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Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

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.

Related: Agricultural Equipment Operators Farmworkers & Laborers, Crop, Nursery, & Greenhouse First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, & Groundskeeping Workers Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, & Applicators, Vegetation Tree Trimmers & Pruners

Industries: Administration & Support Services

Summary
Details

Install rock gardens, ponds, decks, drainage systems, irrigation systems, retaining walls, fences, planters, or playground equipment.
Operate vehicles or powered equipment, such as mowers, tractors, twin-axle vehicles, snow blowers, chainsaws, electric clippers, sod cutters, or pruning saws.
Mow or edge lawns, using power mowers or edgers.
Advise customers on plant selection or care.
Mix and spray or spread fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides onto grass, shrubs, or trees, using hand or automatic sprayers or spreaders.
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.
Maintain irrigation systems, including winterizing the systems and starting them up in spring.
Plan or cultivate lawns or gardens.
Prune or trim trees, shrubs, or hedges, using shears, pruners, or chain saws.
Trim or pick flowers and clean flower beds.
Trim or pick flowers and clean flower beds.
Rake, mulch, and compost leaves.
Gather and remove litter.
Build forms and mix and pour cement to form garden borders.
Mix and spray or spread fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides onto grass, shrubs, or trees, using hand or automatic sprayers or spreaders.
Follow planned landscaping designs to determine where to lay sod, sow grass, or plant flowers or foliage.
Care for natural turf fields, making sure the underlying soil has the required composition to allow proper drainage and to support the grasses.
Mow or edge lawns, using power mowers or edgers.
Care for established lawns by mulching, aerating, weeding, grubbing, removing thatch, or trimming or edging around flower beds, walks, or walls.
Prune or trim trees, shrubs, or hedges, using shears, pruners, or chain saws.
Decorate gardens with stones or plants.
Water lawns, trees, or plants, using portable sprinkler systems, hoses, or watering cans.
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.
Haul or spread topsoil, or spread straw over seeded soil to hold soil in place.
Build forms and mix and pour cement to form garden borders.
Operate vehicles or powered equipment, such as mowers, tractors, twin-axle vehicles, snow blowers, chainsaws, electric clippers, sod cutters, or pruning saws.
Plant seeds, bulbs, foliage, flowering plants, grass, ground covers, trees, or shrubs, and apply mulch for protection, using gardening tools.
Attach wires from planted trees to support stakes.
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.
Mix and spray or spread fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides onto grass, shrubs, or trees, using hand or automatic sprayers or spreaders.
Maintain or repair tools, equipment, or structures, such as buildings, greenhouses, fences, or benches, using hand or power tools.
Use hand tools, such as shovels, rakes, pruning saws, saws, hedge or brush trimmers, or axes.
Plant seeds, bulbs, foliage, flowering plants, grass, ground covers, trees, or shrubs, and apply mulch for protection, using gardening tools.

Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.

Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Education

No formal educational credential

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

46200/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

22.21/hr

Currently Employed

35,400

Yearly Projected Openings

5220

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Dependability

Adjustable widemouth pliers
Adjustable wrenches
Agricultural tractors
All terrain vehicles tracked or wheeled
Axes
Backhoes
Cable reels
Cargo trucks
Concrete mixers or plants
Cultivators
Draglines
Dump trucks
Ear clamps
Ear plugs
Fertilizer spreaders or distributors
Forestry saws
Forklifts
Front end loaders
Garden forks
Gas generators
Gas welding or brazing or cutting apparatus
Goggles
Graders or land levelers
Grinding wheels
Hammers
Hand sprayers
Handheld thermometer
Harrows
Hedge clippers
Hoes
Hydraulic truck cranes
Ladders
Lawnmowers
Levels
Measuring wheels for distance
Paint sprayers
Pallet trucks
Picks
Pipe or tube cutter
Power blowers
Power chippers
Power drills
Power saws
Power trimmers
Precision file
Protective gloves
Rakes
Rollers for lawn or sports grounds
Rubber mallet
Saws
Screwdrivers
Scrubbing machines
Secateurs or pruning shears
Seeder attachment
Shielded metal arc welding or stick welding machine
Shovels
Snow blowers
Snowplow attachments
Sockets
Soil core sampling apparatus
Spades
Sprayers
Squeegees or washers
Stencils or lettering aids
Tape measures
Tarpaulins
Trowels
Water pumps
Water sprinklers
Weeders
Wheel loaders

Electronic mail software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Spreadsheet software
Web page creation and editing software
Word processing software

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