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Nursery Technician

Sustainability and reforestation are core values of many forestry organizations. The role that the Nursery Technician plays is crucial to meeting these goals. Tree seedlings begin under the care of nursery staff - those that tend to and care for thousands of seedlings at any given time.

Nursery Technicians provide day-to-day care to tree seedlings in the greenhouse. They ensure the seedlings receive the correct amounts of water, nutrients, and light. To do this, they use a variety of tools, products, and chemicals.

This position may also be known as a Regeneration Aide.

Michael Neel

Regeneration Aide, Rayonier

What I do daily is part of the bigger picture for the company as well as the forestry industry and will pay off in the forests of tomorrow. Daily activities change with the seasons, from planting the seed to harvesting the seedlings that will be planted in the forest.

Education

A High School diploma at a minimum. An Associate’s Degree in Environmental Horticulture, or a related field, is recommended.

Licensure in Pesticide Applications and CDLs (a commercial driver's license) are highly recommended for this position.

Helpful courses to take in high school: science courses such as earth science, biology, and chemistry. Also, joining an agricultural club, such as FFA (Future Farmers of America), is beneficial for hands-on experience with plants and the horticulture industry.

Tools of the Trade

  • Mobile equipment such as tractors, forklifts, seeders, sprayers, spreaders, mowers and other related greenhouse and forestry equipment.
  • Nursery materials such as seedling trays, soils, fertilizers, gardening tools, seeds and seedlings.
  • The Nursery Technician may use a computer to input data and information regarding nursery operations, chemical applications, seedling growth charts, etc.

Important Skills

Knowledge of nursery and greenhouse operations. For example, knowing how to collect soil samples for testing, basic recordkeeping of nursery data and research test data.

Basic greenhouse skills such as sowing seeds, tending to seedlings, weeding, watering, fertilizer and chemical applications and harvesting practices.

Ability to operate large mobile equipment such as tractors, sprayers and mulch spreaders.

Basic computer skills.

Job Responsibilities

Those that work in a forestry nursery are critical to the sustainability practices of the forestry organization. By sowing seeds and caring for tree seedlings, the Nursery Technician plays a key role in reforestation efforts across the company. At any given time, a forestry nursery can house hundreds of thousands of tree seedlings ready to replant after logging efforts or natural disasters such as forest fires.

Although caring for tree seedlings is the position’s primary responsibility, the Nursery Technician may also operate and perform maintenance on farming or greenhouse equipment such as tractors and mowers.

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