Horticultural worker
Horticultural workers grow plants in garden nurseries, work in food production, and maintain parks and gardens.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
Your duties will depend on whether you work in a garden centre, a park or in crop production. You could:
- plant seeds and bulbs to grow plants and shrubs
- water, weed, prune, feed and spray plants
- advise customers about plants and how to look after them
- maintain plant and soil health, and control pests
- pick, sort and pack items to be delivered
- serve customers
We've identified this as a green job
As a horticultural worker, you can make greater use of recycled water to improve water management in parks, nurseries and gardens. This can have a positive impact on the environment.
Find out more about green careers
Working environment
You could work in a garden, in a park, on a country estate, at a garden centre or on a farm.
Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers.
Career path and progression
With experience, you could:
- become a supervisor or horticultural manager
- set up your own plant nursery or garden maintenance business
- specialise in crop production methods like vertical farming
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to work well with others
- physical fitness and endurance
- the ability to work on your own
- physical skills like movement, coordination and dexterity
- to be flexible and open to change
- the ability to work well with your hands
- knowledge of food production methods
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- applying directly
- training with a professional body
You could take a college course, which may help you when looking for jobs.
Courses include:
- Level 2 Certificate in Horticulture
- Level 3 Extended Diploma in Horticulture
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course
More Information
You could start by doing an apprenticeship, such as:
- Horticulture or Landscape Construction Operative Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
- Landscape or Horticulture Supervisor Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
These take between 2 and 3 years to complete.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
More Information
You might find it useful to get some practical experience by volunteering in horticulture or gardening, while looking for jobs.
You can apply directly for jobs if you have experience in gardening, horticulture or retail. Employers might ask for GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in maths, English and science.
You could then do a part-time horticultural course or get training on the job to develop your skills.
You can take a course with The Royal Horticultural Society to learn more about horticulture or to help you get a job.
You could learn at a training centre or online depending on the course you choose.
Further information
You can find out more about careers in horticulture through:
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This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.