Landscaping Careers

Look out your window. Do you see any manicured green plants or freshly planted trees smiling back at you? How do you think they got there? Most likely they were planted by a landscaper.

Landscaping is a blend of nature and construction.

It includes anything that changes the physical and visual appearance of the land. This horticulture career involves planning, designing, architecture, maintaining, and working outdoors to create beautiful environments.

This science and art is a multi-billion dollar industry with jobs everywhere. There are very few places that you see in your communities that haven’t been touched by a landscaper – parks, yards, building sites, malls, sporting fields, homes, resorts, dog parks, and hospitals. Landscapers bring plants and nature to our homes and communities.

Landscaping offers a variety of services that clients pay a lot of money to have. It can be looked at as an investment that adds value to real estate. Many believe landscaping can increase property values 100% to 200% of the cost of the investment. That’s significant.

Visual appeal is obvious, but landscaping is also done for the environment. Sustainability and conservation are big focuses of landscaping. Things like composting, irrigation, building materials, and plants choice are all major factors in today’s landscaping world. Conservation is so important, that several landscaping niches have formed. They are:

• Naturescaping – Allows humans and nature to coexist by using specific plants to attract wildlife in an attempt to recreate nature
• Xeriscaping – Focuses on conservation of water by using native species and drought resistant plants
• Aquascaping – Works with plants underwater to ensure that the underwater world is a thriving habitat
• Greenscaping – Conserves water, energy, and chemicals in a preservation program established by the Environmental Protection Agency
• Ecoscaping – Balances nature and landscaping by using conservation methods like rainwater harvesting, natural decorations, and adding trees to try to rebuild nature

Landscaping may change the landscape from what was originally there, but it also helps our world adapt to buildings and humans. It helps to bring nature back into our lives, so we aren’t living in a world of pavement and concrete. It serves the purpose of creating healthy, lovely, outdoor environments that people enjoy.

Landscapers work with clients to help them create their ideal environments. Individuals, communities, malls, offices, neighborhoods, and conservation agencies all need help managing and maintaining their outdoor surroundings. The cool thing about landscaping is that every job can be different.

Landscaping incorporates gardening, terrain, human elements, and lighting. A landscaper may tend gardens, plant plum trees, mow lawns, install irrigation systems, build patios, dig ditches for drainage, cut down trees, move giant boulders, put up fences, grow privacy plants, trim hedges, aerate lawns, mount outdoor lighting, shovel snow, maintain parks, or design a yard. If you are interested in a job as a landscape professional, try one of these careers…

• Landscape architects design large projects like resorts, malls, or housing developments. They attend university to be able to plan the environmental and engineering details of building projects, locations, terrains, and natural features.
• Landscape designers plan smaller projects like yards and parks. They help decide where to plant trees, put walkways, or build small-retaining walls.
• Landscape contractors supervise, manage, and work with crews to dig, plant, and maintain individual landscaping projects.
• Landscape crews get hands-on outdoors. They plant flowers, mow lawns, build fences, and trim hedges.

Some landscapers work seasonally. Others make landscaping into a lifelong, year-round career. Many attend school for horticulture, landscape architecture, landscape management, or landscape construction. It’s not uncommon for landscapers to learn the tricks of the trade on the job or while earning professional certifications from organizations like the Professional Grounds Management Society or the Professional Landcare Network.

Landscaping changes our natural surroundings. It creates relaxing, outdoor places for us to enjoy. This horticultural career is fun, exciting, and never-ending. It gets you out in nature, breathing fresh air, and focused on the environment. What could be better than that?

Links:
Professional Landcare Network
American Nursery and Landscaping Association
Professional Grounds Management Society