Career Profile: Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers

Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 1,191,600 people employed as landscaping and groundskeeping workers in the United States. The median annual salary is $34,430. Entry level employees earn approximately $24,170 per year and senior employees earn approximately $47,630 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• 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.
• Rake, mulch, and compost leaves.
• Decorate gardens with stones or plants.
• Use irrigation methods to adjust the amount of water consumption and to prevent waste.
• Provide proper upkeep of sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, fountains, planters, burial sites, or other grounds features.
• Shovel snow from walks, driveways, or parking lots, and spread salt in those areas.
• Maintain irrigation systems, including winterizing the systems and starting them up in spring.
• Plan or cultivate lawns or gardens.
• Maintain or repair tools, equipment, or structures, such as buildings, greenhouses, fences, or benches, using hand or power tools.
• Care for artificial turf fields, periodically removing the turf and replacing cushioning pads or vacuuming and disinfecting the turf after use to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.
• Install rock gardens, ponds, decks, drainage systems, irrigation systems, retaining walls, fences, planters, or playground equipment.
• Care for natural turf fields, making sure the underlying soil has the required composition to allow proper drainage and to support the grasses.
• Advise customers on plant selection or care.
• Haul or spread topsoil, or spread straw over seeded soil to hold soil in place.
• Mark design boundaries, and paint natural or artificial turf fields with team logos or names before events.
• Build forms and mix and pour cement to form garden borders.
• 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.

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