Landscaping can be a great career choice if you enjoy spending time outdoors. A career in landscaping involves working with trees, shrubs, and flowers, and you can choose to be directly involved as a landscaping manager, or be involved in concept and design as a landscape designer or landscape architect. As a landscape architect, you can plan the landscape design for new buildings, shopping centers, and sub-divisions.
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How to Pursue a Career in Landscaping
Landscape managers often get their start in the field by working in nurseries or for landscaping companies. Advancement can be helped by taking classes in horticulture and landscape design. Landscape designers and architects attend schools offering landscaping classes, with architects often having a bachelor's and master's degree in landscaping.
Training programs for landscape designers can last several years, and may be offered at vocational schools and community colleges. Landscape architects usually attend a college or university, and their landscaping degree programs may last four or five years.
Salaries for landscaping careers can vary based on experience and level of training. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a landscaping manager has a median annual salary of about $40,950 and the top 10 percent make about $67,020 per year. The median salary of a landscape architect is about $65,910 per year and the top 10 percent earn around $100,530.
Careers in landscaping are expected to expand by about 18 to 20 percent over the next decade, which is considered faster than average. This expected growth is partially due to the increased importance that businesses and homeowners are placing on the exterior appearance of their buildings and homes.