gardener.

Some of the duties of a gardener include:

• mowing, trimming and pruning gardens: as a gardener, you are responsible for maintaining a garden, park or other green space. Whether you work in a public park or private residence, your job involves cutting overgrown grass to ensure it looks well maintained. You also trim trees, shrubs and hedges to minimise overgrown branches.
• maintaining green spaces: as a gardener, you oversee maintenance tasks on green spaces to ensure they retain their aesthetic appeal. Some ground maintenance tasks include cleaning and weeding gardens. You remove dead plants and weeds to ensure the plants remain vigorous and healthy. It is also important to provide appropriate seasonal care for plants. That means you should be familiar with plant reproduction and transplanting techniques for maintaining hedges, shrubs and ornamental plants.
• irrigating gardens: plants need adequate water supply to grow and look healthy. Your job is to ensure the plants and flowers have sufficient water to remain vigorous. If the plants require regular irrigation, you manage the irrigation systems to ensure the plants receive enough water.
• application of fertiliser: plants require organic or chemical fertiliser to grow and remain healthy. As a gardener, you apply the right fertiliser type to boost the growth of flowers and plants. You should also identify parasites and pests in flowers or plants and take appropriate control measures. Since you regularly inspect the plants, you can spot diseases and use natural or chemical products to repel pests.
• designing gardens: as a gardener, you use creativity to design and build beautiful landscapes in public places or private residences. Aside from planting flowers in green spaces, you also incorporate other natural elements like natural stone and wood to improve the aesthetic appeal. When creating a functional outdoor space, you determine the perfect placement of garden features like fences, trees and paths.

As a gardener, you work in various industries providing gardening or grounds maintenance services. For instance, you may work for businesses with large outdoor spaces like hotels and apartment blocks. Gardeners spend significant time outdoors. The role exposes you to extreme weather conditions since you maintain the gardens in all weathers. You also use hand tools for digging and weeding gardens. While the work environment doesn't expose you to hazardous conditions, you often wear safety equipment like eye protectors, gloves, leg shields and hard hats. The role involves travelling if you work for a grounds maintenance company since you have to work at different locations.

Depending on your employer and the industry you work in, your colleagues might include plumbers, cleaners, carpenters, groundworkers and construction workers. You might also be working in close proximity to machine operators and builders, as well as other specialists that could include, but not be limited to, administrators, groundskeepers, caretakers and horticulturists.

Gardening work schedules depend on the season and your employer. For instance, a gardener works 37 to 40 hours weekly in private households and public gardens. However, the work hours depend on the time of the year. During planting season, you are likely to work overtime. You will rarely work evenings, but sometimes you work at weekends. In winter, you work fewer hours due to unfavourable weather and growing conditions. Most gardeners work full-time jobs in the public and private sectors, but part-time opportunities are also available.

Gardeners have a wide range of employment opportunities, which open doors to diverse career paths. For instance, a gardener with experience can be promoted to leadership or supervisory roles like managing other groundskeepers or supervising construction and landscaping work. When you are a head gardener or horticulturist, you oversee various gardening activities and can move to other managerial roles. Some gardeners specialise in garden design or landscape architecture.

An alternative career option when you have years of experience from employment is to set up a gardening business. You can provide grounds maintenance for private companies or work with the government.

Finding your gardener job through Randstad provides important advantages such as:

• a wide variety of training and development opportunities
• an experienced contact person to provide help if needed
• a range of opportunities in your area
• get paid weekly or monthly, depending on the job
• temporary and permanent contracts

Want a permanent contract? A temporary job as a gardener is often a stepping stone to an attractive permanent job. Every year, thousands of people earn a permanent contract with great employers thanks to a temporary job found through Randstad. What's more, many companies recruit their permanent employees through Randstad too.

As a gardener, your job involves monitoring the health of plants and completing maintenance tasks like pulling weeds, mowing the lawns and applying fertiliser. You also operate outdoor machinery and repair gardening tools.

Becoming a professional gardener requires hard work. The role requires patience and dedication since it takes time to achieve the desired results. You also need physical stamina to complete the manual tasks involved in the role.

As a gardener, you design and organise gardens artfully to create aesthetically pleasing spaces. This requires creativity and organisational skills. You also rely on your attentiveness to detail to spot problems or poor health in plants.

Gardeners need VET qualifications like Certificate III in landscaping or horticulture. The training equips you with the gardening methods necessary for the role. You can also pursue diploma or degree courses for supervisory roles.

A gardener tends to plants and ensures green spaces are well maintained. They are also called nurserymen, plantspeople, and greenkeepers.

Applying for a gardener job is easy: create a Randstad profile and search our gardener job offers. Then simply send us your CV and cover letter. Need help with your application? Check out all our job search tips here.