Gardener EFZ

About the job

Together for quality of life

Gardener EFZ

Apprenticeship

Workplace: Chur

Workload: 100%

At the ARBES nursery in Chur, we train apprentice gardeners specialising in plant production for the regular labour market. ARBES is the sheltered workshop of PDGR and offers sheltered workplaces in its nursery for people with a mental impairment.

As a gardener specialising in plant production, you ensure that colour comes into gardens, living spaces, and habitats. Your tasks include sowing, propagation, and cultivation of ornamental plants for outdoors and indoors, as well as growing and harvesting vegetables. The work takes place in the greenhouse or outdoors. Sometimes gardeners specialising in plant production also plant and care for flower beds and containers.

During your apprenticeship, you will learn professional customer contact as well as how to interact and collaborate with employees with a mental impairment.

Our basic attitude in your training

• We strive for a learning environment characterised by mutual respect, tolerance, and openness.
• We offer you space to assume your role as an apprentice gardener.
• We enable you to experience various learning forms that promote individual, holistic, and self-directed learning.
• We have clear regulations; we define the scope of action together.
• You learn through practical work and reflection, systematically using leadership and training tools.
• We see learning in practice as a continuous and progressive process.
• Through differentiated, constructive, and justified feedback, we achieve learning success together and promote your transfer thinking – from theory to practice.

Key points of your training

Your apprenticeship lasts 3 years and takes place over three learning fields:

• School education in compulsory lessons takes place one day per week. For this, you attend the Vocational School Wetzikon.
• Inter-company courses (ÜK) support learning success by imparting fundamental and industry-specific skills.
• Practical vocational training takes place at the ARBES nursery in Chur.

We support you if you aim to obtain the vocational baccalaureate (BM) during your apprenticeship. Please indicate your interest in your application.

During your vocational training, you have five weeks of holiday per year.

Our requirements for you

• You enjoy working outdoors and in a team
• You have a robust physical constitution and good health
• You are interested in plants, biology, and the environment and have good observational skills
• You are mentally and physically agile
• You have a good eye for colours and shapes
• You are a curious personality and friendly in customer contact

Perspectives after your apprenticeship

After completing your apprenticeship, you work as a gardener specialising in plant production in the profession or complete a shortened basic training as a gardener in another specialisation, as a florist, or in one of the basic agricultural professions such as fruit specialist or vegetable gardener.

Another option is the federal professional examinations to become a master gardener or a tree care specialist.

The higher technical school offers you the opportunity to continue your education as a certified technician HF or a certified technician HF in construction management with a focus on garden and landscape construction.

At the university of applied sciences, the Bachelor of Science (FH) in Environmental Engineering and Landscape Architecture is available to you.

Selection procedure

After reviewing your application, you will be informed about the selection decision. If you are shortlisted, the training manager will arrange an interview and selection days. The selection days give you an insight into everyday work, and we get to know each other better. The selection days are organised by us and take place at the ARBES nursery in Chur.

The admission decision is made by at least two people, usually the training manager and the head of ARBES.

Your advantages at a glance

We offer you a vocational training tailored to you. At PDGR, we generally offer all apprenticeships at the Federal VET Diploma (EFZ) level.

Training for the Federal VET Certificate (EBA) is possible depending on prerequisites and in certain professions in consultation with the education department.

We support you if you aim to obtain the vocational baccalaureate (BM) during your apprenticeship. Please indicate your interest in your application.

As a competitive athlete, we enable you, in consultation with the Office for Vocational Education and your sports association/club, to have special training conditions to create an ideal combination between vocational training and competitive sport. During the preliminary assessment, we carefully check whether your sport is compatible with your chosen apprenticeship and training goals.

All our apprentices receive 5 weeks of holiday per year. If you work the 43-hour week model, you even get 5 additional days off (compensation days). These are worked in advance throughout the year within the 43-hour week.

At the introductory days in August, you meet all new apprentices at the Beverin Clinic in Cazis. After a welcome by Josef Müller, CEO, you receive initial insights into PDGR and get job-specific information about your apprenticeship start. The day concludes with a joint aperitif, attended by your trainer. Your parents and relatives are, of course, also invited.

The next two days are spent together by all new apprentices. We work on various topics in workshops to prepare you for the start of your apprenticeship.

Out of the everyday – the apprentice day is the annual highlight for our apprentices. Once a year, you meet all apprentices for a joint activity. Examples from past apprentice days include gold panning in the Surselva, planting fir trees with WWF in Prättigau, or visiting the RhB workshops in Landquart.

The day promotes exchange among apprentices from different professions and offers you a cross-professional experience.

Each profession has industry-standard apprentice wages. Would you like a little more? We value our youngest employees and are happy to pay our apprentices a little extra so they can manage well with their first income. In addition, there is a 13th-month salary. There are also allowances for work on Sundays and evenings, for example as a health specialist – always within the framework of youth protection.

Tips for your budget planning can be found here.

We strive to provide apprentices with a varied and well-supported apprenticeship in all areas and professions. As a company with over 1,200 employees, we use our diverse opportunities. This allows us to give our apprentices insights into different areas and they can complete parts of their apprenticeship at different locations.

No matter the profession – you are part of the PDGR team and work with different employees and professions.

"Community" is one of our core values: Everyone contributes with their individuality and works constructively with other professions – this is how we progress. Your ideas and opinions are also welcome and encouraged.

Learn more about our values here.

Workday and collaboration

In your workday and private life, much exciting, new, unexpected, and challenging happens – much of it for the first time. In the person of your trainer, supervisor, or training manager, you always have a contact person. Talk about things that burden, overwhelm, or hinder you. Together we look for solutions and help you.

If you cannot manage alone or with your environment, sometimes talking to an external specialist helps. For this, we have an independent counselling service available to employees – neutral, anonymous, and free of charge.

Learning and succeeding at the three learning locations

Difficulties at school, in the ÜK, or in practical learning? We are happy to support our apprentices individually with their personal challenges during the apprenticeship. We encourage attending support courses or other offers from your vocational school.

Your training company

The PDGR and its values

"Open psychiatry – by leading experts for the people" is our vision. You are the expert – with your expertise, skills, and above all your personality, you enrich our interprofessional teams.

Our experts share their knowledge for the best possible quality. They are trustworthy, competent, and guided by the latest findings. The PDGR stand as a beacon and are an important support for society.

Your contacts

Petra Regina Bernet

Head of Nursery

Petra Regina Bernet

Susanna Böhi

Specialist Supervisor

Susanna Böhi