What do Nursery Workers do?

Work in nursery facilities or at customer location planting, cultivating, harvesting, and transplanting trees, shrubs, or plants.

  • Plant, spray, weed, fertilize, and water plants, shrubs, and trees, using hand tools and gardening tools.
  • Harvest plants, and transplant or pot and label them.
  • Feel plants' leaves and note their coloring to detect the presence of insects or disease.
  • Operate tractors and other machinery and equipment to fertilize, cultivate, harvest, and spray fields and plants.
  • Inspect plants and bud ties to assess quality.
  • Dig, cut, and transplant seedlings, cuttings, trees, and shrubs.
  • Move containerized shrubs, plants, and trees, using wheelbarrows or tractors.
  • Clean work areas, and maintain grounds and landscaping.
  • Haul and spread topsoil, fertilizer, peat moss, and other materials to condition soil, using wheelbarrows or carts and shovels.
  • Maintain and repair irrigation and climate control systems.
  • Record information about plants and plant growth.
  • Sell and deliver plants and flowers to customers.
  • Fill growing tanks with water.
  • Tie and bunch flowers, plants, shrubs, and trees; wrap their roots; and pack them into boxes to fill orders.
  • Regulate greenhouse conditions, and indoor and outdoor irrigation systems.
  • Dig, rake, and screen soil; and fill cold frames and hot beds in preparation for planting.
  • Dip cut flowers into disinfectant, count them into bunches, and place them in boxes to prepare them for storage and shipping.
  • Sow grass seed, or plant plugs of grass.
  • Maintain inventory, ordering materials as required.
  • Cut, roll, and stack sod.
  • Provide information and advice to the public regarding the selection, purchase, and care of products.
  • Fold and staple corrugated forms to make boxes used for packing horticultural products.
  • Trap and destroy pests such as moles, gophers, and mice, using pesticides.
  • Graft plants and trees into different rootstock to reduce disease by inserting and tying buds into incisions in rootstock.

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Necessary Skills

  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Critical Thinking
  • Coordination
  • Monitoring
  • Speaking
  • Operation and Control
  • Active Listening
  • Service Orientation

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