS logs);

recognition of the Trust’s Environmental Policy with respect to sustainable gardening activities, including energy, water, peat & pesticide-use;

daily, weekly, yearly and longer-term management and operational workplans and reporting in the context of the property’s statements of significance, action plans and heritage garden management objectives (and contribution to preparing these plans) to ensure that activities are prioritised and planned to optimise the use of resources;

customer service and care from garden staff/volunteers, and in the broader sense of facilities and “visiting experience”, to ensure that the properties’ reputation for excellence is maintained and enhanced;

administration to enable gardening activities to be undertaken and recorded efficiently;

For more information and to apply, please click the Apply button now.