Taking an imaginary Estate, this essay is intended to show the type of report that a new Head Gardener may be asked to produce, either as a factual exercise, or as evidence of their perception when applying for the position of Head Gardener or Gardens Manager.
It should be written as a Working Practice Guide, based on observations, oral and written information provided by the Employer.
Terminology.
All references to ‘Gardens Manager’ or ‘Head Gardener’ shall mean the person in charge of the gardens in an everyday role, and shall include The Deputy Head Gardener or Deputy Gardens Manager. The term ‘Manager’ shall be used throughout, and applies to the senior person in charge at any given time having due regard to holidays, sick leave and other Estate duties.
The term ‘The Garden’ shall mean any area under cultivation or subject to maintenance by the Garden Department, including Public and Private areas, where they are directly owned by or managed by (Directors/Owners/Land Agent etc)
Recognising the fact that the Estate has a Forestry Department, separate from the Gardens Department, there may be occasions when the works of the two departments overlap, viz; some tree works may require clearance and associated works by the Gardens Department, and it is incumbent on the Gardens Manager to notify the Head Forester of any concerns that may come to light. Similarly, Forestry should request any assistance from Gardens to ensure that the well- being of the Estate remains paramount at all times by working together as one Team.
Management Notes reference responsibilities.
The Manager should be in control of, and aware of each and every part of the grounds and structures within the gardens. To this end, it is incumbent on The Manager to visit every part or parts of the Gardens at least once a week, noting the conditions encountered and all works and requirements including matters of Health & Safety and potential problems identified during that dated visit.
These notes should be recorded and held on file for regular future reference and updating. It is therefore important that a map or plan is produced, to a scale that permits specific names and site locations to be recorded in a manner that cannot be misconstrued.
Where no practical or existing name for an area exists, a title or name should be invented for use by the department when compiling works programmes. These site names should be memorable and easily identified by all members of staff.
During the site visits, a comparison note should be made to record any works that are required, or have been done since the previous visit. These variations (or outstanding matters) may be cross referenced and addressed during staff meetings.
On larger sites, where several types of horticultural practice requirements are necessary, it is useful to nominate certain areas e.g. ‘upper lawn’, ‘lower lawn’, ‘main steps’ or ‘Western shrub bed’ to ensure that there is no room for misunderstanding or confusion. Each garden or part thereof should also be numbered, so that ‘XXXXXX or XXXXX for example, requires a site name and (if a large or complex site) a site area number.
These names and numbers are for use in maintaining Time Sheets (see details elsewhere) and to enable comparisons to be drawn between various jobs and locations having due regard to site difficulties including access. They also highlight those areas that are proving difficult to maintain and other solutions may be required.
A Master Plan should be produced and placed in a prominent position in the Mess Room. Regular use by the Garden Team will ensure familiarity with the grounds and aid new staff to understand the complexities of working in such a diverse and challenging series of garden sites.
Communications
It is strongly recommended that each Team member is issued with a radio to enable direct contact with other members of the staff, and to receive instructions or request directions from Management. With so many opportunities for lone working, the question of safety is an important factor, and personal communications will improve productivity and efficiency.
It is also recommended that all staff members are not permitted to carry personal mobile telephones during working hours, and all such items must be left either at home or in their work lockers. In the event of emergencies, contact details of the Manager may be given out to next of kin, and any important messages will be relayed to the individual by the Manager in person/private as soon as possible.
Whilst not directly related to Communications, the practice of wearing individual personal headphones should not be permitted, as such devices are a safety hazard. The operative cannot be in control of a machine if they cannot hear the engine and any defects, nor are they able to hear calls for assistance or help in the event of an emergency. It is not permissible to have only one earphone plugged in, again in the interests of safety, as the inherent distraction is sufficient to render the practice potentially harmful to the operative and their colleague/s.
Responsibilities within the Gardens Team
It is strongly recommended that the Manager appoint an individual to act as Fire Warden to ensure that the fire appliances are maintained in good order, are clean and placed in suitable locations, clearly visible and are currently certificated.
Fire hazard signs, including Fuel Store/No Smoking, or Fire Precautions/Assembly Point, smoke alarms etc should be fitted in suitable places and kept in good order. The volunteer should record the conditions and any issues on a quarterly basis, working with the Fire Brigade or other body charged with overseeing the fire protection of the Department.
It is further recommended that a volunteer be appointed to act as First Aider. Appreciating that most or all of the Team members have attended a First Aid course, there is an essential need for one person to be responsible for maintaining sufficient quantities of supplies, including the various stations and site requirements (e.g. eye washing station in the workshop). Other responsibilities may include ensuring that First Aid/Emergency signs and guidance sheets (e.g. Electric Shock) are suitably visible and in good order.
The same person could add staff safety and welfare to their duties by routinely checking the dates on personal protection items e.g. safety helmets as these have a ‘safe use’ working life indicated by the date of manufacture (not purchase, the earlier date applies) as well as safety goggles/glasses and their clarity/condition. All out of date and damaged protective wear must be physically destroyed and put beyond further use.
Timesheets
In order to facilitate accurate cross referencing of the wide variety of tasks undertaken by the Gardens Team, and the diverse locations of each site, it is important that time sheets are maintained by all members of the team – even casual or part timers.
The time sheets should be individually named and dated, with each task written down and described in general terms.
For example, ‘team member John Smith’, commencing on a Monday morning, will start a fresh time sheet, with the legend ‘’week commencing’ or ‘w/c 17th August 20XX’. The actual times e.g. 07.00 – 09.30 are an important part of the exercise, as the resulting data will show the length of time spent on a particular project, and allow for accurate assessments to be made regarding future provisions for this work.
Against this time scale, the site name must be shown, together with any allocated number as previously described. This accuracy is important, for the reasons stated.
All times sheets to be completed on a daily basis, and handed to the Manager last thing on the final working day of the week (normally Friday unless a Bank Holiday).
The information drawn from the time sheets will clearly show the works carried out, to be collated against the list of task and locations identified by the Manager’s weekly ‘State of The Grounds’ survey. Any discrepancy between the works described in the time sheets will be highlighted by the next Manager’s walk round, and will allow for additional resources to be allocated should the need arise.
Space should be left at the bottom of the time sheet for any explanatory notes by the author, including requests for further instructions on any given area.
Machinery and Equipment
All machines should be inspected and scheduled under an inventory. All information including identification/serial numbers, date of purchase (if known) and present condition should be recorded. Once described, the machine should be allocated a permanent number, this to be painted or otherwise delineated on the outer casing. This technique to be applied to all machinery including motorised e.g. strimmers and mowers, but also unpowered tools including spreaders etc.
Any machine found to be in poor condition should be placed apart from the others, and a clearly marked tag attached indicating that the machine should not be used. Once all of the machines have been assessed and approved for use, and clearly numbered, each machine should have a separate hard cover book, with the name and number of the unit attached in a convenient place adjacent the tool. The book must be signed by the person drawing the tool from the store for use on a daily basis, having first checked it over as acceptable to that person.
It shall be the responsibility of the person drawing the unit to make these checks, although the person returning it should also satisfy themselves that they are returning the machine cleaned and in good order. Any defects noted during the day should see the removal of the unit from the store and notated as unfit for service.
No machinery should be let out to anyone other than Gardens personnel.
During the working day, it is imperative that all equipment, especially machinery, is protected from theft. Any tools that are left on site during breaks or generally unattended – even those well hidden from casual view – must be secured with a heavy duty chain or cable, wrapped through and around the equipment and a fixed/immoveable object e.g. a tree or metal/concrete post.
Working Practices
Using the system of time sheets and the Manager’s survey schedules, there should be no areas that can be neglected. The work sheet for the day should clearly show all items to be addressed during the site visit, and within the allocated time slot. Each of these jobs should be crossed out or otherwise removed from the schedule, e.g. watering, mowing, weeding of a certain bed, edging all lawns, clipping a particular hedge – each job checked off as complete on a site visit by site visit basis to ensure that nothing is left unfinished unless it is noted on the time sheet. This discipline will ensure that adequate time and resources are made available if and as possible. Any time scale issues will be identified and Management may assess the situation and make alternative arrangements to complete/undertake certain projects.
This methodology will ensure that no identified job is left incomplete; watering of hanging baskets, newly planted trees and plants pots for example, will have been attended to by the gardener allocated to any given site and a particular day and notated as such on their time sheet.
Whilst it may be deemed sensible to work against a given rota, with each day allocated to a particular person or team, and an amount of time allowed to complete that site, it must be recognised that some gardens require little or no attention, as the grass or weeds have not grown to any extent since the previous visit. It must also be recognised that some gardens have areas that are in great need of attention, and the whole emphasis on the Gardens Team must be to cope with the actual works that need attention – not simply by following a calendar of days and times.
Therefore, a system that recognises the needs of the grounds and not the wishes of others, the Manager should produce a weekly work schedule based on tasks that require doing, taking into account weather conditions and the time and noise restraints of working around a busy Estate and Events curriculum. This system will require the co-operation of those responsible for setting the weekly event programmes and certain ‘no go’, ‘no noise’ areas agreed and adhered to. This notification should be via email, with a copy to The Director of Estates. Any failures on the part of the Events Team or other Managers to notify the Gardens Department may cause disharmony and should be avoided.
Similarly, individuals or departments that may have previously requested fixed dates and times for visits by the Gardens Team will need to be advised that the nature of horticultural practices are such that they must be flexible, and therefore the department is not able to provide a time/dated service.
Garden waste material
There are three main areas to be addressed relating to garden waste. These are storage/composting in individual garden sites, handling and transporting waste and reducing the amount of material produced annually.
Currently, waste material is either left on site as ‘compost’ or collected on a daily basis from individual sites and placed into plastic plant containers for collection at the end of the working day.
These are then held at the Gardens yard until a sufficient number are accumulated to justify transporting them to the Estate Farm for recycling. Alternatively, wheeled trailers with wire cages are left in larger gardens to act as repositories until full, then delivered to the Farm.
Also currently, some of the larger gardens have dedicated areas of ‘waste storage/compost bays’ formed with old wooden pallets. These appear to have been filled to capacity a long time ago – many years in some cases. These ‘bays’ are very unsightly, and all pallets need to be removed, allowing the composted material to either be spread in the immediate vicinity or left to become part of the soil structure (some will have been overtaken by tree roots in the time they have been formed) and as a home for slow worms, toads, hedgehogs and other beneficial wildlife.
The existing practice of collecting and transporting garden waste is a poor use of time and resources. It is proposed that certain gardens have a black ‘one ton builders bag’ placed in an inconspicuous place, adjacent to a gateway or other access to permit collection and exchange as required having due regard to weight and content. If necessary, two separate bags may be required, one for woody material, the other for non – pernicious weeds to permit green waste composting at the Farm.
Where practicable, trailers with their sides extended with ‘greedy boards’ 2m – 2.4m high fixed to the wire cage sides will hold substantially more material, and the smooth boards will ensure easy removal/tipping of the contents at the Farm when filled.
The practice of leaving empty/half full/full plastic plant containers in various garden sites should cease.
This methodology will greatly reduce the time spent in transporting waste material and ensure that there are no longer unsightly areas and containers left in gardens, with all materials being removed in a timely manner.
(The production and removal of grass and leaves is dealt with under separate headings.)
Leaves and leaf-fall
During the autumn, leaves are the greatest challenge to the Gardens Department, and are currently gathered by the use of mechanical blowers and either removed by trailers to the Farm for recycling, or left in ‘compost’ heaps comprised of wooden pallets. As previously proposed, these heaps/bays will no longer exist.
As and when leaf fall requires clearance and removal from beds and lawn areas, all leaf material should be collected and spread by use of the blowers into carpets approximately 150mm deep. Using a self- propelled mower fitted with a mulching blade, two or three passes with the machine will reduce the leaves to around 10% of their original bulk. Using blowers and /or wire rakes, these mulched leaves may be returned to the nearest shrub or herbaceous beds as compost, without the need to collect and transport the material.
Any twigs or branches with a dimension that renders them unsuitable for mulching mowers blades should be removed from the ‘leaf carpet’ prior to using the machine.
Grass and lawn mowing
It is recommended that for at least one whole season, all grass cutting with mowers is no longer undertaken by the Garden Department, but carried out either by outside contractors (e.g. Countrywide Services) or by employing additional Seasonal labour under the auspices of the Grounds Department.
Using the aforementioned maps/plans of the gardens, and following the names and numbers of the various areas, all lawns are to be mown using whatever style of equipment is decided between the contractor/grounds team leader, including hover mowers, cylinder or rotary machines. All grass arisings to be cleared from site at the end of each session to avoid accumulation and storage.
The mowing teams to be subject to the same ‘no go’ or ‘noise’ restrictions that are placed on the Gardens Department. Similarly, they should be liable to complete Gardens Department Time Sheets when carrying out such services, if only to serve as an accurate record of the amount of work and time taken for the purpose of the Gardens Department records, and allow an appraisal of the changes in working practice to be made in an informed manner at the end of the season.
Edging of lawns should remain under the Gardens Team remit, as such work usually involves an amount of weeding and repair work/re-alignment as required.
Weeds and weeding – general statement
The shrub and herbaceous beds in the majority of individual gardens are of variable quality and content. Many beds are under-planted, where shrubs, roses and herbaceous plants have died and not been replaced. Others are seriously overcrowded with some of the more robust plants, and little has been done to remedy this situation.
Some areas and beds are virtually weed free, whilst in the same garden, others are weed infested, and the overall effect spoilt by this visual imbalance. Certain beds and areas of beds are obviously much loved and well- tended, whilst others are neglected.
Some of this apparent anomaly is caused by the current practice of segregation of responsibility, with some beds and seating areas being considered as outside the remit of the Gardens Department. Unfortunately, to the casual observer and passers-by, the effect of a messy, overgrown and weedy area is not ‘someone else’s’ job – it appears to be neglect on the part of The Gardens Department!
To mitigate this, it is proposed that each and every area is maintained by the Gardens Team, even if it is only to remove overhanging brambles from snagging pupils and the public alike.
There has been a tendency to allow some native species trees to grow within some of the gardens, and a proliferation of sycamore, hazel, willow, elder and holly trees/bushes and saplings allowed to colonise the beds and boundaries. These should be removed as and when noted during working practices. Any large or substantial trees on site to be discussed and agreed with the Manager (should they have become an important part of the garden scene by dint of their maturity) before deciding on any action.
Hanging baskets/planters
One of the most onerous and time consuming jobs is that of watering hanging baskets and containers. Whilst these are an important part of the overall appearance of The Estate, watering is a poor use of skilled labour, and it is proposed that for next year, water retaining granules are included in the compost (Swell-Gel or similar) to prevent dehydration, especially over weekends and Bank Holidays, where neglect/lack of water could seriously damage the units.
It is further recommended that consideration be given to employing a casual person – perhaps a local retiree or someone with children at school who could spend two or three hours a day watering and deadheading the baskets. A dedicated and keen gardener should delight in such a job, and reduce the amount of time spent by the Gardens Department personnel.
Hedges and hedge cutting
There are a variety of different hedges around the grounds, many in good, tidy and well maintained condition. Others are somewhat neglected – not simply in their overall appearance, but in a poor condition, with the base of the hedging plants covered in thick mats of ground cover ivy, and trunks entwined with ivy tendrils. Several of the older hedges, primarily privet species, have a considerable amount of dead and dying woody material within the hedge system.
The ivy requires removal, together with the dead material, and an application of a general purpose fertiliser (68g m2 – 2 ozs sq. yd) spread in the vicinity of the feeder root growth (not immediately against the trunks).
Other hedges are contaminated by species alien to the original planting, including sycamore, ash and holly, and these should be removed, ideally in one operation, but where they have formed into a major part of the original hedge, cut back in stages before eventual total removal.
It is appreciated that the existing method of cutting hedges with petrol driven machines may only be carried out at certain times due to noise levels, but other methods, including hand shears (e.g. light weight Professional Bahco shears) are fast, silent and efficient. There are a number of excellent ion battery powered machines with each charge lasting for 45 minutes plus and rapid charge replacement batteries (Professional tools e.g. Stihl range) recently introduced into the commercial market.
Due to the nature of hedge cutting, it is proposed that a hedge survey, including species and condition, is undertaken and a programme devised for each taking into consideration the best type of machine/tool for the individual hedges, and their current state/likely life span before requiring replacement.
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These notes are the result of a site inspection, and are not comprehensive, but will serve to start the establishment of an improving set of working practices.
(NB; Such Working Practice Surveys are extremely valuable, especially if written at the time of a potential handover of responsibility between one Head Gardener and another.
These extant reports provide a ‘snap shot’ in time, whilst recommending future action and the logic behind the programme.
Alan Sargent FCIHort MPGCA