Horticulture Intern

Job Description

Horticulture Internship 2025

Brookgreen Gardens is seeking Summer Horticulture interns. The interns join the Horticulture staff and experience the daily tasks and responsibilities of a public garden horticulturist. Brookgreen Horticulturists teach the interns through discussion-based learning, practical, hands-on experience, and field trips. This internship is intended to give real world training and understanding into the upkeep and maintenance of a public garden.

Under the direction of supervising staff members, interns experience a variety of topics including annual and perennial plant management, greenhouse operations and propagation, woody plant care, and more. Interns are required to set goals for their internships, which Brookgreen will strive to help them meet.

The emphasis of this internship is to allow students to explore the various facets of horticulture in a public garden setting. Brookgreen Gardens’ Horticulture Internship is pleased to offer an “intern-centric” experience that focuses on the intern’s growth, development, and understanding of horticulture.

About Us

Brookgreen Gardens, nestled in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, is a national historic landmark artfully merging four mission areas: botanical gardens, art, history, and the environment. Founded in 1931 by Archer Huntington and celebrated sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, Brookgreen is the nation’s first sculpture garden and one of America’s premier public gardens. Spanning 9,000 acres, with 250 acres accessible to the public and the rest preserved as a wildlife sanctuary, our garden’s design mirrors a butterfly, with the historic Live Oak Alee’ forming its tail. With over 2,000 native plant species and captivating landscapes, Brookgreen leads in display gardens and conservation.

Duties & Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities:
• General horticulture tasks include but are not limited to: planting, pruning, weeding, watering, fertilizing, and turf upkeep
• Undertaking of a garden project from inception to completion
• Working with volunteers
• Operating and using light duty work vehicles
• Training, operating, and using small power equipment (i.e. backpack blowers, weed-eaters, stick edgers, etc.)
• Attending regular progress meetings and professional development sessions

Education and Experience

Applicant Requirements:

Applicants must be enrolled in a college or university horticulture or related program, or have recently (within a year) graduated from one. Applicants must be legally able to work in the United States. All applicants must be able to perform strenuous work in heat and humidity with exposure to biting and stinging insects and poison ivy. This is a paid internship of $13.00 an hour with an expected 37.5 hour work week. Applicant must be able to commit to interning for a 12 week period. Applicant is responsible for providing his or her own housing and transportation.

Application Instructions

Application Instructions:

To apply, please submit a cover letter explaining your interest in this internship and your horticultural interests and goals, a résumé, unofficial transcript, and a completed Brookgreen Gardens Employment application. Please apply either by e-mail to Human Resources at Humanresources@Brookgreen.org, format documents as PDF files, and put the subject as “Horticulture Internship”, or by mail to:
Brookgreen Gardens
Human Resources
P.O. Box 3368
Pawleys Island, SC 29585

No phone calls please. Applications will be accepted until March 28, 2025. Applicants will be notified by April 19, 2025 to the internship decision. Prior to beginning the internship, the selected applicants must successfully complete a drug and background screening.

For more information about Brookgreen Gardens, please visit brookgreen.org.