Gardener

What is a Gardener?

Duties

If you become a gardener, you are responsible for the following tasks:

• Closely monitoring and maintaining lawns, flower beds, groundcovers, and other plants across the property by trimming, removing harmful elements like weeds, transplanting both trees or flowers as applicable.
• Adhere to all organizational guidelines and security policies when tending to gardens, and pay extra attention to safety hazards, accidents and physical injuries that is to be reported to senior staff.
• Utilize knowledge and understanding of pesticides and fertilizers to handle both as required, e.g. rate of mixing chemical proportions, effectiveness of application processes, ratios, etc.
• Assess the state of ornamental landscapes and place moss, wood chips or mulch where required based on the type of plants and climate conditions.

Day In The Life

The role of a gardener is very hands-on and most of your day will be spent outdoors among varied plants in a garden setting. As a gardener, you will focus on keeping high standards regarding the plants and trees under your purview, ensuring that they are developed and conserved using foundational knowledge in horticultural tasks, e.g. clearing leaves, pruning and weeding trees, florals or herbaceous plants, mowing specific lawn areas and more.

Depending on the type of garden you are responsible for, you may have to interact with interested visitors on a regular or occasional basis by responding to their queries or executing fun workshops on gardening skills. In particular, you should have an eye on preventative maintenance for the optimal health and appearance of assigned plants, in order to minimize the risks associated with pests or disease. Once in a while, a gardener is also consulted by landscape managers and landscape designers when working on renovating or upgrading the existing environment.

Work Schedule

As a gardener, you can expect to work approximately 37 hours every week. In case you are independently employed, you will have greater flexibility regarding your hours which would be determined by ongoing project deadlines and the season. Gardeners are more occupied in summer due to good weather conditions for plant growth, versus winters. This type of career path requires interested candidates to have great physical strength since many tasks involve carrying and lifting heavy loads. You may have to wear safety gear like a hard hat or gloves for protection.

Growth Of The Job

As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) workers in industries such as gardening or landscaping can see a 6% increase in potential job opportunities between the 2014-2024 decade.  will see a 6% increase in jobs during the 2014-2024 decade. With a rapidly aging population in the country and longer work hours, homeowners will require the specialised skills of a gardener to maintain their property, especially their yards, gardens and lawn areas.

With sufficient experience, gardeners go on to become senior or master gardeners with staff under their supervision. A few also establish their own business to serve private clients once their reputation is solid in the industry. Those interested in pursuing gardening as a profession can also look into other related careers such as landscaping or greenskeeper, forest and conservation worker or farmer. These professions would require a minimum high school diploma to be considered.

Typical Employers

Gardeners find jobs with the corporate sector, academic institutions like colleges, schools or universities, as well as private residents. Other places to find work include local authorities, botanical gardens, amusement parks and non-profits engaged in conservation work.