There are many career opportunities in the field of horticulture and landscape as the following list demonstrates. In addition to the more obvious or traditional jobs listed below, this is a field where you can create your own career opportunities by combining skills from other fields with your horticultural skills/knowledge and by exploiting/creating niche markets.

Careers to Consider

Nursery Production

• Plant Propagator
• Inventory Controller
• Field Foreperson/Superintendent
• Manager
• Salesperson
• Sales Manager
• Shipping Foreperson
• Broker

Landscape Contracting

• Estimator
• Project Manager
• Landscape Architect/Designer
• Construction Foreperson
• Construction Superintendent
• Stone Mason
• Carpenter
• Landscape Technician

Grounds Management & Lawn Care

• Foreperson
• Crew Leader
• IPM Supervisor
• IPM Technician
• Sales Representative
• Licenced Pesticide Applicator
• Estimator

Garden Centre

• Buyer
• Merchandiser/Promotion & Marketing Specialist
• Salesperson
• Greenhouse manager
• Horticultural Technician

Education & Research

• Horticulture Teacher:High School, College or University
• Extension Agent
• Garden Communicator
• Writer
• Plant Inspector
• Horticultural Therapist

Interior Plantscaping

• Designer
• Salesperson
• Construction Foreperson
• Maintenance Foreperson
• Crew Member:Construction or Maintenance

Irrigation Contracting

• Technician
• Designer
• Sales Representative

Golf Courses

• Golf Course Superintendent
• Assistant Superintendent
• Golf Course Technician
• Equipment Operator
• Turf Specialist

Parks System

• Director of Parks
• Operations Manager
• Superintendent of Parks
• Horticultural Technician/Gardener
• Park Planner
• Horticultural Supervisor
• Landscape Architect

Landscape Design/Consulting

• Principal/Owner
• Landscape Architect/Designer
• Draftsperson/Technician/technologist
• Project Administrator
• Biologist
• Estimator
• Ecologist

Advantages of a career in horticulture and landscaping

• Variety: as you can see from the list above there are many career opportunities in the horticultural field. Many landscape companies are small businesses where individuals assume or combine many of the roles/duties outlined above making each day interesting and diverse.
• Great work environment: you will be often working outdoors in settings that are healthy, beautiful and generally non-stressful.
• Self-employment: this is an industry where there are great opportunities to be your own boss and start a small business. Small companies are often very successful because of their ability to offer personal service, control product/job quality and maximize referrals by satisfied customers.
• Job satisfaction: in an increasingly high-tech world this is a profession where you can gain great personal satisfaction from your day’s work: whether it is from transforming a neglected garden into a healthy beautiful one due to your horticultural skills, or from creating a dramatic waterfall using your skills and knowledge in construction.
• Lasting legacy: this is a profession/industry which makes a lasting contribution to the quality of the environment by turning mundane sites into beautiful and functional gardens/landscapes, or transforming a bleak site or wasteland into a productive and aesthetically pleasing landscape. There is great satisfaction in leaving such a legacy.