Smithsonian Gardens Maintenance Volunteer Opportunity in Suitland, MD

Do you love plants? Smithsonian Gardens volunteer; you will care for plants and help to care to create beauty for visitors to the Smithsonian Institution. You will work with professional horticulturists and will assist with planting, weeding, deadheading and more. Develop your plant knowledge; help scout for disease and insect pests; and share your knowledge with visitors. Please remember the work is physical. Be prepared to

• volunteer in hot weather
• stoop and bend
• safely lift and help others lift plants, mulch, bags of compost and other supplies

Duties Include

• With staff supervision, Gardens Maintenance Volunteers assist with the preparation of planting beds.
• Volunteers will assist with planting a variety of plant material in our garden spaces, weeding, watering, pruning, and deadheading.

Qualifications and Training

Garden Maintenance Volunteers should be able to follow directions and pay attention to detail when performing assigned tasks. Volunteers must be willing to learn and adapt to specific procedures while working with SG staff. Good communication skills are required.

Volunteers should be interested in and capable of performing general garden tasks outdoors, including during periods of hot and humid weather. The role requires the ability to stoop, bend and carry out repetitive tasks such as weeding-sometimes for extended periods-as well as standing for long stretches of time. Volunteers must be able to lift up to 50 pounds is helpful but not required.

Volunteers should also be enthusiastic about plants, adaptable when taking on assigned gardening tasks, and eager to learn.

Volunteers must complete periodic training focused on gardening safety. This is an internal training provided by Smithsonian Gardens.

Term

The position requires a minimum 1-year commitment. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and complete a Smithsonian pre-appointment background investigation.

How to Apply

To apply, applicants must register and submit an application online at Smithsonian's Volunteer Management System (Vsys) at vol.si.edu.

Links to the online application are included in the opportunity's description. Once you create a profile, you will be able to use the same application to apply for multiple opportunities. If you have a Vsys account, please verify that the information in your account is still up to date and correct. You can log in via vol.si.edu .

It is mandatory for all Smithsonian Volunteers to be registered in Vsys. When completing your Vsys application/ profile all the boxes in yellow are required.