Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers

What the job really is

Landscape or maintain grounds of property using hand or power tools or equipment. Workers typically perform a variety of tasks, which may include any combination of the following: sod laying, mowing, trimming, planting, watering, fertilizing, digging, raking, sprinkler installation, and installation of mortarless segmental concrete masonry wall units.

At a glance

• Sector: Building & Grounds
• O*NET-SOC code: 37-3011
• O*NET job zone: 2 — some preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Gather and remove litter.
• Use hand tools, such as shovels, rakes, pruning saws, saws, hedge or brush trimmers, or axes.
• Operate vehicles or powered equipment, such as mowers, tractors, twin-axle vehicles, snow blowers, chainsaws, electric clippers, sod cutters, or pruning saws.
• Water lawns, trees, or plants, using portable sprinkler systems, hoses, or watering cans.
• Prune or trim trees, shrubs, or hedges, using shears, pruners, or chain saws.
• Mix and spray or spread fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides onto grass, shrubs, or trees, using hand or automatic sprayers or spreaders.
• Care for established lawns by mulching, aerating, weeding, grubbing, removing thatch, or trimming or edging around flower beds, walks, or walls.
• Follow planned landscaping designs to determine where to lay sod, sow grass, or plant flowers or foliage.
• Trim or pick flowers and clean flower beds.
• Attach wires from planted trees to support stakes.
• Plant seeds, bulbs, foliage, flowering plants, grass, ground covers, trees, or shrubs, and apply mulch for protection, using gardening tools.
• Mow or edge lawns, using power mowers or edgers.

Tools and technology

Facebook, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word, Adjustable widemouth pliers, Adjustable wrenches, Aerial lift trucks, Arena rakes, Artificial turf groomers, Axes, Backhoes

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation
• Tree Trimmers and Pruners
• Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
• First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers
• Agricultural Equipment Operators
• Highway Maintenance Workers
• Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
• Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 2 (some preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.