Grounds person / Gardener
Location: Carlisle, Rosehill Residential Home (just off junction 43 10 minute walk from Rosehill Tesco).
Employer: Rosehill is part of The Henry Lonsdale Trust
The Role: This is an exciting opportunity to make your mark as our new gardener, working in the beautiful and peaceful mature grounds of Rosehill Residential Home.
No horti qualifications required: We don't insist you have horticultural qualifications but you must have green fingers, a good basic gardening knowledge and a genuine desire to make our grounds the best they can be.
You will be responsible for a large site with different landscape areas including standard interior lawn and border gardens, patio areas, wooded areas, rewilding zones to attract wildlife, raised beds and summer containers and anything else you may want to suggest to us. This is the perfect role for a true outdoor person and passionate, avid gardener.
You are joining a caring team: We support 40 older ladies and gentle living with a form of dementia. Every team member from our care assistants to the maintenance team, gardener to chef, can make a difference to the lives of the individuals that we support. You can make a real difference just by the way you meet and greet, respect people as individuals and interact with our residents, visitors and team members alike. We would love you to be the kind of gardener that will wave to our residents from your mower, stop for a brief chat, pick someone a bunch of flowers … someone who has empathy for our aims.
The job –
Machinery Use: You must be able to use standard grounds maintenance machinery to prune, plant up, cut grass (with a ride-on mower or petrol mower), operate a chainsaw, hedge cutters, shredder - or have the ability to learn to use grounds maintenance equipment and confidence to use it effectively and safely at all times.
Task planning: You must understand the seasonal variation of work required within a large estate garden. You will be able to walk the grounds, plan out how you will manage your site and the workload in the different areas in spring, summer, autumn and winter e.g. winter ground prep and clearing, leaf management, snow clearing and salting, patio containers and baskets, seasonal flower planting, watering, pruning etc.
Basic Knowledge: You will need to know your hostas from your heucheras, climbers from your camelias, how to prune and train roses, when to plant, what to plant, your weeds from your weigela- the basic keen gardener knowledge.
Maintenance team support: We employ two fantastic maintenance gentlemen who can turn their hand to any task and work effectively with our gardener. You will be provided with a site walk round by our maintenance team at interview.
Tasks include:
* Maintaining mature flower borders
* Weeding and pruning
* Splitting and distributing plants
* Hedge, shrub and tree maintenance
* Promoting soil and plant health
* Maintaining lawned areas, landscaped areas and go wilder areas.
* Maintain public access pathways and gardens enabling spaces to be safely accessed
* Grounds checks and reporting on maintenance requirements
* Maintaining garden equipment, operating and storing tools and equipment properly
* Monitor for pests and diseases whilst reducing chemical and pesticide use where possible
* Watering when required
* General housekeeping of garden storage sheds (tidy worker)
Essential requirements:
* Grounds maintenance experience would be great but is not essential as a very keen gardener with large garden experience using large garden equipment would be able to manage this role.
* Flower, shrub, tree, lawn, hedging gardening knowledge
* Garden Health and Safety awareness that ensures a safe working environment i.e. identifying potential hazards in the garden and working with us to implement controls to minimize risks, follow chemical/tool/machinery safety procedures: Inspect tools and machinery before use, and ensure proper maintenance and storage of chemicals, stay informed and up-to-date with health and safety regulations and guidelines relevant to your gardening tasks.
* Physical stamina to work 4 busy full days
* Resilience to work outdoors in year round seasonal Cumbrian weather
* Current right to work in the UK – sorry no sponsoring of employment positions
Benefits:
* Relaxed and friendly interview process
* Free onsite parking
* Free team tea/coffee/juice
* Employers Pension
* Rewarding role supporting the work of a local care charity
* A welcoming friendly team to join
Job Type: Part-time
Pay: £14.00 per hour
Benefits:
* Company pension
* Free parking
* On-site parking
Experience:
* Gardening: 2 years (required)
Licence/Certification:
* Driving Licence (required)
Work Location: In person