How to get a landscaping job

Getting a landscaping job is no easy feat. You can either go down the route of finding a job within a company, or you can start up on your own. Both options are hard, but the rewards are good for those of you who manage to break in to the industry

1. Get qualified. This is not just some job where you dig up someone’s garden – you need to know exactly what you are doing and that means studying the subject. You can find horticultural courses online and you can also think about degrees in landscape design. Either way you need to be able to show that you understand gardening and plants.

2. Make sure you have the tools for the trade. If you intend to set up on your own, you need a lot of equipment in order to carry out a lot of the jobs you will get. This will probably include a mechanical wood chipper, saws, chainsaws, ladders, lawn mowers and a huge number of other general gardening tools. The cost of this is not insignificant, so you might want to start out small doing general gardening work in order to build up enough cash to buy the heavy weight pieces of machinery.

3. Look for work experience or trial work. Offering your services for free in one way or another is a great way of gaining experience. Whichever option you manage to land, there is a good chance if you show promise that you will end up with a full time job at the end of it.

4. Understand your market. Again, if you are setting up on your own, you need to know that this service is needed in your area. Look for existing landscape gardeners and try to get a feel for how busy they are. If they are struggling for work then there is a good chance that you will find it even harder to survive given that they will have a number of contracts already running in your area.

5. Advertise. People need to know that you are out there. Print up some leaflets detailing the work you can carry out, and try to place these in local garden centres or any other businesses with a good deal of passing trade.

6. Your resume. Make up a resume specific to landscaping and distribute this to every landscaper in your area and beyond. People may not be advertising, but if they have your name on file you may just get a call when you really need it.

Don’t be afraid to get out there and do your stuff. This sort of work requires dedication and a will to find the work,. But if you have that and you follow our tips, then there is no reason why you cannot find work as a landscape gardener.