Nursery

On Farms

Nursery

Core tasks

Prepare soil and fertiliser mixes for crops.
Select seeds, bulbs, and cuttings, and plant them in containers, trays, or beds.
Develop a soil health and plant nutrition program.
Manage hydroponic systems.
Supervise maintenance of property, machinery, and equipment.
Water plants using manual and automatic watering systems.
Apply sprays to control pests, diseases, weeds.
Monitor plants to ensure their nutritional and water needs are met.
Keep records of soil mixtures, water and nutrient data, plantings, treatments, losses, and yields.
Selecting plants and packaging them for presentation and delivery.
Advising customers on plant care and appropriate plants for local conditions.
Planning sales area layouts and visual merchandise presentation.
Order seed, fertiliser and chemicals and select stocks based on weather and soil conditions and yield.
Implement appropriate pesticide and weedicide programs.
Coordinate nursery work teams.
Manage transport and logistics for delivery of sales stock.
Maintain good plant health and manage disease, biosecurity risks and the irrigation of crops.
Sample and interpret soil conditions and compost.
Supervise maintenance of property, machinery, and equipment.

The Career Pathways

A nursery is a controlled environment where horticultural plants are grown from seed to seedling.

The nursery provides a protected environment where seedlings are closely monitored to ensure their water and nutritional needs are met, and they are free from pest and disease. Nurseries can be indoor, outdoor, in hot houses, shade houses, shade houses or open nurseries.

Overseeing the entire nursery operation is the senior nursery person, who is responsible for everything from the seed being germinated through to dispatch.

They help to order supplies such as seeds, soil, and fertiliser and organise transport and logistics for delivery of sales stock.

The senior nursery person works closely with the nursery supervisor who leads a team of nursery persons through daily tasks, such as thinning, pruning, spraying, watering, and packaging plants.

The senior nursery person regularly collaborates with irrigationists, horticulturalists and customers to ensure the highest standard and health status of product.