Grounds Maintenance & Landscaping Occupations Job Description

Landscape Workers in Public and Commercial Facilities

In the spring, summer, and fall, grounds maintenance jobs are available. Most of the work is done outdoors. The work can be tiring and repetitive, requiring frequent bending, kneeling, lifting and shoveling.

Over the next decade, 173,200 openings for grounds maintenance workers are projected. Many openings are expected to be caused by the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or retire. A grounds manager will usually have grounds maintenance workers perform a variety of tasks to achieve a pleasant and functional outdoor environment.

They care for indoor gardens and plants in public and commercial facilities. Landscapers plant trees, flowers, and shrubs to create new outdoor spaces. They also care for plants.

Some grade and install lawns and build hardscapes. Others help install equipment. There are a variety of settings where landscaping workers are employed, such as homes, apartment buildings, office buildings, shopping malls, and hotels and motels.

Workers maintain grounds. They care for plants and trees. They work on many of the same places as landscaping workers, including athletic fields, golf courses, cemeteries, and universities.

The Average Hourly Wage for Grounds Maintenance Workers

The Holland Code framework states that grounds maintenance workers have an interest in the Building and Organizing interest areas. The focus of the Building interest area is on working with tools and machines. The focus of the organizing interest area is to keep things orderly.

If you don't know if you have an interest in Building organizing which would fit with a career as a grounds maintenance worker, you can take a career test. The median hourly wage for grounds maintenance workers was in May. Half of the workers in an occupation earn more than the median wage, and half earn less.

The Employment Growth of Seasonal Grounds Maintenance Workers

In the spring, summer, and fall, grounds maintenance jobs are seasonal. Most of the work is done outdoors. The work can be tiring and repetitive, requiring frequent bending, kneeling, lifting and shoveling.

Employment of grounds maintenance workers is projected to grow 10 percent over the next ten years, much faster than the average for all occupations. There is increasing demand for lawn care and landscaping services from large institutions and individual homeowners, so more workers are needed. Job prospects are good.

The rate of injuries and illnesses for grounds maintenance workers is higher than the national average. Workers who use dangerous equipment must wear protective clothing, eyewear, and earplugs. The median hourly wage for grounds maintenance workers is more than double the hourly wage for other workers.

Half of the workers in an occupation earn more than the median wage, and half earn less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $11.03, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $24.05. The employment of grounds maintenance workers is projected to grow 10 percent over the next ten years, much faster than the average for all occupations.

Certified Landscape Maintenance Professionals

The term grounds maintenance workers, landscapers or groundskeepers is used to describe professionals who maintain landscapes such as gardens, golf courses, public parks and school grounds. They can work alone in the backyards of private homes or in teams with a supervisor in an athletic stadium. They need the training to handle different types of foliage.

The job of landscaping maintenance can be more difficult to obtain and keep with specific personal characteristics. The work is physically strenuous and requires a lot of strength to exert the body for several hours. Workers can carry heavy bags of soil and rocks with their physical strength.

Good teamwork and cooperation is important for groundskeepers. Workers must have self-motivation and the ability to operate independently because they may be isolated on a large property. Landscape workers don't need a formal education because they get their training from their supervisors or more experienced employees.

They learn tasks as they get older, such as planting and watering foliage, and operating mower and leaf blower. Vocational schools and community colleges offer short courses in the field. The two-semester horticulture and grounds maintenance certificate at the Rivergrove, Illinois, college includes courses on plants, plant pathology, insects, landscape construction, and lawn management.

Landscape maintenance professionals who deal with pesticides are required to be licensed by most states. The "Qualified Applicator"credential requires passing an exam and paying a fee in California. After the initial two-year duration, the license needs 20 hours of approved continuing education courses to be renewed.