Explore
Maintenance & design-build
Landscaper
Outside every day, and the season decides your income.
Typical pay
$32k-$70k
How you get in
On the job; certifications for pesticide and irrigation
Outlook
Steady; owners do better than employees
Landscapers maintain and install outdoor spaces, from weekly mowing routes to hardscape construction. Maintenance is steady and low-margin; design-build and hardscape work is where the real money is.
A day in the life
- 6:30aLoad the trailer, check the route
- 7:00aFirst property — mow, edge, blow
- 10:00aFour more properties before noon
- 12:00pLunch in the truck
- 1:00pInstall job — plantings and mulch
- 4:30pUnload, clean equipment, sharpen blades
How to get in
Crew member upward
Duration
1-3 years
Cost
$0
Credential
None; pesticide applicator license to advance
- Get hired on a maintenance crew with no experience
- Learn plant material, equipment and the route
- Get a pesticide applicator license — it raises your value immediately
- Move to crew lead, then to install and hardscape work
Start your own operation
Duration
1-3 months
Cost
$5,000-$30,000 for mower, trailer and truck
Credential
Business license, insurance, pesticide license if applying chemicals
- Buy reliable equipment — used commercial beats new residential
- Register the business and get liability insurance
- Build a tight route so drive time does not eat the margin
- Add install and hardscape work, where the margins actually are
Horticulture or landscape degree
Duration
2-4 years
Cost
$8,000-$120,000
Credential
AS or BS in horticulture or landscape architecture
- Complete a horticulture or landscape program
- Learn design, plant science and irrigation properly
- Enter design-build or landscape architecture rather than maintenance
- Required if you want to become a licensed landscape architect
What people love
- · Start immediately with no credential
- · Outdoors and physical
- · Very low barrier to starting your own crew
- · Hardscape and design work pays well
What wears people down
- · Seasonal — northern winters mean no income
- · Heat, sun and equipment noise
- · Hard on the back and knees
- · Maintenance margins are thin