GROUNDSKEEPER

According to the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA), lawn and landscape maintenance is the number one “green industry” service. Groundskeepers or landscapers are responsible for designing and maintaining healthy lawns and gardens. They maintain the grounds of industrial, commercial, or public property (such as parks and botanical gardens). They may also maintain a variety of facilities, including athletic fields, golf courses, and cemeteries. In addition, some groundskeepers are responsible for indoor greenery, such as the lush environments often found in malls, hotels, and interior exhibits in botanical gardens. Groundskeepers perform all facets of grounds work, such as mowing, raking, trimming, landscaping, sod laying, watering, fertilizing, digging, and gardening. To help them perform these tasks, they use hand tools such as shovels, rakes, pruning shears, saws, and hedge clippers. They also operate a variety of power equipment, including riding mowers, snowblowers, chain saws, loaders, tractors, and field marking equipment.

Many landscaping and groundskeeping jobs are seasonal. Demand for grounds work is greatest in spring, summer, and fall. Most of this work is performed outdoors and, because of all the digging of holes, lifting of young trees, and pushing of heavy machinery, requires a lot of strength and stamina.

Most entry-level jobs in the industry require no college education; in fact, almost half of new hires do not yet have a high school diploma. Instead, training in landscaping techniques and the use of mowers, trimmers, leaf blowers, and tractors occurs on the job. Wages tend to be low (entry-level landscaping and groundskeeping laborers receive an average of $10.75 an hour, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's 2006 statistics), but for nature lovers the paycheck is offset by the days spent outside, the varied workday, and the satisfaction of participating in the beautification of one's surroundings.

Nursery and greenhouse workers grow the plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees that will eventually be planted by landscapers. Landscape contractors turn the designs of landscape architects into reality. They supervise the planting of trees, shrubs, and flowers; the laying of sod; and the placement of benches, statuary, and other design elements. They may also install lighting and sprinkler systems and build footpaths, patios, decks, and fountains. They may work only on large commercial projects, such as office complexes, corporate parks, and malls, or they may offer their services to private residences. The landscape contractor directs a supervisor who in turn oversees the landscape laborers who actually perform all the grounds work.

Groundskeeping laborers tend to focus on the maintenance of facilities, such as playing fields, golf courses, parks, college campuses, and cemeteries. Their duties are often identical to those of landscape laborers but may also include clearing snow from walkways and parking lots; maintaining and repairing sidewalks, planters, fountains, pools, fences, and benches; turf care and painting; and, in the case of cemetery laborers, digging graves with a backhoe and preparing and maintaining burial plots.