Landscape and Horticultural Technicians and Specialists
(NOC 2225)
in All Engineering, Math, Science, and Information TechnologyThis group includes those design, develop, and maintain landscaped spaces and who advise clients on issues related to horticulture. They work for landscape designers and contractors, lawn service and tree care businesses, golf courses, nurseries and greenhouses, and municipal, provincial, and national parks, or they may be self-employed.
Job Outlook
Average
Read more
Compared to: All Engineering, Math, Science, and Information Technology
Outlook: average, mostly balanced conditions in the labour market.
Size of the occupation: small, with infrequent job opportunities.
Demand: Employment growth will lead to several new positions. Some positions become available due to employee turnover. A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements. There are several unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.
Work hours: full-time, usually. Most jobs are permanent positions. Employment can be seasonal with more opportunities available in the summer months.
Hourly Pay
$14.50
Minimum$17.00
Median$22.00
MaximumAnnual Pay
$4,292
Minimum$21,117
Median$65,654
MaximumCompared to: All Engineering, Math, Science, and Information Technology
Hourly Pay
$18.00
Minimum$34.90
Median$54.10
MaximumAnnual Pay
$13,568
Minimum$60,422
Median$107,009
MaximumAbout the job
Nature of work
This group includes those design, develop, and maintain landscaped spaces and who advise clients on issues related to horticulture. They work for landscape designers and contractors, lawn service and tree care businesses, golf courses, nurseries and greenhouses, and municipal, provincial, and national parks, or they may be self-employed.
Job duties
Arborists and tree service technicians:
- Examine trees and shrubs to diagnose problems and disease, and apply various treatments like pruning, spraying, repairing damaged areas and injecting with treatment solutions.
Golf course superintendents:
- Direct crews who maintain the health and appearance of golf courses and their surrounding landscapes, plant and move trees, and apply fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides.
Horticulturists:
- Plan and coordinate the growth and use of plants for landscaping, ornamental uses, and other purposes.
Landscape designers and landscape architectural technicians and technologists:
- Survey and assess sites, prepare drawings, sketches, and reports, and perform other duties to help landscape architects design landscaped environments.
Landscape gardeners:
- Plant and maintain private and public lawns and gardens.
Landscapers:
- Plan and construct landscaped environments that may include trees, shrubberies, lawns, fences, decks, patios, and other landscape structures.
Lawn care specialists:
- Visit clients, assess the health of lawns, and apply fertilizer, pesticides, and other lawn care products.
Sample job titles
- arborist
- cultivation technician
- greenskeeper
- horticulture technician
- horticulture technologist
- hydroponics technician
- irrigation technician (except agriculture)
- landscape architectural technologist
- landscape horticulturalist
- lawn care specialist
Skills
- An interest in developing natural and created environments
- An interest in computers and design-related applications
- Spatial awareness
- Communication and interpersonal skills
- Creativity
- Analytical abilities
- Decision-making skills
- Organizational skills
- Problem-solving and critical thinking
- Time-management
- Ability to work alone and as part of a team
- Physical stamina
Job requirements
- A university or college program in agronomy, arboriculture, horticulture, landscaping, landscape design, or landscape technology is usually required.
- Experience as a landscape and grounds maintenance labourer may be required for golf course superintendents, landscape gardeners, and landscapers.
- An apprenticeship program is available for horticulturists, arboriculturists, and landscape gardeners.
- Landscape horticulturalists require training through a 6,000-hour apprenticeship program: to become an apprentice you first need to have a job - enter an apprenticeship agreement either directly through an employer or after graduating from a college-level pre-apprenticeship program; learn on the job, mentored by a certified journeyperson who signs off on skills in a logbook.
- Trade Qualifier option, 9,000 hours, four practical industry certifications from the Landscape Horticulture Certification Program, and other criteria.
- Certification for landscape horticulturists is voluntary in Nova Scotia.
- Write and score a minimum of 70% on the Red Seal exam for landscape horticulturalists; or obtain a provincial certificate without writing an exam.
- Red Seal Endorsement (RSE) allows for interprovincial mobility.
- A provincial license to apply chemical fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides may be required.
Other considerations
- Setting: landscape agricultural technologists most often work in an office and on construction sites. They usually work standard office hours with some overtime to meet project deadlines.
- Setting: landscape horticulturalists work outdoors in all types of weather. Indoor work may involve greenhouse production, interior landscaping, and the sale of plants, materials, and supplies. Employment may be seasonal with long hours.
- The work may involve lifting, climbing, carrying, and bending.
- Experienced landscape architectural technologists may become certified in specific areas like irrigation design or contract administration. Some start their own business.
- Beginning landscape horticulturalists often enter the trade during the busy summer months as labourers or apprentices.
- Experienced landscape horticulturalists may advance to supervisor, manager, or head landscape horticulturalist positions, or start their own business.
- Some landscape horticulturists specialize in landscape design, construction and maintenance, and greenhouse, sod, and nursery production. They may work independently or with other professionals such as landscape architects, architects, engineers, and municipal planners.
- Some jobs may require working with dangerous chemical substances or exposure to unpleasant odours.
- Apprentices usually earn a percentage of the journeyperson (fully qualified) rate. This percentage increases as each level of the apprenticeship program is completed.
- Everyone has fair access to participate and succeed in the apprenticeship system. Everyone who develops the necessary skills and abilities should be able to succeed in the trades and trade qualification system. Work environments in the province support women and equity-seeking communities.
By the numbers
Quick look
employed in 2016
employed full-time
self employed
median age
Compared to: All Engineering, Math, Science, and Information Technology
employed in 2016
employed full-time
self employed
median age
Where will I likely work?
Halifax
$25,991 median annual incomeNorth Shore
$23,062 median annual incomeAnnapolis Valley
$21,201 median annual incomeSouthern
$9,396 median annual incomeCape Breton
$18,053 median annual incomeCompared to: All NS Occupations
Halifax
North Shore
Annapolis Valley
Cape Breton
Southern
Top Industries of Employment
Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Public administration
Retail trade
What is the age of Employment?
45-54
55-64
25-34
35-44
15-24
65+
Compared to: All Engineering, Math, Science, and Information Technology
25-34
45-54
35-44
55-64
15-24
Top levels of education
Bachelor
$27,613 median annual incomeCollege Diploma
$26,006 median annual incomeHigh school
$13,259 median annual incomeTrade Certification
$12,705 median annual incomeDiploma Below Bachelor
$27,725 median annual incomeCompared to: All Engineering, Math, Science, and Information Technology
College Diploma
$59,986 median annual incomeBachelor
$63,965 median annual incomeHigh school
$45,835 median annual incomeMaster
$65,105 median annual incomeTrade Certification
$57,773 median annual incomeEducation & training
Applied Horticulture
College, Trades, or University ProgramThese programs focus on growing and processing domesticated plants, shrubs, flowers, foliage, trees, groundcovers, and related plant materials, managing technical and business operations connected with horticultural services, and the scientific principles needed to understand plants and their management and care.
Institutions providing this program
Various, NS
Horticultural Science
College or University ProgramThese programs focus on the scientific principles related to cultivating garden and ornamental plants, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, and landscape and nursery crops. They include courses in specific types of plants like citrus, breeding horticultural varieties, physiology of horticultural species, and the scientific management of horticultural plant development and production through the life cycle.
Institutions providing this program
Truro, NS
Landscaping and Groundskeeping
College, Trades, or University ProgramThese programs prepare students to manage and maintain indoor and/or outdoor ornamental and recreational plants and groundcovers and related designs created by landscape architects, interior designers, enterprise owners or managers, and individual clients. They include courses in applicable principles of horticulture, gardening, plant and soil irrigation and nutrition, turf maintenance, plant maintenance, equipment operation and maintenance, personnel supervision, and purchasing.
Plant Protection and Integrated Pest Management
College, Trades, or University ProgramThese programs apply scientific principles of controlling the animal and weed infestation of domesticated plant populations including agricultural crops, preventing/reducing economic loss, and controlling environmental pollution and degradation related to pest infestation and pest control measures. They include courses in entomology, applicable animal sciences, plant pathology and physiology, weed science, crop science, and environmental toxicology.
Institutions providing this program
Truro, NS
Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations - Other
College, Trades, or University ProgramThis includes any program not listed elsewhere that relates to Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations.
Institutions providing this program
Various, NS
Employment requirements & contacts
Regulations
Certificate of Qualification (Voluntary): This is a designated trade in Nova Scotia. Employers may require certification, but a certificate is not needed to legally work in this trade.
Contacts
Additional resources
There are no additional resources for this occupation.