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.

Diploma of Nursery Management

Certificate III in Nursery Operations

Certificate III in Horticulture

Certificate III in Production Horticulture

Certificate III in Protected Horticulture

Diploma of Production Nursery Management

Certificate III in Production Nursery

Boomaroo Nurseries, QLD

Senior Nursery Person, Andrew Creighton

"The advice I’d give to someone wanting to enter a horticulture career is: if you love the outdoors and want a challenge, this is for you. Passion gets me out of bed every morning — every day counts for our plants and seedlings."

On Farms

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Victorian Citrus Farms, VIC

Nursery Supervisor, Jason Bowes

"Horticulture is definitely a good industry to get into — I’d encourage young people to give it a go. Every day is different, and there’s something satisfying about making it all happen, looking after 150,000 trees and knowing they’re living things that need care."

On Farms

Watch the interview