Gardener

Summary

**EXTENEDED CLOSING TO SEPTEMBER 9, 2026** The Gardener serves within the Facilities Management Service at the Orlando VA Health Care System, performing skilled horticultural and grounds maintenance work to maintain safe, attractive, and functional landscaped areas throughout the campus. The position carries out routine planting, cultivating, pruning, mowing, fertilizing, irrigation repair, and landscape upkeep using established horticultural methods suited to Central Florida conditions.

Duties

• Duties include, but are not limited to: Performs seasonal gardening tasks such as fertilizing, preparing seedbeds, transplanting, laying sod, aerating, pruning, trimming, and applying approved chemicals according to instructions. Mows lawn areas and ensures grounds remain aesthetically maintained through proper watering, cutting, fertilizing, and routine turf care. Plants, transplants, and fertilizes a variety of shrubs, flowers, grasses, and trees suited to the campus landscape. Considers seasonal schedules, weather conditions, soil moisture, and plant growth stages when determining timing and methods for gardening tasks. Calculates quantities of plants, seeds, fertilizers, and other materials needed for assigned work areas. Prepares soil using proper mixtures of sand, humus, topsoil, and fertilizers according to provided instructions. Places seeds, bulbs, and plants at correct depths to ensure proper establishment and prevent root damage; harvests, labels, and stores seeds and bulbs for future use. Trims and prunes trees, shrubs, and ornamental plants to maintain shape, remove excess growth, and support healthy development. Performs tree pruning to maintain balance between roots and upper growth and support overall plant health. Work Schedule: Tuesday to Saturday 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM, 3:00 PM - 11:30 PM, 11:00 PM - 7:30 AM or Sunday to Thursday 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM, 3:00 PM - 11:30 PM, 11:00 PM - 7:30 AM or Monday to Friday 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM, 3:00 PM - 11:30 PM, 11:00 PM - 7:30 AM *Note-Exact TOD for this position will be discussed during the interview and may be adjusted to meet the facility/dept needs. Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not authorized Position Description Title/PD#: Gardener/PD07501A

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/09/2026. EXPERIENCE: A specific length of training and experience is not required, but you must show evidence of training or experience of sufficient scope and quality of your ability to do the work of this position. Evidence which demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the duties of this position must be supported by detailed descriptions of such on your resume. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualification Standards. SCREEN-OUT ELEMENT: Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, which usually appears as question 1 in the on-line questionnaire. Screen out is the ability to perform Gardner duties without more than normal supervision. Duties include doing seasonal gardening, lawn mowing, planting a variety of of shrubs, flowers, grasses and trees, considering the seasonal schedules or project plans for the area, suitability of the weather, degree of moisture in the soil and stage of plant growth, figuring quantities of plants, seeds, fertilizer and other materials needed for specific areas, preparing soil from instructions on the proper mixture of such materials as sand, humus, topsoil and fertilizer, trimming and pruning trees, shrubs, flowers, etc. to shape and remove excess growth and adjusting irrigation, fertilization and mineral content of soil to meet the requirements and characteristics of each type of plant, tree, shrub, or grass. Those applicants who appear to possess at least the minimal acceptable qualification requirement are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated. The potential eligibles are then rated against the remainder of the Job Elements: Dexterity and Safety Interpret Instructions, Specifications (other than blueprint reading) Materials Measuring Instruments Technical Practices Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment Without more than normal supervision Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: Must be physically fit, as work requires prolonged periods of walking, standing, bending, stooping, pushing mowers, carts, edgers, wheelbarrows, etc. They must climb ladders in order to trim and prune. Employee must occasionally lift and carry heavy objects (weighing approximately 50 pounds) and frequently lift and carry moderately heavy objects weighing up to 40 pounds, such as bags of fertilizer containers of chemicals, trash bags, sod etc. Their work involves pulling, climbing and working with hands above the head. Working Conditions: Work is done outside or in a greenhouse. In working outside, the gardener is subject to discomfort from long periods in the hot sun, and sometimes to chilly or rainy weather. Being exposed to dirt, dust, mud, and sometimes to chemical sprays and dusts, they may wear protective clothing such as gloves, safety shoes, and boots. There is chance of minor injuries such as bruises, cuts, and scrapes and occasional possibility of broken bones from falls. Employee works with power equipment such as, but not limited to push mowers, power edgers, trimmers, chain saws, brush clippers, tractor mowers, street sweepers, etc. and is exposed to engine noise, heat and possible airborne debris.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Subject to background/security investigation Pre-employment physical required Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

How to apply

All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 09/09/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13025518. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified, you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.