Do you love being outdoors and hope to find a job that’s not sitting in a boring office 247? Do you like nature, plants, and gardening in general? If yes, landscaping must be the right career for you. What’s more fun and meaningful than creating beautiful green spaces and bringing nature closer to people’s lives! Imagine. With your work and talent, you can make the world a little prettier every day. This article will answer questions related to this career like ‘Is this the right job for you?’, ‘How much do landscapers make?’ and such. So, without further adieu, let’s begin.
Table of Contents
Why Should You Consider Being A Landscaper?
Firstly, there are no formal education requirements to be a landscaper. Everyone with some knowledge and experience in horticulture can start right away. However, having a degree in landscaping, horticulture, or a related field will be a strong plus.
Secondly, landscaping jobs bring many health benefits. Being a landscaper equals lots of time outside with fresh air and various physical activity. This lifestyle can effectively benefit our health by reducing stress and back pain, improving our immune system, and boosting focus and creativity.
Finally, a career in landscaping is interesting. Landscapers have the chance to work with a variety of tasks. They will learn many different skills such as pruning, watering lawns, making water fountains, landscape design, and snow removal. With every project, landscapers get to work at a new place. Their everyday work would feel like an endless adventure, filled with excitement and satisfaction.
Job Description
A landscaper’s duties include:
- Designing landscape: mapping and designing
- Constructing landscape: excavation, concreting, plumbing, etc.
- Installing landscape: weeding, mulching landscape beds, planting, building aqua landscape, etc.
- Maintaining landscape: mowing lawns, trimming trees, monitoring plant health, mulching, edging, pruning, etc.
In summary, a landscaper tailors areas to make them appear neat and aesthetically pleasing.
Landscaping involves a lot of hard physical work. Therefore, this job is not for everyone. Popular personality traits found in successful landscapers are good strength, focus, caution, attention to detail, and excellent team-working skills. Still, all the qualities mentioned are attainable, and anyone with a strong enough passion for this job can work hard to follow their dreams.
Maintaining landscape involves mowing lawns, trimming trees, etc. – Source: Pankaj Shah
Job Outlook
Nowadays, there are about 170,000 landscapers in The United States. Three states where landscapers locate the most are California, Florida, and Texas.
‘Careerexplorer’ projected an 11.4% growth in the landscaper job market between 2016 and 2026, which is much faster than average. However, the estimation may not be so accurate due to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the world’s economy.
Overall, landscapers aren’t very employable. The job market is still narrow and completive, meaning beginner landscapers will find it difficult to compete with more experienced ones.
How Much Do Landscapers Make?
In The United States, the annual wage of a landscaper is about $17 an hour, according to ‘careerexplorer’. Assuming a landscaper work for 37.5 hours a week, they would make $33.150 a year.
However, the payment of landscapers can range from under $20.000 a year to over $50.000. It is because it depends on factors such as experience, serenity, and work location.
For example, here is the answer for ‘how much do landscapers make’ annually broken down by seniority.
| Seniority | Average annual payment |
| Top-level landscaper | $53,977 |
| Senior-level landscaper | $44,201 |
| Mid-level landscaper | $35,401 |
| Junior-level landscaper | $28,353 |
| Starting level landscaper | $23,218 |
How much do landscapers make? – Source: careerexplorer.com
Certified exercise physiologist salary also depends on work location. The top 5 states in the US that offer the highest average salary for landscapers are:
- Alaska: $86,120
- Connecticut: $60,270
- North Dakota: $56,720
- Massachusetts : $56,430
- Rhode Island: $56,400
Right now, there are even landscaping jobs in California that pays about $100.000 per year. That’s even higher than some doctors’ or engineers’ salaries.
In certain states, a skillful landscaper can easily make about $37 hourly. ‘$37 an hour is how much a year’ you may ask? It’s $72,150, which is approximately $20.000 higher than the average salary of all jobs in The United States. So clearly, despite the modest average payment in the field, one can still make a great deal of money as a landscaper.
A landscaper can easily make $37 hourly – Source: Boris Debusscher
How To Get Started Working As A Landscaper?
As mentioned earlier, there are no specific educational requirements to be a landscaper. However, one will need a GED or high school diploma to apply to a landscaping firm. Most high-paid positions will also require a degree in horticulture, landscaping, or a related field. Some universities that offer landscape gardening courses in the United States are:
- University of Minnesota Twin Cities
- University of Kentucky
- Virginia Tech
- University of Tennessee
- Florida International University
- Iowa State University
- Washington State University
- George Washington University
- Northeastern University
- Arizona State University
To work as a landscaper, one also needs to learn a range of skills regarding horticulture. They can learn how to take care of plants, use specific tools or operate machinery in gardening or landscaping groups. Joining a gardening club in the local area will provide the opportunity to gain practical knowledge on the matter and hopefully some hands-on experience as well.
Beginners should first work with an experienced team instead of working on their own right away. They should apply for apprenticeships in landscaping firms and receive professional training. It will not only teach Important skills but also can result in official employment.
A landscaper needs to learn about horticulture – Source: Michael Dziedzic
Conclusion
With the information about the landscaping career provided, we hope you can now answer the ‘How much do landscapers make?’ question, determine where and how to embark on the journey of pursuing your dream. Even though it can seem so challenging, keep following your passion and remember: “if you do what you love, you won’t have to work a day in your life.”
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