Outdoor Gardener – Naturalistic Gardens
Employment Type
Job (Full-Time)Job Categories
Horticulture
Job Description
The Outdoor Gardener is a year-round, hands-on gardening position focused on maintaining New England Botanic Garden’s naturalistic outdoor garden spaces. This role involves caring for a diverse collection of garden areas using horticultural best practices and supporting special exhibitions and events, while ensuring accessibility and safety for visitors.
About Us
The Worcester County Horticultural Society, founded in 1842, established New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston, MA as a horticultural resource—a place for people to experience the wonder of plants, learn about the natural world, and make joyful connections. Our doors opened in 1986 and we’ve continued to grow our mission, our footprint, and our role in the community ever since. Today’s Garden sits on nearly 200 acres. It includes conservatories, formal and naturalistic gardens, a café, Garden Shop, walking trails, accessible pathways, and expansive views of the Wachusett Reservoir. A nonprofit organization and AAM-accredited museum, we care for an irreplaceable collection of plants and place sustainability and environmental stewardship at the forefront of our work. A robust, year-round calendar of educational classes, activities, and events engages people of all ages in meaningful experiences with plants.
Duties & Responsibilities
Work within the Naturalistic Gardens team, under the direction of the Director of Horticulture, to maintain assigned garden areas to meet departmental horticultural standards, with an emphasis on sustainability and aesthetics. • This position works primarily outside focused on the maintenance of the following spaces: Shade Garden, Wildlife Refuge Pond, Inner Park, The Ramble, Pliny’s Allée, and the Climate Garden. • Support the aesthetic vision for assigned garden areas by assisting with planning, planting, and maintaining displays and garden improvements. • Support the Plant Recorder by providing detailed information on plant additions, removals, and relocations. • Support the Night Lights winter light event through design, installation and staffing a select number of evenings as part of a team effort. • Support cross-department initiatives, events and exhibitions as directed. • Support horticultural maintenance and installation of select outdoor gardens, including installing seasonal displays, weeding, watering deadheading, and pest and disease scouting and control. • After training, safely operating and maintaining power tools, vehicles, and other landscape equipment. • Working with individual volunteers or groups of volunteers to carry out regular garden maintenance. • Supporting snow removal operations; with training, safely operating snow throwers, salt spreaders, and other snow removal tools and equipment, expected to work during storm hours including weekends and holidays • Performing horticultural tasks include pruning, fertilizing, watering, pest and disease scouting and control, repotting, and acclimatizing plants • Supporting irrigation and hardscape maintenance and repairs. • Be welcoming to all staff and the public and respectful of staff differences and preferences. Outdoor Gardener – Naturalistic Gardens • Use gender-neutral communication styles and respect everyone’s pronouns. • Attend Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) workshops and training sessions. • Work with an awareness of surroundings in accordance with NEBG safety policies. • Complies with the provisions of the current Employee Handbook, all published personnel policies, and the requirements of the job description. • Perform other duties as assigned.
Education and Experience
Valid driver’s license, excellent driving record, and ability to drive a pickup truck. • Satisfactory completion of a criminal background check. • Knowledge of or interest in horticulture, native plants, or landscape design preferred. • Effective communication skills and willingness to interact with the public.
Additional Information
The Outdoor Gardener position is non-exempt. The standard work schedule for this position is five days per week, Monday through Friday, from 7:00 am – 3:30 pm with an unpaid 30-minute lunch. • The schedule may be flexible to accommodate the organization’s needs. Occasional shifts in schedule will occur for the following events: o Evening hours around the Night Lights event in November, December and beginning of January. Three total nights minimum are expected for this event. o As part of the essential staff, there is the expectation of snow removal assistance as part of a larger team effort. The Outdoor Gardener will be expected to report to assist with snow removal efforts on a rotational scheduled weekend coverage roster. Physical Demands / Working Conditions • Must be able to lift 50 pounds repeatedly and work outdoors in all seasonal extremes. • Must be able to bend, squat, kneel, stand, and walk for extended periods of time and to navigate uneven grounds and stairs evenly. • With proper training and appropriate personal protective equipment, must be willing to work around poison ivy and other human health hazards, such as ticks, mosquitoes, bees, and other stinging insects • Must be able to work with appropriate computer and communications equipment. • Must be able to work with appropriate hand and power tools. • Must have or be able to obtain within six months of the start of employment a Massachusetts pesticide applicator (core) license • Must have or be able to obtain within one year of the start of employment a Massachusetts hoisting engineer license, HE-2A/1C Note: Duties described above, other duties and physical demands have been identified as essential functions as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Application Instructions
Please follow link to apply:
https://bit.ly/nebg-jobs
February 15, 2026
