People's Love for Lawns is Nursing New Opportunity
Many opportunities are available to those thinking about entering
the green industry.
"If you like working outdoors, if you enjoy making things grow, if you
have concern for the environment, all of these and more make working in the
green industry interesting and exciting," says Denne Goldstein. He is the
publisher of Irrigation and Green Industry magazine.
Positions in greenhouses, nurseries and landscaping are readily available
to those wishing to pursue a career in this field.
"The green industry employs hundreds of thousands of people and generates
more than $60 billion into the economy of this country," Goldstein says. "There
is a shortage of personnel in every aspect of the green industry. Opportunities
are open to all."
The green industry encompasses many aspects, Goldstein says, including
nurseries, both retail and wholesale. The wholesalers grow plant material
for sale to landscape contractors and retail nurseries, Goldstein explains.
Retail nurseries sell to the general public.
Landscaping, irrigation, design and maintenance all fall under the green
industry, he adds. "Opportunities exist in working for municipalities. Every
city and town has parks and recreation personnel that take care of cutting
the lawns and planting flowers," he says.
"Also, golf courses...public and municipal and private...all have the need
for a superintendent."
Goldstein says he would advise young people today to think about entering
this field. "I would also suggest that they continue to go to school and get
a degree in this field," he says. "Although it is not necessary for them to
have a degree to enter this field, they will need it to move up the ladder.
"Most landscape contractors who go into business for themselves go to work
for another contractor, learn their skills and then start their own business,"
he says.
"The opportunity is wide open in this area, but the one thing you won't
learn from the guy you're working for is the 'business end of the business.'
That is critical in any business: learning how to run a business without losing
money."
Carla Pastore is the executive director of the American Association of
Botanical Gardens and Arboreta (AABGA), which represents the country's public
gardens. She says there are also many job opportunities in this branch of
the industry, which she says has experienced "considerable growth" in recent
years.
Horticulture jobs in public gardening include the plant propagators who
grow the plants, and the gardeners who do the daily, hands-on work in the
gardens. The people who decide what plants will go in each garden are called
curators. Plant recorders keep track of what has been planted.
Pastore suggests that anyone interested in this type of work volunteer
in a public garden. "Then they will see...what is being done and what opportunities
are out there," she says.
"There are also internship opportunities available to students once they
are out of high school." The association has a directory that lists all of
its internship opportunities.
"I would say on average, we are seeing at least five new public gardens
or more a year, so there is a lot of growth in public gardens. And I have
seen some data that shows the general public is becoming more and more interested
in gardening."
Pastore points to the aging of the baby boomer generation -- those born
between 1946 and 1964 -- as one of the reasons for this popularity. "They
like to garden, and they like to volunteer and visit in gardens," she says.
Chris Andrews is the executive director of the Canadian Nursery Landscape
Association (CNLA). He says gardening is the fastest growing leisure activity
in North America. "It is just growing furiously," Andrews says.
There is always a shortage of labor within the industry, Andrews says.
"We don't have enough skilled people in this field. That is improving and
changing...and we have put together programs to train the current people,"
he says.
CNLA runs the Canadian Certified Horticultural Technician Program nationwide
in Canada. The Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) runs a similar
program in the United States.
Andrews says a university education is very helpful for those looking to
enter this field. "It is really necessary," he says. "With the way business
operates today, you need to have a good education from the business administrative
side and the marketing side, if nothing else. And you certainly need to know
the horticultural education.
"The only way you can get away without having a [formal] horticultural
education is if you buy a business that is already established and you have
a lot of expertise in there or you can afford to bring in the expertise."
It is a very complex industry, Andrews says. "It is not a single crop industry....We
grow between 7,000 and 8,000 products, and they take between one and seven
years to reach maturity before you can sell it," he says.
Gardening tends to be a recession-proof industry, according to Andrews.
"For the most part, when the economy is down, people spend more time at home.
They don't buy the new television or the new car. They spend more time in
their yards, and to keep busy they go and buy plant material," he says.
Ron Crawford owns a nursery. He agrees that gardening has become very popular
today and has led to a boom in the industry. His nursery, which he runs with
his wife, Diane, sells mail-order daylilies and hostas to the general public.
He says a love of gardening is what prompted him to enter this field of work.
Crawford says he took some correspondence courses. He also gained experience
on the job and through hosta and daylily horticultural societies.
"At first, we wanted to be a general plant nursery, but we could not compete
with the big box stores and chain garden centers," he says. "We wanted to
remain small, and specialization was the only alternative. We sell to a very
limited market, but there is a strong following."
Diane Crawford says that people entering this type of work should have
a genuine interest in the field. "Most positions in the horticultural industry
are low paying," she says.
"This is an industry in which you have to have a love of plants and enjoy
the type of work, including interaction with people, rather than [wanting]
a lucrative career. It is much more satisfying than most other fields because
you see things start from almost nothing and grow to be much larger."
Links
American Society for Horticultural Science
The society promotes and encourages scientific research and education
in horticulture
AmericanHort
The horticulture industry's trade association
Irrigation and Green Industry Network
This is a magazine for landscape, irrigation and maintenance
contractors
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