The Assistant Horticulturist – Outdoor Gardens supports the day-to-day maintenance, care, and presentation of outdoor gardens, landscapes, and living plant collections. Working under the direction of the Horticulturist – Outdoor Gardens, the role provides practical support in planting, pruning, plant health, irrigation, pest management, and general garden maintenance.
The position also supports plant identification, collection records, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and the safe use and routine maintenance of horticultural tools and equipment. The role contributes to maintaining safe, healthy, attractive, and high-quality outdoor garden environments.
Key Responsibilities
- Support planting, pruning, watering, weeding, mulching, fertilisation, deadheading, staking, and general garden maintenance.
- Assist with the establishment, replacement, and maintenance of trees, shrubs, groundcovers, herbaceous plants, and seasonal displays.
- Monitor plant health and identify signs of pests, diseases, nutrient deficiencies, water stress, and other environmental issues.
- Support the implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), including monitoring, preventative measures, and appropriate control activities.
- Assist with soil preparation, amendments, mulching, fertilisation, and other plant-health activities.
- Support irrigation and watering activities and report signs of over- or under-watering.
- Assist with plant identification, labelling, inventory, and accurate maintenance of plant collection records and databases.
- Maintain high horticultural, aesthetic, and presentation standards across outdoor garden areas.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Horticulture, Botany, Plant Sciences, or a related discipline.
- Additional training or certification in horticulture, plant identification, IPM, irrigation, or related areas is advantageous.
Experience
- Minimum 3 years of relevant professional experience in outdoor horticulture, garden management, or landscape maintenance.
- Practical experience in planting, pruning, plant establishment, irrigation, soil preparation, fertilisation, mulching, and general plant care.
- Experience maintaining a range of trees, shrubs, groundcovers, herbaceous plants, and seasonal displays.
- Experience identifying common plants, pests, diseases, and environmental or plant-health issues.
- Experience supporting IPM programmes and routine plant-health monitoring.
- Experience with plant labelling, inventory, collection records, and basic horticultural databases is desirable.
- Practical experience using and maintaining common horticultural tools and equipment.
- Previous experience in a botanic garden, public garden, arboretum, nursery, major landscape, or comparable horticultural environment is preferred.
Core Competencies
- Practical horticultural and plant-care skills
- Plant identification and basic plant-health assessment
- Understanding of Integrated Pest Management principles
- Safe use and care of horticultural tools and equipment
- Attention to detail and horticultural presentation standards
- Accurate record-keeping and organisational skills