Horticultural workers needed for gardening jobs to preserve parks and gardens

Know how to work a lawnmower or plant a tree? Those skills can kickstart your next career.

Increasing urbanisation is having a somewhat contradictory effect on the horticultural sector, driving up demand for workers as Australians desperately seek to preserve the green space that is left.

TAFE SA arboriculture and horticulture lecturer Tim Spurling says demand for qualified horticulturalists is set to grow well into the future.

“Our public spaces are becoming critically important to manage because, with urbanisation, we are losing more and more of it,’’ he says.

“Private gardens are also becoming more valued – the private space that people have got has got to work for them and it’s got to earn its keep.

“People are going to be looking for horticulturalists that can provide specialised advice … places like the big box hardware centres can’t do that.’’

While councils and botanic gardens continue to be leading employers of horticulturalists, opportunities are also emerging in residential aged care facilities, following recognition of the health and wellness benefits linked to gardens.

Jaspreet Singh spent two years employed as a gardener before buying his own franchise with Fantastic Services Group.

Spurling says a Certificate III in Horticulture is the best way to ensure strong job prospects and comes embedded with additional accreditations, such as chemical handling.

Those who add licences to drive a truck and operate a chainsaw, as well as train in traffic management, boost their outlook even further, he says.

Diploma-level horticultural qualifications, as well as options to specialise in areas such as landscaping and garden design, are also available.

For school students, Spurling advises a certificate II horticultural traineeship offers a solid introduction to the industry.

“You can teach yourself to garden online and look at the internet and YouTube but you can’t get any qualifications doing that and you can’t take that into the jobs sphere (and present it to employers as evidence of competency),’’ he says.

Fantastic Services Group chief executive Rune Sovndahl says while no formal study is required to work as a gardener, those that train to become qualified horticulturalists will “do well and retain clients’’.

“Horticulturalists can move out of the hands-on gardening roles and into roles such as plant pathologists and consultants in horticulture or more design-orientated jobs such as ornamental horticulturalists and horticultural technicians,’’ he says.

Jaspreet Singh, 28, spent two years employed as a gardener before taking the plunge and buying his own franchise with Fantastic Services Group.

He now plans to expand his business by training in horticulture and landscaping, which will allow him to undertake bigger excavations and design gardens, rather than focus solely on garden maintenance.

“I’ll be able to do more jobs for my regular customers, as well as service a wider client base,’’ Singh says.

“Landscaping may even become my main job over gardening if the demand is great enough – I think it will be an excellent addition to my services.’’