Nursery Worker

Job description

Crops/Commodities: Herbs, flower plants, houseplants, vegetables, pollinator plants, native plants, and nursery trees.
Primary duties (performed the majority of workdays):
Perform manual and mechanized tasks associated with the indoor and outdoor production of field-grown and containerized horticultural products. Duties include planting, cultivating, maintaining, and harvesting herbs, flower plants, houseplants, vegetables, pollinator plants, native plants, and nursery trees. Prepare and clean production beds and fields. Prepare soil for planting. Propagate plants by seed, cuttings, division, or transplanting. Remove cull stock, debris, brush, vines, and other unwanted growth from production areas using hand tools or mechanized equipment. Plant or pot seedlings and liners by hand or mechanical planter; fill, label, and move trays and containers; and move products to and from greenhouses and loading areas. Identify plant species, varieties, maturity stages, and quality grades as required for propagation, cultivation, and harvest. Attach hangers to baskets and place them in greenhouse structures. Move containerized plants using rolling or electric carts. Load and unload trucks or conveyor systems. Install and remove greenhouse plastics. Perform general plant maintenance, including pruning, trimming, shearing, spacing, staking, tying, and culling to ensure marketable quality. Apply irrigation, fertilizers and crop protection products following all safety requirements.

Select trees and nursery stock of appropriate grade for harvest. Shear trees to proper specifications. Tie, wrap, and prepare trees for shipment. Harvest nursery trees using hand tools, axes, or chainsaws as appropriate to nursery production. Drag harvested trees to staging areas. Wrap root balls in burlap and secure with twine or staples. Crimp wire baskets. Pack, label, sort, and store plants by variety. Perform counting, grading, and inventory tasks. Operate, install, move, and maintain irrigation systems and water lines. Dig and maintain drainage ditches. Mow, weed, and maintain fields. Use hand tools including rakes, hoes, shovels, mattocks, loppers, shears, clippers, and saws. Operate, clean, and maintain nursery equipment and vehicles. Assist with sanitation, repair, and maintenance of nursery buildings, fences, greenhouses, and production areas. Workers with proper licensing may haul product to market and transport other workers as needed. Job opportunity is Skill Level II. Workers must be able to perform all primary duties independently and without close supervision.

Secondary duties (performed on less than half of the workdays in the contract period):
Operate equipment, hand tools, and construction tools safely, with or without direction. Work on farm property constructing and repairing greenhouses tractor sheds, barns and other infrastructure. Placing concrete walls, pads and sidewalks. Installing doors, steel frames, plastic coverings, shade cloth, caulking structures, irrigation systems and clean site. Installing heaters and fans, and electrical and propane systems. May operate hand and power tools of all types; air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers, small mechanical hoists, surveying and measuring equipment, and a variety of other equipment and instruments. May clean and prepare sites, dig trenches, set braces to support the site of excavations, erect scaffolding and clean up rubble, debris and other waste materials. Workers must operate equipment in a manner that protects operator, visitors, other workers, products, trees, crops and equipment. Construction and renovation projects will be performed as needed in connection with the operation and maintenance of our nursery.

Employer may request, but not require, workers to work more than the stated daily hours and/or on a worker's Sabbath or federal holidays. Worker must report to work at designated time and place each day.

Special Requirements

Three months of verifiable experience performing the same or similar duties as those described in this job order, on a farm or nursery. Work outdoors in inclement weather conditions. Work requires repetitive movements and frequent standing, walking, reaching, stooping, bending, kneeling, pushing/pulling and lifting, carrying and loading up to 50 lbs. Climb ladders up to 6 ft. Driver license acceptable in the state of West Virginia. Drug testing is conducted post-hire at the employer's expense and is not part of the interview process. The employer does not employ persons that have a criminal conviction. This includes by is not limited to persons convicted of violent, sex related, theft related, or drug related crimes except under extremely limited circumstances. Individual circumstances will be taken into consideration at the request of the applicant. Background checks are conducted at the employer's discretion.