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Gardeners grow and look after plants in private and public green spaces.
You could work: freelance / self-employed; managing your own hours
On a typical day you may:
You may need to wear protective clothing.
You could work in a garden, in a park, at a client's business, at a client's home or in woodland.
Your working environment may be at height and outdoors in all weathers.
You can get into this job through:
You could do a course in gardening or horticulture to learn some of the skills and knowledge you need.
Courses include:
Courses might cover things like how to identify plants, grow plants from seed and use gardening machinery safely.
You'll usually need:
You could do a:
You'll usually need:
You might find it easier to get a job as a gardener if you have some experience, for example working in a garden centre or protecting land.
You could also start as an assistant gardener and work your way up.
Many organisations offer volunteering opportunities, for example:
You'll also find volunteering opportunities through Do IT and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).
Employers value work experience in gardening.
You might also need to show employers that you have gardening skills, knowledge and enthusiasm.
You can also take a course with The Royal Horticultural Society to learn more about gardening or get a qualification that will help you get a job.
You'll need to:
You can find out more about becoming a gardener from Grow Careers and Horticulture Week.
With experience, you could:become a senior or head gardener; set up your own business gardening for private customers; move into a similar role, such as landscaper, groundsperson or arboricultural officer; do another qualification to work on trees in a job like tree surgeon