JOB DESCRIPTION: KITCHEN GARDENER
Responsible to: HEAD GARDENER
Role: FULL-TIME/PART-TIME JOB SHARE
Hours: 37.5 hours (minimum) Flexible across the week
Salary: c£30,000 p.a. plus pension and benefits package

THE FRON HEULOG ESTATE
The Fron Heulog Estate is a private residence on the edge of the Berwyn Mountains in North Wales. It is a Grade II Listed Georgian house with surrounding estate buildings situated in an elevated position above the River Dee, encompassing fifty-eight acres of gardens, ancient bluebell woodland and pasture with enchanting views, stretching down to the river and to the Berwyn Mountains beyond.

The 58-acre gardens and ancient woodland are still in development and at their heart is a spectacular and recently renovated walled kitchen garden dating back to the early 18 th Century with a central rose pergola and 365 square metres of productive beds. There are additional plastered alcoves for trained fruit, soft fruit cages and large areas of perennial meadow for wildlife.

The garden has been recently designed by Arabella Lennox-Boyd (www.arabellalennoxboyd.com) who has purposefully created a design sensitively enriching and enhancing the estate’s sense of place.

ROLE
An opportunity has arisen for a Kitchen Gardener to run and manage the kitchen garden for the estate, reporting to the Head Gardener. As well as creating a productive and attractive space, the owners are passionate about the heritage of the local area and committed to ensuring contribution is made to the community, through the kitchen garden whether that be community outreach projects, supporting local foodbanks or educational purposes and wish to create a hub for those activities.

They are also committed to preserving and maintaining the wildlife environment, which is extensive, and operating on both organic and no-dig principles where possible.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
We are looking for an enthusiastic, proactive individual passionate about productive and attractive kitchen gardening delivered in an organic and sustainable way and who is eager to uphold the landscaper’s horticultural standards and overarching ethos. Ideally the person would have good experience of vegetable and fruit growing in a similar enterprise, or in a smallholding or market garden and be comfortable with taking on the responsibilities of planning and organising of the kitchen garden. We need someone who is familiar with seed propagation and who is flexible enough to be willing occasionally to work on other parts
of the garden at the busiest times of the year.

Essential:
 Solid practical skills in all aspects of fruit and vegetable propagation, staking, pruning, treating
common pests and diseases, irrigation, harvesting techniques, storage of produce and rotation.
 Flexible, self-motivated and keen to be an active part of the Estate Team.
 Solid communication skills and a friendly disposition.
 Machinery sensitive
 Passion for the environment and sustainability.
Desirable:
 Level 2 in Horticulture/RHS qualified
 Previous no-dig gardening experience and knowledge of organic practices and principles.
 Eventually to be comfortable with occasional tours of the gardens to guests, local societies, or educational groups.
 Willingness to be involved in future ad hoc plant fairs.

ROLE EXPECTATIONS
Candidates must have the right to live and work in the United Kingdom.
The Estate supports Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as one of its core values believing all employees have intrinsic worth and value in the workplace.
The successful candidate must have the ability to get to and from the estate independently (there is public transport, but it is infrequent). The culture of the Estate however is to embrace flexible working, and negotiation can be made to work the hours required in a more flexible way across the working week.

APPLICATION PROCESS
Please send a copy of your CV with a covering letter to Hugh Fletcher, Head Gardener at the following
address gardenfronheulog@hotmail.com. Application deadline is 31 st July 2025.