Careers in Social and Personal Services

Gardener

Job Description

Gardening professionals work to improve and maintain the beauty of landscaped environments. Gardeners both install landscapes and maintain the appearance of existing grounds. Gardening professionals work for landscaping contractors, homeowners and owners of commercial real estate.

Skills

• Gardeners generally work alone or in small teams and must be self-motivated
• The physical nature of the work demands fitness and agility
• Many gardening professionals are responsible for providing their own transportation to different client locations, requiring they have vehicles and clean driving records.

Preparation

Gardeners may come from diverse backgrounds and there are no formal education requirements for entering the field, although some employers prefer to hire candidates with a high school diploma or equivalent. Many state landscaping associations offer optional landscape technician certification. Gardening professionals can earn bachelor's degrees in landscape architecture to transition into a landscape design career. Gardeners can also supervise landscaping installation businesses after meeting state requirements to earn contractor's licenses.

Source: Education Portal