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Working Abroad Job Vacancies Job Hunting Guide Voluntary Work Working Part-time and Temping Useful Job Hunting Resources Working in Somerset Wages and Employment Rights Landscape Gardeners in Somerset CLCI: WAD CRCI: HB Landscape gardeners look after parks, gardens, sports grounds and other open spaces. Much of the work is manual and can include doing things like pruning, hedge cutting, fencing, weed spraying, earth moving, paving and operating equipment. The work can be for landscape contractors, councils, schools and colleges, hospitals, heritage places, show gardens and private individuals. Sometimes you decide on which trees, shrubs and flowers are suitable for each place. However it’s best to remember that design and ideas work is often done by landscape architects and designers (rather than landscape gardeners). To find out more look under the above CLCI/CRCI headings in your Careers or Connexions library THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT LANDSCAPE GARDENERS IN SOMERSET There are jobs in landscape gardening throughout Somerset. You could be working for a district council (such as Sedgemoor or South Somerset) or you could be employed by the National Trust or a similar organisation. Somerset is famous for parks and country gardens and is a place where the environment is important. Equally you could be working for a private landscaping company. These vary in size and what they do. Some employ just a few people and work on lots of small contracts. Others employ dozens of people on large jobs. Pay varies between employers. Many landscape gardeners in Somerset earn between £13,000 and £18,000 per year. HOW DO I GET STARTED?   Get work experience when at school to see if it’s the career for you   Start as a trainee – or apprentice – with a landscaping company and go to college as part of your job   Go to college full-time to do a amenity horticulture course USEFUL QUALIFICATIONS   No particular GCSEs but being good in maths, English, science and artistic subjects can help   NVQs and City & Guilds in Horticulture   BTEC First & National qualifications in Horticulture More about qualifications, courses and training can be found in Moving On (published by Connexions Somerset) DO YOU KNOW? Landscape gardening and tourism are linked in Somerset. People visit to look at gardens like Barrington Court, Hestercombe and Montacute House WHAT IS THE PAY LIKE? Around £80 per week (maybe more) if starting as a new employed trainee or apprentice. Most people start later and earn at least the minimum wage. More experienced landscape gardeners earn around £14-18,000 a year FINDING A JOB   Connexions centres   Job centres   Through applying for work apprenticeships   School and college careers notice boards   Speculative letters/visits/emails   Newspaper and industry publications adverts   Adverts displayed at premises and on industry/company websites   Job offer after work experience   Word of mouth   A Guide to Job Hunting gives tips on CVs, interviews and job letters. To view click here OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS WORK   Hours can be awkward and you can be outdoors in all weathers. It’s physical work so you need to be fit and healthy. Basic building skills are useful for some jobs   You need to be able to work in a team and get on with your work. It’s important to have common sense and pride in what you do   You can sometimes start work at sixteen but many businesses like you to be older because of health and safety considerations (such as using machinery)   Being good with customers helps. They want things done to a high standard and, thanks to TV programmes, are becoming more demanding in what they want!   There’s competition between different companies. This means you often need to do your job in new ways – and tackle different types of projects – to help your company win contracts   Once you’re experienced there are opportunities to run your own business and specialise in the work that really interests you   If you’ve a flair for design, and are doing well at school or college, you might be interested in a university-level course in landscape architecture or landscape design WHO DOES THE WORK? Adebayo (20) did a City & Guilds Advanced National Certificate in Horticulture at college. After a successful work experience placement he got a job with a small landscaping company that does jobs all over Somerset. It’s going well and, although it can be tough and cold at times, Adebayo enjoys seeing something come from his hard work Maria (26) always wanted to become a gardener in her favourite park and was lucky enough to get an apprenticeship with her local council when she left school. This involved doing a course at college once-a-week and learning the ropes from experienced parks staff. Several years later she’s now a supervisor looking after a team of other gardeners More Info: A-Z Careers Careers information dates rapidly. Every effort has been made to ensure information is accurate but please check details before making firm decisions. Make text larger Make text smaller Text Only Display Privacy Policy/Terms of Use