Nursery Worker

Crops/Commodities: nursery stock. Nursery workers will plant, cultivate and harvest bare root, ball-and-burlap trees and shrubs, containerized trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and perform other duties related to nursery production. Specific duties and skills required include the following: Plant Cultivation: Employ proper pruning techniques for a wide range of plants in nursery setting. Work with cuttings, transplant plants, pot plants, stake plants, and space plants appropriately for irrigation and sun exposure. Must possess ability to understand verbal and/or written work instructions and, with training, must be able to understand how to identify plants by botanical name and apply proper identification tag. Workers may work under direct supervision of certified pesticide applicator and may apply pesticides and fertilizers in accordance with regulations. Workers must wear PPE equipment while working with chemicals as instructed by supervisors. Monitor irrigation pumps and evaluate crops for irrigation needs and water as appropriate. Workers must keep accurate logs of time spent irrigating crops and may perform routine maintenance on irrigation system. Harvest, Packing, and Shipping: Workers will harvest, pack, label, stack and load live agricultural products, including trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals using techniques appropriate for individual varieties of plants. Identify and pull the correct species, grade and quantity of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals for sale and shipment. Workers must select and place the appropriate tag or colored picture label on plant prior to shipment. Workers must adhere to appropriate quality standards for each shipment depending on individual customer demands. General Nursery Duties: Drive tractors while pulling multiple wagons, and must have ability to properly back tractors pulling wagons. Work may also include mechanized nursery work using other power equipment. By way of example and not limitation, other power equipment also may include planters, sprayers, and other equipment used in a commercial nursery. Workers will be expected to be able to operate agricultural equipment including but not limited to mowers, weed eaters and ATVs as well as daily use of field trucks and tractors with or without direction. At times, under the guidance of a Facilities Technician, workers may be asked to perform repair and maintenance on agricultural equipment. In the spring, workers will uncover the poly-covered winter plant storage facilities (“hoop houses”). In the fall, workers will consolidate the nursery by grading all plants, picking them up and putting them in hoop houses. These duties include pulling lath strips to prepare hoop houses for new poly covers and cover the 50 linear miles of hoop houses with the poly and bracing the wider houses with 2x4 lumber to prevent them from collapsing under heavy snow load. Non-supervisory nursery workers may demonstrate tasks to others.

Salary : $19