Landscaper
Landscape gardener, landscape designer
Landscapers create and maintain gardens, parks and other outdoor and indoor areas.
Salary Range: £16,000 to £30,000
How to become a landscaper
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- applying directly
- specialist courses run by a professional body
College
You may find it useful to build up your skills by doing a course, like:
- Level 2 Diploma in Horticulture and Amenity Horticulture
- Level 2 Certificate in Practical Horticulture
- Level 3 Certificate or Diploma in Horticulture
Entry requirements
You may need:
- 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course
More information
Apprenticeship
You can get into this job through a horticulture and landscape operative intermediate apprenticeship, which has 2 options:
- horticulture
- landscape construction
You could move onto a landscape supervisor advanced apprenticeship as you get more experience.
Entry requirements
You’ll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
More information
Work
You could start as an assistant landscaper and work your way up.
If you have some related work experience, this could help you to get an assistant job.
Direct application
There are no formal requirements to be a landscaper, but most employers will expect you to have some horticulture knowledge and experience.
Other routes
The Royal Horticultural Society offers courses which are suitable if you want to learn more about gardening, or if you want to get qualifications that will help you get a job in horticulture.
More information
Professional and industry bodies
You can apply for membership of the British Association of Landscape Industries for advice, training support and details of job vacancies.
Further information
You can find out more about becoming a landcaper from:
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You’ll need:
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- the ability to work well with others
- ambition and a desire to succeed
- sensitivity and understanding
- physical skills like movement, coordination, dexterity and grace
- the ability to work well with your hands
- customer service skills
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
What you’ll do
Day-to-day tasks
Your day-to-day duties may include:
- discussing clients’ needs
- working from plans made by garden designers or landscape architects
- ordering supplies
- preparing the ground or interior space
- turfing and seeding lawns
- planting and pruning trees and shrubs
- putting in new plants
- installing features like paving, paths, water features and rock gardens
- advising the client on how to look after the space
- providing on-going maintenance
Working environment
You could work in a garden, at a client’s business, at a client’s home or at a garden centre.
Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers.
You may need to wear protective clothing.
Career path and progression
In larger firms, you could progress to a supervisory or management position. With experience, you could become a self-employed contractor.
You could also move into a teaching role.