Head gardener

A head gardener is an individual who manages all horticultural aspects of a property or garden, including staff and volunteers. The properties they manage include historic gardens and private estates, as well as amenity horticulture teams, for example, with a county council.

The responsibilities of a head gardener, and the required experience varies between roles and properties, but head gardeners are normally be educated to an exceptionally high level within their field and have many years of experience to support that education. In the UK, establishments such as Kew Gardens, Capel Manor College and The Royal Horticultural Society offer training courses for professional gardeners. Some courses also offer a degree, such as Master of Horticulture.

There are many important horticultural aspects of managing a garden such as propagation, productive growing, commercial horticulture, hard and soft landscaping, pest, disease and plant health management, including a sound understanding of plant passport (import and export) regulations as well as a worldwide understanding of preventing the spread of invasive diseases, plants and pests. Managing a team of volunteers is often an aspect of this role within public gardens or charity spaces such as The National Trust or English Heritage.