While landscape gardening is traditionally a male-dominated field, things are changing: there’s a greater push than ever for women to enter the industry, so now is an excellent time to get started. That said, the main question is how to start. Oddly, there’s not a huge amount of information out there for prospective landscape gardeners, so you’re likely wondering where to begin.
This article has you covered: from education and training to breaking through gender stereotypes, you’ll learn about 10 key factors that are important when it comes to building your career.
1. Can Your Envisage Yourself Working Outdoors?
Before you go any further, it’s important to discover whether this is truly the right move for you. If you love working outdoors, then you’re a big part of the way there: the role will be messy at times and require you to be comfortable working in a variety of different weather conditions, so if this sounds like fun, you’ll likely do very well.
It’s also a great role for your mental health, as being outdoors has been proven to have a positive impact on mood, stress, and anxiety.
2. Getting the Right Training
You won’t be able to become a landscape gardener without the right training. Which qualifications are required will depend on where you live and what your country or state requires, but generally, most places enable you to become qualified through apprenticeships and internships, or simply by enrolling in a relevant hands-on course in your area.
3. The Tools You’ll Need
Nearly all careers require some form of investment, and landscape gardening is no different. Beyond any course fees you’ll need to pay, there’s also selection of tools you’ll need to get started.
You don’t need to buy everything all at once, but you’ll at least require basic hand tools like forks, trowels, spades, hoes, and buckets. There are also several power tools that are worth investing in early such as hedge trimmers, lawnmowers, and chainsaws, and it’s essential to purchase safety gear (good boots, some goggles, and gloves are your main three).
4. Getting Stronger
Landscape gardening is a very physical job, so it’s taxing on both your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems.
You want to ensure you’re fit and up to the task before you start: it would be a good idea to take up regular aerobic exercise like running or biking if you don’t do any already, and strength training with free weights and machines at a local gym (or even bodyweight exercises like press ups and pull ups) would be highly beneficial.
5. Marketing Skills
While you might start out working under someone else at an apprenticeship or internship, the ultimate goal for any landscape gardener is to set up their own business.
Doing so requires its own set of skills – marketing being one of the main ones. You’re going to need to find a way to draw potential clients towards you and convert them into paying customers, and that takes time to learn. It may be wise to invest in a comprehensive business marketing course once you’ve finished training, and there’s also plenty of stuff on YouTube you can investigate in the meantime.
6. Start Learning About Plants Early
Naturally, having extensive knowledge about plants is fundamental for any prospective gardener, and you should start learning as soon as possible.
You can learn a lot before you even start any type of course: there’s a ton of info online, and large forums like Reddit even have their own dedicated landscaping communities: here, you can engage with other experienced landscape gardeners for more information and to get advice.
7. The Importance of Creative Skills
It’s worthwhile to remember that landscape gardening isn’t just about arranging plants and trimming hedges – it’s an art form.
People aren’t just hiring you to do some gardening for them, they’re often hiring you because of your ability to redesign and completely transform their space. For this reason, you’ll need to hone your design skills.
A simple way to do this is to get yourself a sketchbook and some high-quality pens and pencils, and get sketching. Your designs will most likely be poor at first, but practice makes perfect!
8. The Value of a Strong Support System
While you’ll have to do a lot of this by yourself, that doesn’t mean you don’t need a strong support network to get you through the tough times. There are ups and downs with any pursuit or business idea, and having friends, family, and others in the field to help you through it goes a long way.
It’s also a good idea to participate in industry events and workshops in your area to meet likeminded people and broarden your social network.
9. Legal Considerations
Running a landscape gardening business comes with many specific legal considerations, and these will depend on where you’re operating and the associated local laws. Regardless of where you are, though, you’ll need to look into business licenses and permits before you start, as well as lability insurance.
10. Building Your Confidence
Especially as a woman, landscape gardening can be a daunting field to get into. You may feel like others doubt you or are skeptical of your abilities to fulfill a role that requires strength and hard manual work, and learning to brush these sorts of attitudes off and carry on anyway is a skill in and of itself.
One thing that can help is connecting with other female landscape gardeners for advice (again, Reddit is a great resource for this), and if you can, you could even consider partnering up with another landscaper.
The right career path for you!
Hopefully, this article has offered you some key insight so that you can get out there and throw everything you have at your ambitions. While there are several challenges you’ll need to overcome as you work to break into the field, with a strong skillset, some worthwhile connections, and the right tools (both physical and mental), you’ll be designing beautiful spaces in no time!
