Nursery Worker

Job description

Crops/Commodities:
Deciduous trees, conifers, flowering shrubs, perennials.
This job requires a minimum of three months of verifiable prior experience working in a nursery, handling both manual and machine tasks associated with nursery production and harvest activities, including experience with balled and burlap (“B&B”) tree production. Workers may be required to perform any of the following jobs, all of which are outside:

Planting: Workers may be required to work as operators of wheel tractors pulling planters and planting wagons. Workers may be required to work on the ground planting trees that are fed through a tractor pulled planter, using shovels. Workers will be required to dig trees with digging spades.

Flowering Trees & Shrubs: Workers will be working with flowering trees, conifers, perennials andshrubs. Workers will plant, cultivate, harvest, propogate, grade, store and ship container and field grown horticultural products. Harvesting field-grown crops includes digging up products and placing on pallets. Grading is done by size. Products are measured, tied in bundles and placed in storage for shipment. Workers will take cuttings from trees and shrubs, place in containers pre-filled with dirt and transplant seedlings to prepared areas. Shrubs and some trees are harvested for resale when they reach approximately 1-3 inches in height, although most products reach approximately 3 feet tall before they are ready for market.

Pruning: When pruning, it is vital to prune the unwanted branch while protecting the stem or trunk wood of the tree. While pruning trees, workers will receive proper tools for the particular job, i.e., saw, pruners and hand snips. The supervisor will set a standard or pattern for each job and will demonstrate and communicate this to workers. Workers will be assigned rows of trees and must prune each tree according to the predetermined standard. Workers must remove all resulting material from the trees rendered from performing pruning tasks. When pruning is complete on each tree, each worker is required to rake and scatter the resulting brush in the center of the tractor/equipment rows.

Balled and burlap (B&B) tree production: Workers may be required to work as operators of skid steers with tree spade attachments or haul out tines. Workers may be required to work on the ground packaging the finished root ball on a tree by stapling burlap with hog ring pliers, tying basket loops with twine, crimping baskets with pig tail crimpers or tying branches with twine.

Bare Root Tree Production: Workers may be required to work as operators of skid steers with bare root blade attachments. Workers may be required to work on the ground tying branches with twine or hauling trees through the field and loading them onto trucks by hand.

Loading and Unloading: Workers may be required to work on flat bed trailers 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, mowers or hilling disks.

Watering: Workers may be required to water trees by hand using pumps or hoses.

General Duties: Duties performed may include preparing soil, planting, pruning, cutting, deadheading, pinching, trimming to shape, spacing plants, potting, fertilizing with granular or liquid fertilizer, cleaning work areas, transporting plant materials, loading and unloading plants and all other duties associated with ornamental plant production. Between harvesting, workers will be required to perform duties to prepare crops for marketing. Installation of trees and shrubs. Workers will also unload pallets from trucks or wagons for transporting. Workers may unload and restock for storage. General maintenance on equipment may be required.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of three months of verifiable prior experience working in a nursery, handling both manual and machine tasks associated with nursery production and harvest activities, including experience with balled and burlap (B&B) tree production. Saturday worked required. Must be able to lift/carry 100 lbs. Employer-paid post-hire drug testing is required at random and upon reasonable suspicion of use.