Lead Gardener / Training, Consultations + Enhancements

Lead Gardener + Garden Enhancements

Horticultural Leadership, Training + Production

San Francisco | Starting at $32/hour | Full-time | 4–5 days/week
Employment: Full-time, nonexempt W-2 employee
Driving: Valid CA driver’s license and acceptable driving record required

The Gardenista is a San Francisco landscape design, installation and garden-care company seeking an experienced horticultural professional to join our growing team. Our work spans garden care, landscape enhancements, installations and a growing interiorscape program.

This role is a strong fit for someone who has spent at least five years working professionally in gardens and is ready to take the next step in their career -using that field experience to develop other gardeners, work more closely with clients, participate in garden consultations, and help lead garden enhancements and production.

Right now, approximately 75% of the role will be field-based. Our immediate priority is strengthening the horticultural knowledge and leadership capability of our garden-care team.

You will work alongside our Apprentice and Level 1–3 Gardeners, teaching through demonstration, explanation and hands-on work. An important part of the role is helping our more experienced Level 2 and Level 3 Gardeners develop the horticultural judgment, communication and leadership skills required to eventually move into Lead Gardener positions.

We do not expect the role to remain 75% field-based forever.

As the team becomes stronger and more independent, we expect the position to evolve. There will be increasing opportunity to take responsibility for garden consultations, client relationships, enhancements, interior plant projects, plant and material sourcing, installations, proposals and production.

For the right person, this could develop into a broader horticultural leadership and production position with significantly less day-to-day field work over time.

The Person We’re Looking For

You’ve done the field work.

You know plants, pruning, seasonal care, irrigation work and established gardens because you’ve spent years working in them. You can walk onto a property and recognize what is thriving, what is struggling, what has been poorly managed and what needs to happen next.

Now you’re ready to use that experience differently.

You want to help newer gardeners become genuinely good gardeners. You enjoy explaining why something should be done, not simply telling someone what to do. You can recognize when a Level 2 or Level 3 gardener is ready for greater responsibility and help develop the judgment and confidence they’ll need to lead a crew.

At the same time, you’re interested in expanding beyond day-to-day garden care -meeting with clients, walking properties, identifying enhancement opportunities, developing planting ideas, visiting nurseries, sourcing plants and materials, helping build scopes and proposals, and participating in the production of projects from idea through completion.

Comfort with technology is important. Gardenista uses Asana, Google Workspace, QuickBooks and ChatGPT/AI tools to manage scheduling, projects, estimating, documentation and communication. You do not need to be an expert in every platform when you start, but you should be comfortable learning and consistently using digital systems as part of your work.

This is a role for someone who wants to grow from an experienced field horticulturist into a broader horticultural leader.