Senior Horticulturist/Horticulturist

Swarthmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility. Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to inclusive excellence and nondiscrimination in its educational program and employment practices and encourages candidates who will further advance the goal of fostering a diverse and inclusive community. As one of the nation’s finest institutions of higher learning, Swarthmore College is global in outlook and draws students from around the nation and world. The 425‐acre campus is a designated arboretum, complete with gardens, rolling lawns, a creek, wooded hills, and hiking trails in the Crum Woods.

Who We Are:  

The Scott Arboretum & Gardens cultivates a variety of plants that create some of the region’s most intimate, authentic, and accessible horticultural experiences. The idyllic 420-acre Arboretum that makes up the Swarthmore College campus is often named one of the most beautiful in the country. Located just 11 miles from Philadelphia, the rolling hills, flowering trees, and hiking trails offer a nature escape on the edge of a busy metropolis.

The opportunity:

This Senior Horticulturist/ Horticulturist position provides horticultural support for the care and maintenance of the plant collections, gardens and landscaped areas of the Scott Arboretum & Gardens and the entire Swarthmore College campus and properties owned by the College.  Tasks performed include general gardening duties and plant collections maintenance; assisting in the maintenance of the Crum Woods and faculty/staff housing properties; program assistance for Scott Arboretum educational programs and volunteer education; co-supervising Horticulturists, volunteers, student workers and summer interns; providing assistance for College events; performing maintenance to keep the campus exteriors safe; providing assistance during weather emergencies, for snow and ice during winter storms, and for other grounds keeping duties; provides educational tours for Arboretum visitors.

There are two levels for this position, based on the education and experience of the final candidates selected as either the Senior Horticulturist or the Horticulturist.

Essential Responsibilities

HORTICULTURAL TASKS

• Maintains the plant collections by performing timely planting, weeding, mulching, pruning, fertilizing, irrigating, leaf raking, and other plant cultural practices with minimal supervision in order to maintain campus aesthetics and provide proper horticultural care.  Assists in design modifications as needed to the Arboretum’s landscape and gardens.  Assists in plant records and plant curation as needed.
• Maintains specialty garden areas consisting of Glade Garden, Harry Wood Garden, Nason  Garden, Pinetum, Pollinators Garden, Singer Hall landscape, Winter Garden, magnolia and  holly collections, green roofs, various courtyard gardens and major horticultural collections  as the most intensively-maintained gardens on campus.

GROUNDSKEEPING DUTIES 

• Keeps campus areas, turf, roads, sidewalks, and patios maintained in an efficient way.  Has the ability to prioritize these tasks in order to provide a safe and aesthetically pleasing campus.
• Performs trash removal, irrigation, turf renovation, turf mowing, snow removal, and leaf raking in order to efficiently maintain safety and high horticultural aesthetics on campus.
• Assists with special function set-up and tear-down in order to prepare the facilities in a timely manner for College- and Arboretum-hosted events.
• Is present for and assists in College emergencies, bad weather occurrences, and special College functions in order to maintain campus safety for students, staff, and visitors.

COMMUNITY/EDUCATION SUPPORT

• Develops, leads or assists with Arboretum classes and lectures open to members, the public  and volunteers; gives lectures as requested; assists with guided campus tours open to the public.
• Provides horticultural information to the public, members, and volunteers.
• Leads or assists with various educational programs (Arboretum tours, lectures, conferences, sales and events, and Alumni weekend tours) as needed.
• Assists staff with various programs (e.g. evening lectures, Perennials and Woody Conferences, Greens Sales) as needed.
• Lends support when requested to the College’s professors, students and educational departments in their classes and laboratories that utilize the plant collections, gardens, and Crum Woods.

 Additional Responsibilities

• Safely and proficiently uses all hand gardening tools and can train others to do the same.
• With proper training,