Horticultural Worker

Job description

Workers will perform tasks for various employers as listed on their contract.
Crops: Flowers, Bulbs, Trees, Wood Ornamentals.

Greenhouse/Nursery: Workers may be required to perform any combination of the following duties (all of which are outside) 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.

Manually plant, cultivate and harvest horticultural specialties. Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning, hooks, shears and knives. Duties may include tilling & mixing soil & applying fertilizers, transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops, or cleaning, clearing, grading, sorting loading harvested products. May construct trellises, repair fences and farms building or participate in irrigation activates.

Planting: workers will be required to plant trees, shrubs and other plants. Workers may do this by hand digging a whole into the ground and placing plant in the hole and covering with dirt or soil. Workers may also work as operators of wheel tractors pulling planters and planting wagons as an incidental activity to planting. Workers may be required to work on the ground planting trees and shrubs that are fed through a tractor pulled planter-using shovels.

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, propagating, planting, hand weeding, pruning, cutting, deadheading, pinching, trimming to shape, spacing plants, fertilizing with granular or liquid fertilizer, cleaning work areas, 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 into fields for transplanting. Worker may unload and restock for storage.

Loading and unloading: Workers will be required to count, load and unload plants.

Cultivation: Workers may be required to work as operators of wheel tractors pulling cultivators, mower or hilling disks as an incidental activity for cultivation.

Watering: Workers may be required to water trees by hand using pumps and hoses. Workers will run irrigation pipes and pumps.

Farm Equipment Operation: This includes tractors, loaders, pot filler, flat filler, seeding, potting machines and trucks. Workers will be required to operate tractors and other farm equipment during field operations as an incidental activity for planting, cultivating, harvesting, installing and support jobs of the crops. Operate mowing equipment (rotary and reel types, push and riding) or drive a tractor or forklift. Workers may operate golf carts, gators, or similar vehicles. Workers will operate trucks and tractor on state owned streets. Workers will be required to operate all farm equipment according to instructions and in manner that protects the operator, other workers, crops and equipment. Repeated failure to obey operating and safety instructions may result in termination.

General Maintenance: Workers will perform various duties for up keeping of the nursery, greenhouses, fields, equipment, and buildings. These duties may include painting of nursery buildings, fence repair, mowing, weed eating, and other general building and ground maintenance.

Special Requirements

Must have three months experience working in agriculture/horticulture. Applicants must be able to furnish affirmative job references from recent employers operating comparable operations establishing acceptable previous experience. Must be physically able to meet and perform all job specifications stated in job order. Must be able to work in the hot humid weather for extended periods of time. Workers are subject to random drug testing at no cost to the employee. Failing or refusing a drug test will result in immediate termination.