Nursery Workers

Job description

Nursery workers will plant, cultivate, and harvest bare root, ball-and-burlap, and containerized trees and shrubs, and perform other duties related to nursery production. Specific duties and skills required include the following:

Plant Cultivation: Through knowledge and judgment, employ proper pruning techniques for a wide range of Clinton Nurseries' plant varieties. Exhibit understanding of pruning protocols to ensure uninterrupted availability goals for key crops. Possess ability to identify individual plants that require staking and then decide on the particular staking protocols for that plant. Stick cuttings, transplant plants, pot plants and space plants.

Must possess ability to understand verbal and/or written work instructions. Must be able to understand and identify plants by botanical name and apply proper identification tag.

Plant Harvest and Shipping Activities: Harvest, pack, label, stack and load trees and shrubs using techniques appropriate for individual varieties of plants. Possess ability to identify and select appropriate color picture tags for placement on plants. Possess ability to determine the exact grades and quantities for selecting trees and shrubs for sale. Must be able to measure and understand Clinton Nurseries' appropriate quality standards for each shipment depending on individual customer demands.

General Nursery Duties: Drive tractors while pulling multiple wagons, including 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. 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.

Cover, uncover, or move the poly-covered winter plant storage facilities ('hoop houses'). May be required to assemble or repair pallets and/or racks and perform general nursery repairs, maintenance, and labor.

Jobs are repetitive in nature, extensive walking, and must be performed in all climate conditions including hot, humid weather as well as rain, snow, and sleet. These jobs require the ability to perform heavy lifting. Must be able to lift up to 60-lb containerized plants and transport them by hand up to a distance of 50 feet for up to 8 hours a day when performing spacing and loading trucks with nursery stock and materials.

Workers should be able to work on their feet in bent positions for long periods of time. Allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, insect spray, related chemicals, etc. may affect workers' ability to perform the job.

Persons seeking employment as an experienced nursery worker must be available for the entire period requested by the employer. Workers are encouraged to bring warm clothing and boots.

Special Requirements

The employer has a drug-free workplace program and a zero tolerance policy for alcohol use during the entire period of contract. Drug or alcohol testing may be done post-accident and for cases with valid reasons for suspicion at the employer's expense.

The job requires a minimum of three months verifiable prior experience working in a nursery handling both manual and machine tasks associated with nursery production and harvest activities. Workers must be able to perform manual as well as mechanized activities with accuracy and efficiency. Applicants must be able to furnish verifiable job reference(s) or comparable third party documentation from recent employer(s) establishing acceptable prior experience.