Head Gardener

Arne Maynard Garden Design Ltd

A rare opportunity has arisen for a Head / Sole Gardener at Allt Y Bela, the private home of one of the country’s most celebrated garden designers.

Allt Y Bela is a Grade II listed late medieval property is situated in a private valley in the Welsh countryside. As one would imagine, the garden is a beautifully designed, almost boutique garden with exquisite collections and details that fit perfectly within the incredible sense of place for the ancient house and its incredible natural landscape within which it sits.

The Garden and role

Reporting directly to the owners, you will take overall responsibility for all aspects of the garden and be significantly engaged with the wider estates ecological and wildflower management.

The garden is around 5 – & acres but sits within a wider estate of 170 acres in total. As one would expect, the garden includes some incredible topiary and uniquely clipped hedging, with collections of several groups of woodland plants, old roses, bulbs, choice perennial borders, and modest interior displays of house plants and cut flowers.

The wider garden also includes wildflower meadows, riverside and woodland gardens. Rare and unusual species, the presentation of the garden and its meticulous overall maintenance play a significant role in the overall feel of the garden.

The garden contains fruit and a vegetable garden which require long term planning and regular sequenced sowing. A similar approach is required for the oversight of all routine maintenance operations to ensure that these are conducted efficiently and scheduled to be undertaken at the right time. Help is available for larger tasks such as fruit picking, scything, and wildflower management. There is a modern polycarbonate tunnel and a small green house.

Surrounding woodlands, meadows and other significant areas of the garden are undergoing development and enrichment at present. The wider estate is very special, mostly SSSI and biologically diverse with native orchids, wild thyme amongst many other native plants which are being managed for nature, but which fuse together closer to the house and outermost reaches of the garden and woodland. As such, the successful candidate will play a key role in the enhancement of this impressive garden as well as ensuring the highest quality maintenance of existing areas.

The garden and wider estate work to organic principals with avoidance of chemical where possible.

There is a really friendly wider team including a housekeeper, arborist, and estate maintenance who work side by side and collaboratively when helpful to do so.  A number of highly capable specialist contractors also support some aspects of the garden’s specialist maintenance. There may be an opportunity to develop a small team of volunteers, and there is regular input from Arne’s studio team who spend approx 1 day a month on site which includes some time gardening.

The garden is a very manageable size and offers much opportunity to further develop both the garden and the wider natural areas of the wider estate.

Good accommodation is available locally.

Who we are looking for the following

• Relevant Level 3 qualification and good experience. Someone who will love the garden with real passion. A good plant knowledge and curiosity for plants, and who is hungry to learn and further improve their knowledge. Be environmentally and ecologically aware and conscious. Good interpersonal skills, setting a high professional standard, working in ways that are safe, supportive, and keeping all areas of the garden and its facilities tidy and well maintained. A very good communicator, able to take responsibility, help to build good relationship at all levels, internally and externally. Has drive, be motivated, responsible, proactive, flexible, positive, and professional. Who can keep a journal of what has been planted, location and progress, etc. Candidates should have a full and clean UK driving license. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK.

We are also looking for someone creative and botanically curious to work with Arne in acquiring and propagating new plants and bulbs. Someone say, with a gift for hand writing labels, and in presenting the Galanthus / other rare seasonal collections.

Generous salary will reflect the PGG salary guidelines for the title of Head Gardener, based on experience, and qualifications.

Apply here