Become a landscaper

The landscaping industry is certainly a healthy business to become a part of, so if you want to become a landscaper, there are many levels open to you. Each level has various requirements for employment, and more education is required the further up the ladder you wish to go. Let's start at the bottom rung and look at what different aspects of landscaping have to offer.

The most basic employment opportunity in landscaping is being a member of a landscape crew. If you love working outdoors, but would rather just perform tasks assigned, this may be the right niche for you. Landscape crews do all the hands on work from planting to pruning to mowing. If gardening is in your heart, but making the decisions and motivating employees is not, then being part of a landscape crew will likely provide you with real job satisfaction.

Further up the ladder is the landscape designer. This landscape professional works mainly with private homeowners and helps to plan every aspect of their landscaping job before ground is ever broken. If you feel you have a knack for arranging things in a logical yet visually pleasing order, and would like to help design the overall layout for a landscaping project from it's inception, then becoming a landscape designer may suit you. You will need to pursue a Master of Landscape Design degree at an accredited college in order to become a part of landscaping at this level.

Perhaps just one rung up the ladder we find the landscape architect. This job is similar to the duties of a landscape designer, but is geared toward broader public projects. The landscape architect also has the job of ensuring that public developments also remain in balance with Mother Nature. A landscape architect will likely find themselves designing landscape plans for shopping centers, parks, waterfront developments, school campuses, and historical preservations. A landscape architect also has the knowledge to plan restorations of nature lands that have been disturbed by public progress and mining.

Experience with any of these levels of landscape employment coupled with a degree in business could lead to ownership of your own landscaping firm. If you feel you would enjoy recruiting and managing your own landscape projects and crews, as well as dealing with an office staff, and all that it entails, you may well find yourself the owner of your own landscaping company one day.

There are many rewards to be had from a career in landscaping. Further research on your part may help you determine which course is the one for you.