Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
Landscape or maintain grounds of property using hand or power tools or equipment. Workers typically perform a variety of tasks, which may include any combination of the following: sod laying, mowing, trimming, planting, watering, fertilizing, digging, raking, sprinkler installation, and installation of mortarless segmental concrete masonry wall units.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Operations Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Mechanical
- Chemistry
- Building and Construction
- English Language
- Transportation
- Public Safety and Security
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- Mow or edge lawns, using power mowers or edgers.
- Use hand tools, such as shovels, rakes, pruning saws, saws, hedge or brush trimmers, or axes.
- Prune or trim trees, shrubs, or hedges, using shears, pruners, or chain saws.
- Gather and remove litter.
- Trim or pick flowers and clean flower beds.
- Operate vehicles or powered equipment, such as mowers, tractors, twin-axle vehicles, snow blowers, chainsaws, electric clippers, sod cutters, or pruning saws.
- Shovel snow from walks, driveways, or parking lots, and spread salt in those areas.
- Care for established lawns by mulching, aerating, weeding, grubbing, removing thatch, or trimming or edging around flower beds, walks, or walls.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Artistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (58.5% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (48.8%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (32.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 99% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “No contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 97% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 98% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 99% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 99% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 98% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 87% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 99% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 51.94%
- Occasional contact with others: 1.18%
- Contact with others about half the time: 1.34%
- Contact with others most of the time: 25.83%
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 56.96%
- Fairly important: 24.86%
- Important: 13.59%
- Very important: 3.56%
- Extremely important: 1.04%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 24.51%
- Fairly important: 24.94%
- Important: 5.07%
- Very important: 37.52%
- Extremely important: 7.95%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 24.26%
- Very little freedom: 24.59%
- Limited freedom: 28.27%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: 5.66%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 58.78%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 24.68%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 10.44%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 4.19%
- Every day: 1.9%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 60.76%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 3.78%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 25.14%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 10.27%
- Every day: 0.04%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 35.49%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.35%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 26.73%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 4.74%
- Every day: 4.69%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly serious: 11.39%
- Serious: 3.57%
- Very serious: 0.67%
- Extremely serious: 7.97%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 37-3011.00 · SOC 37-3011 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8