Job Purpose

The Horticulturist designs, cultivates, and maintains vibrant, sustainable plant collections and landscapes that enhance the aesthetic and educational appeal of the public garden. This includes fostering plant health, supporting biodiversity, and ensuring the garden serves as a resource for education, conservation, and community engagement. Horticulturists collaborate closely with groundskeepers, managers, and landscape designers to ensure outdoor spaces meet aesthetic and ecological goals. This role plays a crucial role in ensuring that the garden remains beautiful and safe, thereby enhancing the overall visitor experience.

Key Responsibilities

Accountability

Cultivate, plant, and maintain a wide variety of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and specialty collections. Monitor plant health, identify pests and diseases, and implement appropriate treatments. Prune, weed, fertilize, and irrigate to ensure optimal plant growth.
Maintain accurate records of plant collections, including inventory, and plant accessions.
Creating visually impactful displays for high-traffic seasons.

People Management/Interactions

Supervise groundskeepers, interns, volunteers, and seasonal workers in horticultural tasks.
Collaborate with staff, landscape architects, and educators, to achieve garden objectives, and design and implement seasonal displays, themed gardens, or specialty plantings.
Regularly collaborate with staff or volunteer teams and provide precise instructions and demonstration of techniques when needed for tasks including planting, pruning, or cleanup.
Assist with the preparation and execution of events, including seasonal festivals and plant sales.
Demonstrate professionalism and the FWBG Core Values while engaging with guests, interacting with coworkers, and managers with the ability to manage conflict.
Continuously improve knowledge through attending and participating in workshops, seminars, staff meetings, organizational training, and digital resources.

Communication

Encourage job feedback/suggestions from team members, showing respect for their input.
Engage in all campus communication methods to stay informed and share information. This includes email, MS Teams, texts, calls, and newsletters. Communicate with others clearly and effectively both verbally and in writing. Ensure understanding of oral and written instructions.
Provide and communicate opportunities for public engagement regarding plants, ecosystems, and sustainability.

Competencies: Knowledge and Skills required:

Knowledge of proper techniques and uses for a variety of hand and power tools, with the ability to use speciality or heavy equipment.
Knowledge of plants, soil, equipment, and safe landscaping practices with specialized skills in planting, pruning, propagation, pest/disease management, and soil health.
Experience with sustainable gardening techniques like composting, mulching, and water conservation.
Knowledge of occupational hazards and standard safety practices including use of PPE.
Physically able to perform strenuous manual labor tasks related to assigned responsibilities.
Basic computer and mobile phone app skills for benefits enrollment, time reporting, and electronic communication.

Additional Job Requirements

Successfully pass a physical exam to assess whether the individual can perform the duties of the position with or without accommodation.
Be adaptable and flexible to changing schedules and willing to work weekends and evenings when necessary.
Ability to support and participate in FWBG public exhibitions and events.
Every FWBG employee is expected to possess and be willing to use a mobile device for timekeeping and business communications via calls/texts/emails/Teams' messages.

Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the job.

In the performance of their respective tasks and duties, it is every employee's duty to know and model their performance and behavior by the FWBG Core Values: Respect, Integrity, Collaboration, and Enthusiasm!

To Apply

Thank you for your interest! Apply through this job site or visit FWBG's Careers Page at https://fwbg.org/about-us/careers/. Apply online by answering screening questions and completing the application. Applicants who do not fully complete the application process will not be considered. Review of completed applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. The anticipated start date for this position is December 1st.

Candidates invited to final interviews must provide three professional references and contact information to verify work history. The successful candidate will receive a written offer and be required to submit personal information for a criminal background check. The anticipated start date is the first Monday after the background check(s) is successfully passed and requested information is submitted by the applicant.

Fort Worth Botanic Garden

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Horticulturist