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Kitchen Gardener

Employer
Private Estate - Hertfordshire
Location
Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire
Salary
£32,000-£37,000 DOE
Closing date
22 Aug 2022

The Garden

A privately owned garden/estate surrounding a grade II historic property comprising of 5 acres of garden with trees, shrubs, perennial borders, orchard, kitchen garden, orangery, veg production glasshouse & polytunnels & 35 acres of paddocks & parkland.  All maintained to the highest standard.  We open the gardens annually for one weekend in late May for the National Gardens Scheme.

The kitchen gardener will have full responsibility for all the production of fruit and veg and liaise with the owners and makers of jams and chutneys to agree the cropping plans. The owners are very keen on fresh produce and herbs all year round and open to ideas.

Previous experience on a private estate and kitchen gardens preferred.

Ideally the candidate will be professionally qualified, physically fit & have some experience with vegetable & fruit production both top and soft fruit and be familiar with pruning both mature and new fruit trees and bushes.  This will include apricots and nectarines, plums, cherries a mature apple orchard, espalier apples and pears etc.

- Competence in the safe operation of common garden machinery is essential.

- A full clean driving licence is required for the commute to and from the rurally located estate.

Typical duties will include but may not be limited to: -

  • Pruning of shrubs, plants, top & soft fruit
  • Assisting with greenhouse management & maintenance
  • Managing and understanding the irrigation in the vegetable and fruit growing areas
  • Weed & pest control through organic means where possible
  • Assisting with composting
  • Assisting with the provision of fruit & veg for eating fresh & preserving


There are 2 glasshouses one larger one which is more ornamental and a second one used for seed production and tomatoes, cucumbers, etc

In addition we use a piece of ground in the next door walled garden and here there are 3 polythene tunnels used for vegetable plant production as well as more growing area.  We produce an excess of some plants for sale on our NGS open day during the last but one weekend of May

Working Week - Monday to Friday (40 hour week in winter, 42.5 hours in summer)

Seasonal weekend work is shared on a rota basis for plant care only.

Holidays- 28 days holiday including bank holidays

Start Date- As soon as possible

Closing Date: August 22th 2022

To apply please send your CV via info@julietoll.co.uk

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