Job description
Nursery managers are responsible for the day-to-day operations of a nursery by planning, organising, supervising, controlling and directing horticultural or botany activities related to flowers, mushrooms and trees. A nursery manager will also take a hands-on approach to grow and cultivate plants for sale, display or research.
Duties
- Plant, grow and cultivate plants, mushrooms, trees and other agriculture, botany and horticulture elements
- Perform manual horticultural tasks, such as applying pesticides and fertiliser, operating equipment and cutting or pruning
- Inspect crops and plants and examine soil condition where the work is being done
- Sell products to customers interested in buying goods your land or greenhouse produces
- Research ways to better grow and maintain plants and sell output to merchants
- Execute strategies to provide plant care that can make certain they survive and thrive
- Balance the nursery’s budget and ensure that it comes under budget
- Hire, fire and manage employees to work in greenhouses
- Establish solutions to diseases, insect pests and weeds that might damage your crop
- Monitor facilities and evaluate operational systems to determine potential improvements
- Assign work schedules and delegate tasks for each employee
- Complete clerical tasks, like recordkeeping, organising and file storing
- Direct sales, marketing, customer service and inventory efforts
- Research, implement and enforce safety regulations and policies
Skills, qualities and knowledge
Working hours and environment
Average working hours
40hweek
Typical schedule
Full Time
Standard business hours
A nursery manager typically work a full-time schedule, though there will be plenty of times when you need to come to work on weekends to study crops, come up with resolutions or meet clients, bureaucrats or job applicants. Also, depending on the farm, ranch or greenhouse you work at, the work might be seasonal, which could be difficult to sustain a steady living.
A nursery manager can expect to split their time between the office and the land.
Salary
Bottom 10%
$35k
Median
$68k
Top 10%
$140k
Annual salary estimates are based on percentile wage data collected through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey of US workers.
Qualifications and training
Education level
High school
DVM / VMD degree
Study time
2years
To become a nursery manager, you will need to possess several years of experience on farms, ranches or greenhouses, so a high school diploma or GED equivalent will suffice. That said, since you’’ be working with numbers, supervising employees and potentially managing large-scale nurseries, it would be prudent to do coursework in various related subjects, such as accounting, business management or environmental sciences.
Job outlook
Projected growth
-1%
No of new jobs
-9k
Automation risk
4.7%
Career progression
The environment has become a key focus on the international stage. Whether it is to save the trees or to feed the population, farms, ranches and greenhouses can be sources of career opportunities. This is especially true because older farmers and ranchers are retiring, which could make room for younger workers. The same applies to nursery managers.