Nursery Worker (45-2092.00)

Work description

Workers will perform tasks for various employers as listed on their contract. Crops: Flowering Plants, Potted Plants, Hanging Baskets, Bedding Flats (Vegetable and Flower), and Seedling Transplants. Greenhouse/Nursery: Workers may perform any combination of the following duties concerned with preparing soil and growth media, cultivation, and otherwise participating in horticultural activities: haul, spread, dig, rake, and mix media to prepare the growing areas for production; cover and fill cold frames and greenhouses in preparation for planting; haul, plant, spray, weed, water, prune, trim, shape and space products; fertilize with granular or liquid fertilizer; tie, bunch, wrap, and pack trees and shrubs to fill orders and load onto trucks for marketing; work on potting line, in a greenhouse, or in an outdoor production area transplanting seedlings and liners into containers and place in growing area. Bedding Plants: Workers will fill flats with potting soil in preparation for planting. Filled flats will be stacked for transport to planting area. Worker will then plant plugs or seedlings into flats as instructed by supervisor. Planted flats will be tagged with appropriate picture tags. Completed flats will be watered in by hand and placed in growing area for finishing. Potted Plants/Hanging Baskets: Workers will fill pots/baskets with potting soil in preparation for planting. One or more transplants will be planted in each container as specified by supervisor. Completed containers will be watered and placed in growing area for finishing. Workers may be required to install hangers and tags on pots or baskets. Workers may be required to place watering tubes into containers to facilitate the irrigation process. Bare Root Products: Workers will handle a variety of bare root products. Workers will propagate, plant, cultivate, harvest, and prepare products for shipment. Nursery Work: Workers will be required to start all crops from seed. Seedlings will be grown in 10 x 20 trays filled with sand or dirt and kept in a controlled environment. When seedlings reach approximately 2 inches tall, and per supervisors; instruction, workers will transplant seedlings from tray into peat pots. When seedlings reach appropriate size, approximately 6 to 8 inches tall, workers will be required to transfer from peat pots to carious selling container and transport to prepared fields for transplanting. When produce is ready for marketing workers will load onto trucks to be shipped to purchaser’s locations. General duties: Duties performed in the field will be sporadic all through the contract due to various crops and crop conditions. Duties will/could include preparing soil, planting, pruning, cutting, deadheading, pinching, trimming to shape, spacing plants, fertilizing with granular or liquid fertilizer, cleaning work areas, running transplant machine, transplanting seedlings, filling flats/pots/baskets, transporting plant materials in the nursery/greenhouse areas, loading, and unloading plants and all other duties associated with ornamental plant production. Between harvesting, workers may be required to perform duties to prepare crops for marketing. Workers will also unload pallets from trucks or wagons for transplanting. Worker may unload and restock for storage. Workers will maintain the yard and nursery ground along with maintain the greenhouse and assist with repairs. Loading and unloading workers may be required to work on flatbed trailer tying B&B trees to the trailer with twine. Workers may be required to work loading or unloading bare root trees by hand into refrigerated trailers. Cultivation: Workers may be required to work as operators of wheel tractors pulling cultivators, mower, or hilling disks. Watering: Workers may be required to water trees by hand using pumps and hoses.