Horticulture or Landscape Construction Operative

You’ll help plan and maintain extensive gardens, parks, and other green spaces on a horticulture or landscape operative apprenticeship course.

Horticulture and landscape operators work in public parks, green spaces, historic gardens, private gardens and estates, nurseries, and retail stores.

Many businesses may specialise in grounds maintenance (soft landscaping) or landscape construction (hard-landscape). Therefore, you have two options in this field: horticulture or landscape construction.

Horticulture is concerned with the propagation and development of plants. The installation of features and buildings, the use of landscape materials, and site management support are all aspects of landscape construction.

Because work is often done outside and throughout the year, you will be expected to work outdoors in all weather conditions regularly. You will most likely start in a ‘hands-on role involving many practical tasks.

The work in public spaces is overseen by a horticulture and landscape supervisor.

What You’ll Do

• Follow Safety Rules: Make sure to obey health and safety laws, industry advice, and company rules.
• Protect the Environment: Do your work in a way that doesn’t harm nature, following laws and guidelines.
• Use Tools and Equipment: Operate machinery and tools safely and correctly.
• Handle Waste: Deal with waste produced during gardening tasks properly.
• Keep Records: Maintain records of your work, both digital and written.
• Communication: Talk effectively with your boss, coworkers, and others you encounter.
• Biosecurity Compliance: Follow rules to prevent the spread of harmful species and diseases.
• Plant Health: Keep plants healthy by dealing with pests, diseases, and other issues.
• Planting and Care: Prepare sites for planting, put plants in the ground, and give them proper care.
• Vegetation Management: Control plants on sites by removing unwanted growth, managing weeds, and doing basic lawn care.
• Landscape Installation: Put in various landscape elements like bushes, trees, grass, and seeds.
• Maintain Structures: Take care of hard surfaces, features, or constructions.
• Team Support: Help out your coworkers and contribute to the overall business goals.
• Plant Production: Grow new plants through methods like propagation.
• Turf Management: Look after decorative lawns and grassy areas.
• Soft Landscaping: Create and maintain softer elements like flower beds and seasonal displays.
• Site Preparation: Get sites ready for landscaping work by measuring and marking them out.
• Construction Work: Build hard landscape features like paths, patios, and decking.
• Repair Work: Assess and fix any damage to hard structures or take necessary action.

What You’ll Learn

• Safety and Health: Understanding laws and rules to stay safe at work, like handling chemicals safely and assessing risks.
• Environmental Awareness: Learning about sustainable practices and helping reach goals to reduce carbon emissions.
• Environmental Compliance: Following rules to reduce pollution, manage waste, and recycle properly.
• Special Care Situations: Being cautious in areas with special designations to protect the environment and heritage sites.
• Equipment Safety and Maintenance: Knowing how to safely use and maintain tools and machinery.
• Record-Keeping: Understanding the importance of keeping business records organised.
• Communication Skills: Learning to communicate well with technical and non-technical people, including customers and colleagues.
• Plant Identification: Knowing how to identify plants and understanding their scientific names.
• Plant Pests and Diseases: Understanding how plant diseases spread and how to control them.
• Invasive Species Management: Recognising and controlling invasive plants and pests to protect the environment.
• Biosecurity Measures: Understanding why keeping plants safe from diseases and pests is important.
• Information Sources: Knowing where to find information about plant diseases and pests and how to handle them.
• Plant Biology: Understanding how plants grow and what they need to stay healthy.
• Environmental Impact on Plants: Knowing how environmental conditions affect plant growth.
• Soil Science: Learning about soil types, their components, and how they affect plant growth.
• Soil Management: Knowing how to care for soil to help plants grow, including fertilising and drainage.
• Weed Control Techniques: Learning to identify and control weeds to protect plants.
• Pruning Importance: Understanding how pruning affects plants and why it’s important to do it correctly.
• Planting Techniques: Knowing how to properly plant shrubs and trees to help them grow well.
• Turf Maintenance: Learning to care for and maintain turf to keep it healthy.
• Types of Turf: Understanding different types of turf and how to install them.
• Hard Landscape Maintenance: Knowing how to care for non-plant features like paths and walls.
• Business Practices: Understanding how business goals and values affect work, including profit and project management.
• Green Space Benefits: Knowing why green spaces are important and how to maintain them to high standards.
• Propagation Techniques: Learning how to grow plants from seeds or cuttings.
• Establishing Ornamental Turf: Knowing how to start and maintain ornamental grass areas.
• Turf Maintenance Activities: Understanding the tasks needed to keep turf healthy and how to present them in a plan.
• Plant Selection: Knowing what factors to consider when choosing plants for a garden.
• Soft Landscape Maintenance: Learning to care for plants without trees or shrubs.
• Pruning Techniques: Understanding when and how to prune different types of plants.
• Tree and Herbaceous Planting: Knowing how to plant trees and flowers properly.
• Site Preparation: Understanding how to prepare a site for landscaping work.
• Safety with Tools: Learning how to safely use tools like abrasive wheels.
• Landscaping Materials: Knowing about different materials used in landscaping and their pros and cons.
• Repairing Structures: Understanding how to identify and fix problems with constructed features.
• Paving Techniques: Learning how to lay paving stones correctly.
• Vertical Feature Construction: Knowing how to build structures like walls and fences.
• Drainage Systems: Understanding why drainage is important and how to install it.
• Horizontal Feature Construction: Learning how to build features like paths and decks.

Entry requirements

You’ll usually need:

• GCSEs or equivalent qualifications or relevant experience for an immediate apprenticeship
• Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this before taking the end-point assessment.

Assessment methods

The End Point Assessment comprises three sections:

• Practical Assessment With Questions
• Multiple-choice Test
• Professional Discussion Underpinned by a Portfolio of Evidence

Duration, level, subjects and potential salary upon completion

Apprenticeship standard

More information about the Level 2 Horticulture And Landscape Operative Apprenticeship standard can be found here.

Apprenticeship end point assessment

For more information about the End Point Assessment Process, please read the Institute of Apprenticeships’ information page.