Full-time gardener to be hired for Water Gardens

According to an advertisement on the Dacorum Borough Council website, the successful applicant will earn between £23,379 and £24,884 per annum.

Come autumn, the green-fingered individual will need to get stuck in and manage a small team on site, as well as work with the Water Gardens’ Friends group and other volunteers. Councillor Graham Sutton, Dacorum Borough Council’s portfolio holder for planning and regeneration, said: “Working hand-in-hand with community volunteers, we are positioning the Jellicoe Water Gardens once more firmly at the heart of Hemel Hempstead.

“They evoke many happy childhood memories for our residents, and we’re proud to be creating more for future generations.

“We now want to make sure that one of the country’s most important postwar landscapes is in safe hands.”

Reputed to be the favourite project of Jellicoe and his wife Susan, the gardens were originally designed to enhance the lives of the residents who had been rehomed to the Hertfordshire New Town after the Blitz.

But over the half a century since their completion, the Modernist urban retreat had become scruffy and unappreciated.

Contractors Casey are working hard to restore the gardens to their former glory.

Clare Richardson, chair of the Friends of the Water Gardens, said: “The on-going upkeep of the Gardens was always an integral part of the restoration plans.

“Jellicoe was the Capability Brown of his generation and we’re now looking for the right person to take on his legacy: someone who will cherish the plants, landscaping and wildlife as well as making sure the local community gets the most out of them.”

The chosen applicant will have broad knowledge of the day-to-day maintenance and operation of small plants and equipment.

They will need to be physically fit and used to working outside in all weathers.

For more details and to apply, visit www.dacorum.gov.uk/watergardens

The closing date for applications is June 26.