Horticultural Specialist Duties and Responsibilities
Purpose of Classification:
Plans
and develops horticultural collections at an arboretum. Collects,
maintains and cares for plants at the arboretum and plans and
conducts tours for the public.
Distinguishing Characteristics:
This is
second in a series of three classifications and is distinguished
from Horticultural Technician in that a higher level of education
and experience allows for more responsibility for a specialized
area. Incumbents act as resource persons, plan tours, present
lectures and provide work direction to others.
Examples of Duties:
- Maintains and cares for desert plants including the cactus
and succulent plant collection or woody ornamentals such as
trees and shrubs.
- Weeds, prunes and irrigates plants; performs general cleanup
of the gardens and performs weed and pest control measures with
use of pesticides and herbicides.
- Mixes soils for plant beds and containers in the collection.
- Plans and conducts tours of the arboretum.
- Presents lectures, slide shows and demonstrations on
horticultural and botanical topics at the Arboretum and at
various community group meetings.
- Provides work direction to other personnel in the care and
maintenance of the arboretum's plants and grounds.
- Plants new vegetation in the arboretum's garden taking
special note of frost hardiness and sun tolerance, as requested
by supervisor.
- Collects, compiles and analyzes data on experiments; writes
evaluation of findings.
- Acts as a resource person at the arboretum bookstore, as
needed.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Knowledge of the principles of Horticulture.
- Knowledge of modern research methods, data collection and
analysis.
- Knowledge of a variety of landscaping techniques.
- Skill in both verbal and written communication.
Minimum Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree in Horticulture, Plant Science or related field
AND one year of horticulture experience; OR, Five years horticulture
or related experience; OR, Any equivalent combination of experience
and/or education from which comparable knowledge, skills and
abilities have been achieved.
Next: Horticultural Specialist Lead Job Description |