The Garden-in-the-Wood is the Jewel in Knightshayes crown; a rare example of a mid 20th Century ‘Plantsmans’ garden containing the remnants of one of the most eclectic plant collections in the country. Help us in our project to restore it to its former glory.
By getting involved, you could…
- Help us with one of the Trust’s most exciting garden-area restoration projects
- Learn more about rare and unusual plants and how they are grown and cared for
- Help us run our nursery area with watering, feeding and potting up
- Develop your Horticultural skills and gain valuable experience.
- Develop an eye for detail and the motor skills to go with it.
You’d also be joining Europe’s largest conservation charity and the wider National Trust team proudly looking after 780 miles of coastline, over 250,000 hectares of land, over 500 historic houses, castles, ancient monuments, gardens, parks and nature reserves (including lighthouses, villages, pubs and a gold mine!). We are a unique charity welcoming millions of people each year and with a vision to open up places for the benefit of everyone, for ever.
What’s involved?
- Careful weeding and clearing around vulnerable and rare plants
- Almost archaeological-level working through beds and borders to carefully retain any bulbs and small plants.
- Helping improve, build up and re-instate beds and areas ready for planting
- Potting up, watering, feeding and weeding in our nursery area
- Building paths and re-instating steps
- Being part of a team that may need to adapt and change in response to local needs, National Trust priorities or changes to government guidelines e.g .Covid
We want all our volunteers to feel welcome and to have an equally positive experience when volunteering with us. So, volunteers will:
- Be provided with the necessary induction, training, equipment and reasonable adjustments to do this role well and safely
- Be offered expenses to cover agreed travel costs between home and place of volunteering.
- Have remote access to support, news and rotas via our volunteer website
This role will suit you if you are …
Think about the different motivations, skills, experience that would be important.
- Attentive to detail
- Love unusual plants and want to learn more
- Have good fine motor skills
- Enjoy doing a thorough job and seeing it through.
- Looking to increase your experience and horticultural knowledge
All National Trust volunteers will be asked to
- Respect and uphold the National Trust values whilst volunteering with us
- Complete training required of all NT volunteers and any role specific training
- Adhere to relevant policies and processes including safeguarding, health and safety, and equality and diversity