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Gardener

Gardener

Description

Trees and plants maintain the atmosphere we live in. One cannot eat or breathe if they are not around. Not only this, they make everything look prettier and brighter. It is a gardenerwho is responsible for maintaining these plants, gardens and lawns either for a house, hotel,farms or ones made for the public. They beautify the lawns, timely water all the plants and trees, pull out weeds and litter from around the garden and keep them clean and pretty.

Common Duties/Routines

The basic duties of a gardener, whether they work for a hotel, farm or a house, are more or less the same. Gardeners maintain the lawns and gardens and are also involved in designing, renewing and preserving them. They grow it according to the specified wants of their employer, perform some general maintenance tasks such as putting bins and emptying them, picking up any if any litter is present in the garden, raking any leaves that fall and cutting grass whenever it gets too long. They also plant and nurture new flowers and trees. For these purposes, they work with small hand tools and machines such as diggers and other things and service them properly.

A gardener plants seeds of hundreds of different types of plants, trees and flowers and tend to the needs of every plant accordingly.

One major responsibility of the gardener is to mow the lawn and keep it clean, pretty and attractive to the people. They aerate and add mulch where it is required. They trim edges of the plants to give them a neat appearance and broom and rake leaves and other rubbish present. They also use different types of tools to prune shrubs and trees.

A gardener monitors the plants and make sure they are in good health. For this purpose, he applies pesticide and insecticide and pull out weeds. They also give fertilizer and other chemicals to them to help them grow.  Healso timely waters them and checks that they are getting enough sunlight and the type of soil that they need to grow best. They also tend to young plants by making soil and planting beds.

Another key responsibility of a gardener is the proper maintenance of garden tools. They timely oil them and change filter of mowers and trimmers. They maintain an inventory of all the tools and clean them timely.

Another duty of a gardener is to give advice and guide management or their employer on garden related issues and how to make it better. For example, on how to preserve it and what plants to grow and how to cut down on garden expenses.They also have to give a summary and show records of all the expenses and costs incurred in maintaining and taking care of the garden such as the number and cost of all the plants and other garden tools purchased. For this purpose, it is better for them to keep a record of all costs and maintain it.

One thing necessary for a gardener is to be aware of all the safety and health rules and regulations and should comply to them.

Required/Trained Skills

  • Knowledge of different kinds of plants such as what species they belong to, their costs, the amount of water required by them and the times they need it and the type of soil they grow best in among many others.
  • Knowledge of the tools and machinery and how to use them.
  • Knowledge of gardening techniques.
  • A likeness for greenery and flowers.
  • Stamina as gardeners generally have to be on their feet all day long and might have to pick up heavy plant pots or use rakes and shovels and dig which requires physical strength an energy.
  • Basic mathematical skills to estimate prices and calculate expenses and other costs.
  • Friendly attitude towards people.

Education Requirements

A high school diploma is sufficient to pursue this career. Courses related to horticulture and landscape are extremely helpful. Prior experience is an added advantage. Many gardeners are trained on the job by senior and experienced gardeners.

Salary/Compensation

A gardener can be expected to earn, on average, between $20,000 to $40,000, annually. Gardeners working for large companies also get paid if they work overtime and given health insurance and bonuses.

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