On Dec 13, 8:19*am, Granity
wrote:[color=blue][i]
;944019']On Dec 12, 12:29*pm, Sacha wrote:-
On 2011-12-12 12:18:09 +0000, Janet said:
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In article , Granity.95b7356
@gardenbanter.co.uk says...-
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Seems a bit under paid to me, even if it does come with a tied
flat.--
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"The going rate for a senior royal gardener has increased
significantly
since October when the Queen offered £15,750. Two months later, she
is
advertising the same job at £17,000, an increase of 7.9 per cent.--
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The 39-hours-a-week job comes with accommodation--
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*Not free though. "There is an option to live in accommodation
provided,
in which case there will be a salary adjustment." *see-
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'Senior Gardener (12-month Contract) with The Royal Household | 306677'
(http://tinyurl.com/d8oa69a)
contract-/-
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* This *matches rates for Assistant Head Gardeners paid by the
National
Trust for Scotland at some of the nations most famous gardens. (iirc,
Head-
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gardeners have reached the dizzy heights of £20K) While Trust head
gardeners get tied-house accommodation while in post, they lose it on
retiral; and *the likelihood of having been able to get a mortgage
big
enough to buy a place in preparation for retirement, is minimal. NT
career-
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gardeners have often been the preferred training ground for Head
Gardeners-
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recruited for private gardens.-
* Newly trained, fully qualified and certificated professional
gardeners
for the NTS Trust have a starting rate of about £12 K; minimum wage.
When I attended Professional Gardeners' Guild meetings the predominant
topic of conversation amongst the NT gardeners was Trust politics and
I know at least one of them had to spend a good deal of time fighting
trust officials to be allowed to do the job his way rather than
letting the very well known garden become just another NT garden.
As for Royal gardeners, I once interviewed a guy who'd spent some time
at Sandringham which I was tempted to view as a plus until he told me
he'd spent 6 months of that behind a rake on the gravel - at least he
was honest.
Wage rates vary widely with office bound heads on very wealthy estates
paid hugely more than much better head gardeners in jobs where
they're leading from the front.
I'd just about got to £18K and a house when I retired 5 years ago. The
good news for us is that there's a house for us until we're both dead.
I'm amongst the last on that deal and the quid pro quo was that wages
were low and we were expected to be available pretty much 24/7. They
are very good employers amongst a very mixed bunch.
With college training now very poor or almost non existent and
starting wages so low, Janet is right to be concerned for the future
supply of good gardeners and it's already showing in the quality of
many well known gardens.
Part of it is an attitude problem amongst public, employers, schools
and teachers who seem to think 'anybody can do a bit of gardening' and
so they pay wages appropriate to the perceived skill level and get
results accordingly which reinforces their prejudices.
I once overheard a careers teacher *say something to the effect of
'he's nbg, send him to the parks. (BTW - Park apprenticeships were
another source of good recruits and they've almost gone).
Rant over, It gave me a good life and a secure retirement but not much
money.
Anybody interested to know about 'real' head gardeners should read
'The Man who collected trees' a biography of David Douglas (Of the
eponymous fir) We are all nonentities compared with such people.
Rod
It certainly puts into perspective the chap on here a while ago moaning
that people wouldn't pay him £20/Hr to do their gardening work, for a
39Hr week that would have given him a salary of over £40,000 per year.
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Granity- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
Just in case you missed a post of mine on this subject a few weeks
ago.
I said hourly rates are not always what they seem.
I friend of mine was doing a particular job (mostly mowing and
strimming for about £35 a time.) It took him about 1 1/2 hours - his
own machines and all arisings removed.
The folk in question found someone to do it for £8 per hour. He made
of a day of it and filled the owners' brown recycle bins, then his
mower broke down and he had to come back the following day to finish
it.
Rod