Landscaping is one of the most accessible trades you can enter. Most positions require only a high school diploma, with skills learned on the job — making it a strong choice if you prefer hands-on work over years in a classroom.
The landscaping industry has a projected 4% job growth through 2034, with approximately 45,900 new positions driven by the ongoing need for maintenance and expanding urban green infrastructure.
Once you decide that you want a career as a professional landscaper, you can further your education with a degree or certification. These educational programs will improve your knowledge of the field and your future job prospects.
What Does a Landscaper Do?
A landscaper installs and maintains outdoor spaces for residential, commercial, and public clients. While mowing lawns is part of the job, professional landscaping involves a much wider range of skills.
Landscaping work falls into two main categories:
Softscaping covers the living, horticultural side of the job planting trees and shrubs, seeding and maintaining turf, weeding garden beds, applying fertilizers, and managing soil health.
Hardscaping covers the structural, construction side building paths, patios, decks, and retaining walls, installing water features, outdoor lighting and irrigation systems, and grading and excavating sites to ensure proper drainage.
You’ll find landscapers working in rural settings like state parks and conservation areas, as well as in urban green spaces both public and private land. The work is labor-intensive, so physical fitness is important.
Skills You Need to Become a Landscaper
Landscaping requires a mix of physical, technical, and interpersonal skills. Here’s what employers look for:
Physical and technical skills:
- Operating mowers, trimmers, leaf blowers, small tractors, and other equipment
- Plant identification and care
- Basic irrigation installation and maintenance
- Soil preparation and grading
- Reading and interpreting site plans
Soft skills:
- Attention to detail plant health and design quality are visual
- Time management most jobs run on tight schedules
- Communication and customer service these directly influence your reputation, income, and long-term success, especially if you want to run your own landscaping business
If your work involves pesticides or agricultural chemicals, many states require safety certification for pesticide application to protect both workers and the environment. These certifications typically involve studying for an exam and demonstrating competency.
How Much Do Landscapers Earn?
Grounds maintenance workers, the broader occupational category that includes landscapers, earned a median annual salary of $38,470 as of May 2024 roughly $18.50 per hour.
Landscapers in areas with a higher cost of living typically earn more, and those with specialized skills such as irrigation system installation or pesticide application can command higher wages. Hardscape installers, irrigation technicians, arborists, and landscaping business owners typically earn the highest salaries.
Career advancement also raises pay significantly. Landscape forepersons earn a national average of around $52,089 per year, while maintenance production supervisors earn approximately $65,861 annually.
Steps for How to Become a Landscaper
Below is a step by step guide on how to become a landscaper and how to further your landscape career.
1. Get a Degree or Certification
There are many degrees and certification programs out there for those that want to be a professional landscaper. The primary degrees to become a professional landscaper are in horticulture and landscape design. You can also get a degree as a landscape technician at some community colleges.
The National Association of Landscape Professionals offers a variety of certifications. Each certification will help prepare you for a different type of landscaping job, such as a lawn care technician or a lawn care manager. You can also get certified through The Landscape Contractors Association.
2. Gain Experience as a Professional Landscaper
Once you get a degree or a certification to become a landscaper, you will have many employment opportunities.
As a professional landscaper, you can get a job as a:
- Groundskeeper,
- Landscaper,
- Landscape manager,
- Golf course superintendent,
- Horticulture specialist,
- Landscape technician, or
- Nursery Manager.
Since the skills needed to be a professional landscaper are varied, there are many different types of jobs that a professional landscaper is qualified to do.
Explore a New Career!
3. Earn New Certifications to Advance Your Landscaper Career
Once you have some experience as a professional landscaper, you can go back to school to receive more certifications. Having more credentials will make you a desirable employee because of the additional knowledge you learn in a certification program.
You can use these new certifications to specialize in a specific aspect of landscape care. Specializing in something like tree maintenance will give you an edge as a candidate for different jobs.
Is Landscaping a Good Career?
For the right person, yes. Landscaping offers a low barrier to entry most positions require only a high school diploma steady pay, stable job growth, and clear advancement paths. It’s physical, outdoor work, which suits people who don’t want to sit at a desk.
The trade-offs: the work is seasonal in many regions, physically demanding, and entry-level pay is modest. Those who advance fastest tend to specialize, earn certifications, or build their own client base.
Interested in Becoming a Landscaper?
Explore Stratford Career Institute’s landscaper learning course today to see if a landscaper career is right for you. You will learn all about a professional landscaping job, including the following and more:
- 40 ways to make money in landscaping,
- Understanding and identifying plants,
- Selecting and using plants in the landscape,
- The ten most common mistakes made by landscapers,
- The landscape process,
- The principles of design,
- Hardscape,
- Landscaping in the age of technology, and
- Understanding contracts and contractors.
Enroll in our comprehensive class today!
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to become a landscaper?
You can qualify for an entry-level landscaping job in as little as a few weeks. Learning specialized skills may take months to years, depending on the area you focus on.
Do you need a license to be a landscaper?
It depends on your state and the type of work you plan to do. Pesticide application is carefully regulated, and many states require you to become a Certified Pesticide Applicator before using pesticides in your work. Some state and local governments also require a general landscaping license.
What is the difference between a landscaper and a landscape designer?
A landscaper installs and maintains outdoor spaces. A landscape designer focuses on planning layouts, plant schemes, and aesthetic concepts — often without doing the physical labor.
Is landscaping a good career for someone without a college degree?
Yes. It is one of the most accessible skilled trades available. Most professional landscapers build their careers through on-the-job experience, with optional certifications added over time to increase pay and advancement opportunities.
If you want to build foundational knowledge before stepping onto a job site, a structured home-study course like the one offered by Stratford Career Institute can help you explore the field, learn plant identification, and understand design principles at your own pace.
Reviewed by the Stratford Career Institute editorial team. Stratford has helped students explore vocational and trade careers through home-study programs since 1991. For more information about our programs, visit scitraining.com.
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