Attractively designed, healthy, and well-maintained lawns, gardens, trees, and shrubbery create a positive first impression, establish a peaceful mood, and increase property values. A growing number of individuals and organizations rely on gardeners and groundskeepers to care for them.
Some landscape gardeners work on large construction projects, such as office buildings and shopping malls. Following the plans drawn up by the landscape architect, gardeners plant trees, hedges, and flowering plants and apply mulch for protection. For residential customers, these workers terrace hillsides, build retaining walls, and install patios, as well as plant flowers, trees and shrubs.
Gardeners working for homeowners, estates, and public gardens feed, water, and prune the flowering plants and trees and mow and water the lawn. Some landscape gardeners, called lawn service workers, specialize in maintaining lawns and shrubs for a fee. A growing number of residential and commercial clients, such as managers of office buildings, shopping malls, multiunit residential buildings, and hotels and motels favor this full-service landscape maintenance. These workers perform a full range of duties, including mowing, edging, trimming, fertilizing, dethatching, and mulching. Those working for chemical lawn service firms are more specialized. They inspect lawns for problems and apply fertilizers, weed killers, and other chemicals.
Groundskeepers, often classified as either grounds managers or grounds maintenance personnel, maintain a variety of facilities including, athletic fields, golf courses, cemeteries, and parks. Grounds managers usually participate in many of the same tasks as maintenance personnel but typically have more extensive knowledge on pest, disease, and erosion control. Managers also may have supervisory responsibilities.
Groundskeepers who care for athletic fields keep natural and artificial turf fields in top condition and mark out boundaries and paint turf with team logos and names before events. Groundskeepers must make sure the underlying soil on natural turf fields has the proper consistency to sustain new sod. They regularly mow, water, fertilize, and aerate the fields. In addition, groundskeepers apply chemicals and fungicides to control weeds, crabgrass, and prevent diseases. Groundskeepers also vacuum and disinfect synthetic turf after use in order to prevent growth of harmful bacteria. They periodically remove the turf and replace the cushioning pad.
Those who maintain golf courses are called greenskeepers. They do many of the same things athletic turf groundskeepers do. In addition, greenskeepers periodically relocate the holes on putting greens to eliminate uneven wear of the turf and add interest and challenge to the game. Greenskeepers also keep canopies, benches, ball washers, and tee markers repaired and freshly painted.
Cemetery workers prepare graves and maintain cemetery grounds. They dig graves to specified depth, generally using a back-hoe. They may place concrete slabs on the bottom and around the sides of the grave to line it for greater support. When readying a site for the burial ceremony, they position the casket-lowering device over the grave, cover the immediate area with an artificial grass carpet, erect a canopy, and arrange folding chairs to accommodate mourners. They regularly mow grass, prune shrubs, plant flowers, and remove debris from graves. They also must periodically build the ground up around new gravesites to compensate for settling.
Groundskeepers in parks and recreation facilities care for lawns, trees, and shrubs, maintain athletic fields and playgrounds, clean buildings, and keep parking lots, picnic areas, and other public spaces free of litter. They may also remove snow and ice from roads and walkways, erect and dismantle snow fences, and maintain swimming pools. These workers inspect buildings and equipment, make needed repairs, and keep everything freshly painted.
Gardeners and groundskeepers use handtools such as shovels, rakes, pruning saws, saws, hedge and brush trimmers, and axes, as well as power lawnmowers, chain saws, snow blowers, and electric clippers. Some use equipment such as tractors and twin-axle vehicles. Park, school, cemetery, and golf course groundskeepers may use sod cutters to harvest sod that will be replanted elsewhere. Athletic turf groundskeepers use magnetic sweepers and vacuums and other devices to remove water from athletic fields. In addition, some workers in large operations use spraying and dusting equipment.
Many jobs for gardeners and groundskeepers are seasonal, mainly in the spring and summer.
Many of the jobs for gardeners and groundskeepers are seasonal, mainly in the spring and summer, when cleanup, planting, and mowing and trimming take place. Gardeners and groundskeepers work outdoors in all kinds of weather. They frequently are under pressure to get the job completed, especially when they are preparing for scheduled events, such as athletic competitions or burials.
They may work with pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals and must exercise safety precautions to prevent exposure. They also work with dangerous equipment and tools such as power lawnmowers, chain saws, and electric clippers.
Gardeners and groundskeepers held about 884,000 jobs in 1992. Four of every 10 worked for lawn and garden service companies. One of every 10 worked for private households and estates. Many worked for firms that operate real estate and for local government, including parks departments, and recreational facilities such as golf courses, race tracks, and amusement parks. Others were employed by schools, hospitals, cemeteries, hotels, retail nurseries, and garden stores.
One of every 5 gardeners and groundskeepers was self-employed, providing landscape maintenance directly to customers on a contract basis. One of every 4 worked part time, most likely students working their way through school. Others working part time were older workers who might have been cutting back their hours as they approached retirement.
Entrance requirements for gardeners and groundskeepers are modest. Most workers are high school graduates, although a high school diploma is not necessary for some jobs. Experience can be attained through home gardening or working in a nursery, a sod production operation, or a tree service. High school students may gain experience in the Future Farmers of America and other associations.
There are no national standards for gardeners and groundskeepers, but most States require certification for workers who apply pesticides. Certification requirements vary, but usually include passing a test on the safe use and disposal of insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides.
Employers prefer applicants with a good driving record and some experience driving a truck. Workers who deal directly with customers must get along well with people. Employers also look for responsible, self-motivated individuals, since many gardeners and groundskeepers work with little supervision.
Courses in agronomy, horticulture, and botany are helpful for advancement. There are many 2- and 4-year programs in landscape management, turfgrass management, interiorscape, and ornamental horticulture. Courses include equipment use and care, landscape design, plant biology, and irrigation. There are cooperative education programs in which students work alternate semesters or quarters for a lawn care or landscape contractor. Generally, a gardener or groundskeeper can advance to supervisor after several years of progressively responsible experience, including the demonstrated ability to deal effectively with both coworkers and customers. Supervisors can advance to grounds manager or superintendent for a golf course or other athletic facility, a cemetery, a campus, a school system, or manager of a lawn maintenance firm. Many gardeners and groundskeepers become landscape contractors.
The Professional Grounds Management Society offers certification to those managers who have a combination of 8 years of experience and formal education beyond high school.
Employment of gardeners and groundskeepers is expected to increase faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2005 in response to increasing demand for gardening and landscaping services. Furthermore, a large number of job openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force.
Expected growth in the construction of commercial and industrial buildings, shopping malls, homes, highways, and parks and recreational facilities should stimulate demand for these workers. Developers are increasingly using landscaping services, both interior and exterior, to attract prospective buyers and tenants. In addition, owners of many existing buildings and facilities are upgrading their landscaping. Also, a growing number of homeowners are using lawn maintenance and landscaping services to enhance the beauty and value of their property as well as to conserve their leisure time. Growth in the number of parks, athletic fields, golf courses, cemeteries, and similar facilities also can be expected to add to the demand for these workers.
Job openings should be plentiful because the occupation is large and turnover is high. This occupation attracts many young people who are not committed to the occupation. Some take gardening or groundskeeping jobs to earn money for school, others only take these jobs until a better paying job is found. Because wages for beginners are low and the work is physically demanding, many employers have difficulty attracting enough workers to fill all openings.
Employment opportunities in landscaping are tied to local economic conditions. During economic downturns, many individuals turn to landscaping as a second source of income or a new career. At the same time, demand for landscaping services often slows as corporations, governments, and homeowners reduce spending on all nonessential expenditures, increasing noticeably the level of competition for available jobs.
Median weekly earnings of gardeners and groundskeepers were about $275 in 1992; the middle 50 percent earned between $210 and $365. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $175, and the top 10 percent earned more than $475 a week.
Gardeners and groundskeepers perform most of their work outdoors. Others whose jobs may be performed outdoors or are otherwise related are construction workers, landscape architects, nursery workers, farmers, horticultural workers, tree surgeon helpers, tree trimmers and pruners, and forest conservation workers.
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Reprinted with Permission of U. S. Department of Labor