HEAD GARDENER
Le Grand Dixcart and Stocks Hotel
The Channel Island of Sark
We are looking for a hands-on head gardener to join and oversee our team of local part time people and seasonal workers (HG plus 1.3 FTE). The job will involve heading up this team and being responsible for all aspects of caring for the gardens and land across our private garden, hotel gardens and estate.
Stocks Hotel is a small 23 bedroom country house hotel on the Channel Island of Sark, and there is also a large family home. These two properties are joined together and between them have 4 acres of landscaped grounds including a large proportion of vegetable gardens and orchards which are open to the public.
The garden areas
The hotel grounds are mainly lawns and shrubbery beds with some seasonal planting. The house grounds are lawns and borders, but also include an organic raised bed vegetable garden, two green houses, a mixed fruit orchard, a large circular vegetable and cut flower garden which is manged organically while also incorporating permaculture and biodynamic ideas, a wild woodland and a large chicken pen. The property includes an 80 acre farm consisting of grassland paddocks for the grazing of horses and sheep.
Our more formal front garden catches the morning and lunchtime sun and makes an ideal spot for a relaxed morning coffee, or sumptuous seafood lunch.
The Poolside lawns offer a relaxing atmosphere to enjoy the pool and the Bistro. A popular venue for lunch and supper and the ideal place for a small or large function, and now home to our willow sculpture of Ronaldo the Clydesdale horse during the spring and summer months.
Our organic vegetable gardens are a beautiful attraction and addition to the hotel and we are very proud of this. Originally the raised bed area was used for home growing and only the spare produce was supplied to the hotel. With a small greenhouse, and some old apple trees this is a traditional and highly productive area.
Having decided to expand our vegetable gardens, in 2013 the unique Permaculture Garden was created, growing vegetables and cut flowers for the hotel, as well as a beautiful new Cedar Greenhouse which was added in 2019. This has now become a firm favourite for guests to visit, by appointment only, and we look forward to this garden developing and expanding even more.
In 2018 we were thrilled to have been part of the winning Sark Island Entry for the Guernsey Britain in Bloom Competition, and our gardens achieved an award for Horticultural Excellence in their own right, and we were very proud to win this award again in 2024.
The gardens have been part of the National Garden Scheme for the past three years and we enjoy opening for a weekend in June. This event is really well supported, both locally and by visitors to the island.
The Garden team look forward to working to continue to develop and improve the gardens.
The role
The role will include liaising with the owners closely who enjoy spending time in the garden on various projects, as well as working closely when needed with the hotel team including the general manager, facilities and maintenance manager and chefs to grow and supply a large variety of seasonal vegetables to the hotel kitchens.
Applications are sought from experienced and knowledgeable gardeners who have the enthusiasm and motivation to lead a small team, work within a larger network of different roles and the commitment and desire to be hands on in all aspects of the garden.
Successful candidates will need excellent communication skills both within the role and with the public. They will need to have good plant and cultivation knowledge especially of fruit and vegetable production, be committed to caring for wildlife and embrace our holistic approach to gardening. They must be organised and tidy and have the ability to plan daily workloads and longer term vegetable production targets.
There is scope for further improvement and development of the gardens, for someone with flair and imagination this could be a really rewarding role.
The role is permanent and full time (44 hrs per week) with 5 weeks holiday (inc Bank Hols).
Salary
Take home salary of circa £30k - £35k (paid free of tax). Plus house provided free of rent and includes electric /heating. Please note that the salary will be paid free of tax, reflecting the special tax arrangements on the island of Sark. The HG will also receive a part share of hotel tips.
