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...be profitable. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that wholesale receipts for greenhouse and nursery crops totaled $15.7 billion in 2004, up about 20 percent from 1998. In addition, according to the National Gardening Association, spending on landscape installation and construction tripled--rising from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $11.2 billion in 2002.
All that growth means lots of jobs and variety for the people who decide what to grow and for the people who tend those plants. Some of these occupations, such as landscape architect, require formal education; others do not. People often start out in grounds maintenance or retail jobs, for example, and work their way, by acquiring either education or experience or both, into occupations that require more skill and offer higher pay.
This article examines the green industry: its occupations, its working conditions, and ways to get started. Resources for learning more about the industry and the occupations in it are at the end of the article. And a box on page 28 defines the industry and identifies the types of places where plant lovers often work.
Green-industry occupations
Experience in planning landscapes and installing and caring for plants provides fertile ground for careers. Landscape architects and landscape designers arrange outdoor space in ways that meet clients' needs. Grounds maintenance and greenhouse workers, supervisors and landscape contractors, nursery and greenhouse managers, and turf managers do the hands-on work of installing and caring for plant life. These occupations are a sample of the career choices available.
Landscape architects
Landscape architects design yards, parks, golf courses, and any other residential or commercial landscape. They plan the locations of trees, flowers, roads, walkways, buildings, and drainage, Their goal is to create a landscape that is functional and healthy as well as beautiful.
Landscape architects also collaborate with environmental scientists and foresters to find the best ways to conserve or restore natural resources. They might find ways to conserve existing trees, for example, or to create healthy environments for native plants and animals. Some landscape architects design lawns and other residential properties, but most concentrate on designing commercial parks; public works projects, such as airports and highways; and other large-scale projects that require a landscape architect's technical expertise.
When starting a project, landscape architects meet with their clients to find out what kind of environment they want, what it will be used for, and what it should look like. Landscape architects research local environmental and other regulations to determine the feasibility of ideas.
Then, landscape architects create detailed plans using computer-aided design (CAD) software, a drawing program that helps them to determine the correct grading of inclines and calculate the amount of soil that needs to be removed from or added to the site. The plans address issues of topography and grading at the site--its hills, valleys, and other variations in height.
Landscape architects also address structural issues, such as the placement and building of retaining walls. Other planning experts, including building architects, surveyors, engineers, and environmental scientists, work with landscape architects to make decisions about the arrangement of roads and buildings.
Much of landscape architects' time working on projects is spent indoors--creating designs on computers, doing research, developing budgets and cost estimates, and meeting with clients and other professionals. But these architects also spend time outdoors, visiting landscape sites and monitoring each project's progress.
Qualifications and training. Landscape architects should be creative and artistic. And because they work with clients and other professionals, landscape architects must have strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Among occupations in the green industry, landscape architects have the most stringent entry requirements. Forty-seven States require landscape architects to be licensed. And although exact criteria for licensure vary by...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
have been removed from this article.
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