Horticulturists use their gardening knowledge and skills in a variety of ways and in many different settings. While some may work to maintain formal gardens, others may spend their time tending to golf courses, cemeteries, or parks.
Job Related Skills, Interests and Values
- Spreading fertilizer; spraying for weeds, pests, and diseases; watering, repairing, and mowing lawns; pruning shrubs and trees
- Planting trees, shrubs, flowers, etc.
- Safely using a variety of gardening and power tools
- Effectively communicating with landscape designers, customers, and co-workers
- Providing advice and guidance to customers regarding care of trees, flowers, shrubs, plants and lawns, growing techniques, and gardening products
- Keeping up with changing trends in gardening and plant care
What Preparation and Training Do You Need?
- Secondary school diploma
- Completion of horticulture college program or apprenticeship of 5,400 hours on-the-job training and 20 weeks of in-school sessions
- Exam to obtain Certificate of Qualification
What's Your Future as a Horticultural Technician (441C)?
- May work in nursery or greenhouse, or with a landscape contractor; mostly full-time work
- Physically demanding work; spring/fall are busy and require longer hours and flexible schedule
- Opportunities to progress to supervisory positions or become self-employed
- Employers include wholesale or retail nurseries or greenhouse operations, retail stores with gardening departments, landscape contractors, agricultural companies, florists, and service firms for agriculture industry
Wage Rate
Apprentice wage increases with skill and experience. Fully qualified workers earn an average of $26.00-$34.00 per hour.
Self-Rating
Horticultural Technician (441C)
| Ask Yourself: | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Do you have good manual dexterity? | ||
| Are you comfortable working at heights? | ||
| Are you able to follow Health & Safety guidelines? | ||
| Can you lift 50lbs comfortably? | ||
| Are you interested in landscape design? Do you consider yourself to be creative? | ||
| Are you reliable, a self-starter and able to work with minimal supervision? | ||
| Can you read blueprints and visualize how things should look? |
If you checked YES to the majority of these questions, a career as a Horticultural Technician (441C) may be for you!
You might want to look at these similar trades as well;
- Nursery/Greenhouse Operator/Manager
- Landscape Construction Worker
- Arborist/Utility Arborist
- Florist
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