• Gardeners
• Gardens & Designed Landscape Advisers
• The Gardens Office
• The National Trust for Scotland Gardens and Designed Landscapes Advisory Panel
• Volunteers

Gardeners
Almost 100 gardeners carry out the day-to-day maintenance of the Trust`s gardens and managed landscapes. This may include wilder landscapes surrounding the garden, woodlands and amenities such as car parks and play areas on the property.

The larger and more complex gardens are managed by a Head Gardener; a First Gardener and a team of under-gardeners. At large properties gardeners work closely with other property staff such as Rangers, Groundsmen, Foresters etc. with general management overseen by the Property Manager. The smaller sites are managed single-handedly by a Head Gardener who may also act as a Property Manager. The gardeners need an extensive skill set to carry out their role from pruning, propagation and pest control to maintaining a wide array of modern machinery which they use to facilitate their work.

Gardens & Designed Landscape Advisers
The department is managed by the Head of Gardens and Designed Landscapes who is supported by the four Gardens Advisers (three of whom are based in the North East, the West and the South) and a Gardens Assistant. There are a number of volunteers who provide invaluable assistance and from time to time student researchers and Project Scotland volunteers who are allocated specific projects to work on.

The Gardens Office
The Gardens Office is based in the Trust`s Central Office in Edinburgh. It is responsible for the development and dissemination of the garden policy and the setting of national standards and operational guidelines. The department is managed by the Head of Gardens who is supported by a small team of staff consisting of a Gardens Assistant, secretary and volunteers with intermittent help from student researchers.

The Gardens Department is part of the Conservation Services and Projects division. It works closely with the other departments in this division such as Nature Conservation, Buildings, Curatorial, Archaeology, Education and Interpretation to ensure that all aspects of property management and planning are undertaken in a coherent and integrated manner.

The National Trust for Scotland Gardens and Designed Landscapes Advisory Panel
Is a team of horticultural professionals and historic landscape specialists, who volunteer their time and meet about five times a year to discuss and review strategic gardens policy decisions and to visit the Trust`s gardens to ensure that high standards in horticultural practice are maintained.

Volunteers
The Trust is very fortunate in having help from numerous volunteers who help maintain our gardens by undertaking a variety of different tasks of both a horticultural and administrative nature. See How you can Help for information on volunteering.