Gardener

My client a prestigious care home for the elderly which is sat on acres of grounds is looking to appoint an experienced Gardener to join the team in maintaining the grounds and gardens.
The position will be supporting the Gardens Manager located at their Blackheath site but also may have another vacancy at their Beckenham grounds.
They are seeking an all-rounder that has used all types of machinery including mowers, strimmer's, chain saws, leaf blowers etc to maintain turf, planting, bedding, hedge trimming, tree cutting etc
The role would need someone that has extensive soft landscaping experience but can also turn their hands to more of the hard landscaping this being laying slabs and timber, metal edging and other hard hands-on landscaping.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

Mowing, using all types of mowers, including ride-on mowers.
Edging, trimming and maintaining lawns.
Scarifying and spiking of lawns.
Maintenance of fine turf areas including sports areas (including hammers and putting).
Application of lawn fertilisers, use of hosepipes and sprinklers, watering of pots and urns.
Planting and maintaining seasonal bedding, planting and maintaining shrubs and trees, pruning of fruit trees and shrubs, propagation of hard wood cuttings and potting up.
Rose pruning and application of rose fertilisers, removing epicormic shoots from trees.
Leaf clearing, using leaf blowers or rakes/brooms, make and apply compost.
Application of rock salt or other specified materials and clearing snow and ice from pathways and roadways.
The mixing and application of chemical sprays.
Hedge trimming using both manual and power assisted equipment, single/double digging of areas both manually and using a rotavator.
Carrying out soft landscaping.
Carrying out basic brick edging, laying of slabs and timber and metal edging.
Labelling and sign writing.
Cleaning and maintaining horticultural machinery and hand tools, tidying up Grounds Department sheds, storage and compost areas, loading and unloading of skips, containers or other delivery vehicles, maintaining garden furniture and garden features, including, cleaning and the application of preservatives.

Skills, Qualifications and Experience

C&G Stage 2 Amenity Horticultureor

RHS Certificate Horticulture Level 2 Practical and Theoryor

NVQ Level 3 Amenity Horticulture
A minimum of 3 years practical experience in horticulture
Chain saw certificate
Mixing and use of chemicals certificate
Spraying certificate
H&S certificate
Horticulture
Grounds maintenance
Use of Machinery
Soft landscaping
Garden Planning
Forward Planning skills
Working Mon - Fri 0800 - 17.00 with an hour for lunch (39 hours per week)
Pay 14.60 per hour (£29'609) + overtime
25 days a year annual leave + bank holidays