Advice
Horticultural Careers Guide
The shortage of skills in horticulture means that anyone with the right abilities and the right attitude can expect a warm welcome from employers.
The only problem is that horticulture is divided into a large number of sectors — each requiring its own set of skills.
Traditionally, horticulturists learnt on the job, and employers were interested only in practical know-how. To a large extent things have changed.
Employers need staff who can understand legal requirements, prepare costings, operate computer systems and manage other people. With an increasing number of horticultural jobs being linked to public contracts, it is vital for firms to demonstrate that their staff are up to the job —and the best way to do this is by being able to show formal qualifications.
Most staff will be required to get qualifications at craft level. Beyond that there are professional qualifications and academic qualifications. Without qualifications, it is harder to move up the horticultural career ladder.
About jobs in horticulture
- Garden and landscape design jobs
- Jobs in historic or botanic gardens
- Production horticulture jobs — edibles
- Production horticulture jobs — ornamentals
- Sports turf care jobs/groundsmanship
- Parks and amenity horticulture jobs
- Arborists and arboriculture jobs
- Garden retail jobs
- Contracting and grounds maintenance
Garden and landscape design jobs
This is one of the most upmarket sectors of the horticulture industry and includes landscape architecture, garden and landscape design jobs. Jobs may include creating personalised gardens — often for private clients.
Christopher Bradley-Hole is an award-winning designer. He explains that much of the business involves dealing with people and understanding their needs: “I go to the client, discuss their needs and come up with plans. I have to be able explain what I’m trying to do.” He also has to deal with suppliers and give accurate specifications for work.
He says: “We’re primarily looking for all-rounders, who are good at communicating, administration and who understand horticulture.” When recruiting senior designers he will look for formal architecture and landscaping qualifications. Senior landscape architects will normally have a Landscape Institute Part IV qualification.
Jobs in historic or botanic gardens
Historic homes and botanic gardens often have staff gardeners. While some work involves propagating rare specimens or growing exotic plants in historic hot houses, the bulk of the work focuses on planting jobs and grounds maintenance.
Director of Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Philip Aubury says: “Some visitors come to examine our rare specimens. But most just want to relax and see nice grounds. So our staff have to plant something that’s bright and colourful. Much of our work involves planting bedding and house plants.”
There are more specialised parts of the job. The collection has to be recorded and information placards have to be printed to help the public enjoy the gardens. The organisation recruits six trainees a year. In the past these would have been school-leavers, now they will probably have one of the professional qualifications. At the top level, managerial staff have a degree — usually in horticulture or in some kind of management.
Production horticulture jobs — edibles
Food growers are having tremendous problems with skills shortages.
Chairman of the British Carrot Growers’ Association, Martin Evans says: “We can’t get people. We have to recruit staff from eastern -Europe.” The ideal worker has a good attitude, is keen to learn and doesn’t mind hard work. Anyone who fits the bill and is prepared to gain the academic qualifications can expect to be in demand.
Most large growers — and some of them are enormous — will offer apprenticeship schemes, with trainees getting NVQs at all levels. Staff with any of the professional qualifications are also sought.
In addition, there is a demand for people with relevant degrees. Firms need staff who can understand the finer points of horticulture, production and propagation and who can develop ranges of plants for the market. Growers need people who can do the marketing and management functions associated with a major industry.
Production horticulture jobs — ornamentals
The ornamentals sector also finds it difficult to find people with the right types of skills.
Work may involve planting, potting, spraying or working in sales jobs and those prepared to get their hands dirty and develop the right skills set will find themselves in demand. Production horticulture jobs are being filled by eastern European people, particularly Poles, many of whom have stayed for a year or two and some are beginning to get into managerial posts.
York-based nursery Johnsons of Whixley takes on staff with any of the professional horticultural qualifications. The staff will be sent on a management course, run by the firm in conjunction with local colleges.
Most senior managers will be expected to have some kind of relevant horticultural or management qualification and the experience to go with it.
Search for grower jobs and other production horticulture jobs
Sports turf care jobs/groundsmanship
This is another area in which the profession has changed greatly.
Because of the amount of money in sport, there is a premium on top grounds-care professionals who can keep football pitches, golf courses or race courses in good condition at all times.
Relatively few people in this sector of the industry have formal training, but this is starting to change. Myerscough College offers a foundation degree in sports turf, and Cranfield College offers an MSc in sports-surface technology. Most employers will take on apprentices who will do NVQs (or SVQs in Scotland). And the Institute of Groundsmanship has introduced its own national certificate qualification.
Assistant regional director for the Midlands at Glendale, which specialises in grounds-care contracts, Andy Ansell explains: “For our more junior staff we need practical skills such as how to run a triple (ride-on-mower). For staff such as greenkeepers we want someone with an NVQ level two or equivalent. For senior staff such as head greenkeepers we look for an NVQ level three.”
Browse our latest turf care jobs and grounds maintenance jobs
Parks and amenity horticulture
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s parks were taking on relatively few trainees.
Oldham’s head of parks Steve Smith points out that this has changed. He says: “People are realising the value of parks and public money is again being spent on them.”
There is a desperate shortage of senior managers. Anyone with the right aptitude can expect to be fast-tracked into a managerial job.
Most parks have their own apprenticeship schemes that offer the various NVQ courses. Trainees can expect to be taught the various craft skills and get certificates for skills such as use of pesticide or chainsaws. And the parks are particularly looking for senior staff with any professional or academic qualifications.
The emphasis is still on practical skills. Smith says: “We are always looking for people with hands-on experience, but we are interested in academic ability. At some point managers will need to draw up and understand management plans. They may need to research plants that they use or the history of the parks that they work on. It’s not just about putting in bedding plants and cutting the grass.”
Browse jobs in parks and amenity horticulture
Arborists and arboriculture jobs
Arboriculture covers a huge range of activities — everything from pruning and cutting down trees to acting as expert witness in legal cases.
At the basic level, firms want people with a head for heights and enough practical ability to handle potentially lethal equipment. At the upper levels, they need someone who can write academic papers and sift through scientific evidence.
According to director of the Arboricultural Association Nick Eden, many people simply go to the local land-based college and do short courses in use of chainsaws and tree climbing. He says: “With these basic qualifications, there’s no shortage of work.”
Anyone with an HND or foundation degree and a few years’ work experience should be in line for a job as a local authority tree officer. Myerscough College runs a degree course in arboriculture.
The Arboricultural Association’s technician’s certificate is sought after by firms. The Royal Forestry Society offers a diploma in arboriculture — a qualification that is roughly the equivalent to a foundation degree or the old HND. This is highly regarded within the industry.
Garden retail jobs
Many people in retail don’t have any formal qualifications, although planteria managers will usually have had horticulture training. Firms are simply looking for people who are presentable, can deal with the public and have some interest in the products. According to GCA’s Westwood many young people start working for garden centres at weekends and then continue to work full time.
There are few formal qualifications specifically aimed at this sector. To help plug the skills gap, the HTA has introduced a retail plant-care award, a retail shop-care award and a supervisory award. Notcutts employs trainees on modern apprenticeship schemes, leading to NVQs.
Some of the garden-centre chains are huge and require skilled management, and some of those managers will have been to horticultural college. However, they are more likely to have been management trainees at Tesco, Marks & Spencer or some other large department stores.
Contracting and grounds maintenance
Any firm running a grounds maintenance contract has to do the basic work of caring for shrubs, grass, plants and trees. Other issues such as risk assessment are also an essential part of the job.
Senior contract manager for Ground Control, Neil Huck points out that most staff will have the basic craft qualifications, such as PA1 and PA6, for the various types of pesticide application.
He says: “Our general operators usually have an NVQ2 in horticulture or landscaping.”
The more skilled craftsmen-grade staff, usually have an NVQ3 and five years’ experience, while managers might have an NVQ4 or equivalent.
Some colleges have courses that are particularly relevant for contractors. For example, Hadlow College runs a National Diploma in landscape construction. Most firms have some kind of design team in which the senior designers have a relevant degree.
