5 career pathways for a horticulturist 🪴

Your love for plants led you to explore horticulture as a career option, and then you learned how to become a horticulturist. 

But did you know that a horticulture degree can lead to careers in designing, construction, plant breeding, crop production, farming, education, marketing, business and many more career pathways?

So how do you choose from such a large scope of work options?

Identifying jobs in your area of interest can be a good starting point to make a choice.

Let's take a closer look at some common career pathways that open up with a horticulture degree.

If you're passionate about preserving native habitats, sharing your knowledge of local plants and vegetation with your communities, educating the next generation, and finding ways to improve methods of food production, then here are some careers for you.

Horticulture Educator

As a horticulture educator, you'll teach classes on horticulture, agriculture sciences, and garden management.

Job responsibilities may also include:

• Caring for plants required for activities

• Designing curriculums and interactive projects

Typical employers:

• Universities and colleges

• Local government agencies and community centers

Horticultural Researcher

Agronomist

You can look for jobs as a research associate/scientist if you're interested in:

• Improving methods of food production

• Assessing the impact of pesticides

• Finding more green ways of producing crops

• Creating more pest and disease-resistant varieties of plants

Agronomists are also called crop scientists, and they specialize in crop cultivation.

Job responsibilities may also include:

• Performing tests

• Assessing technologies that help grow plants

• Teaching University classes

Typical employers:

• Agricultural universities and colleges

• Private firms

Extension Agent

As an extension agent, you'll engage with local communities to help them better understand and preserve their native habitats.

This highly engaging and satisfying job may also require extensive outdoor work and travelling long distances.

Job responsibilities may also include:

• Educating communities about local horticulture

• Organizing and managing research-based programs for improving local agriculture and farming practices that bring a positive impact to the local environment

Typical employers:

• Government agencies

Check out this job description to learn more about this profile.

Photo by Leohoho on Unsplash

If you enjoy indoor and outdoor designing and are good at expressing and illustrating your ideas, then here are some careers to explore with a horticulture degree.

Some jobs may not require a degree but a certification may be required by employers.

Floral Designer

Ornamental Horticulturist

If you like to be creative with flowers and plants, like creating floral designs and growing plants for ornamental and decorative purposes, then these jobs may be a good fit for you.

Job responsibilities may also include:

• Customer service and sales

• Caring for plants and floral products

Typical employers:

• Wholesale and retail floral businesses

• Greenhouses and nurseries

• Opportunities are also available for freelancing and starting your own business

Landscape Designer

Interiorscape Designer

As a landscape designer,you'll apply your knowledge of soil and natural environment to choose the best-suited plants for the landscape design. 

As an interiorscape designer, you'll create beautiful interior spaces with plants.

Job responsibilities may also include:

• Interacting with clients to understand their needs.

• Collaborating and negotiating with contractors, vendors, and suppliers.

Typical employers:

• Landscape and property development businesses.

• Large corporates for maintaining their indoor and outdoor spaces.

Profile #1: Find a Good Fit for Rhea

Rhea is in her final year of horticulture studies. She enjoys gardening and has successfully created a beautiful small garden on her balcony. In her free time, she volunteers at an elementary school to help raise awareness about the local flora and teach gardening skills.

Photo by MIO ITO on Unsplash

If you enjoy working in large outdoor spaces like, gardens, parks, or sports fields, here are some career options that open up with a degree in horticulture.

Horticulturist

Garden Assistant

Nursery Worker

These jobs will require you to provide care for plants and flowers and plant bulbs, help transplant plants, examine soil quality, and inspect plants for diseases.

Job responsibilities may also include:

• Caring for and watering plants regularly

• Transporting purchased plants

• Maintaining plant care and sales records

• Answering customer questions about types of plants, plant care techniques, etc.

• Caring for equipment and computer systems that monitor plant care

Typical employers:

• Public and private gardens and parks

• Private residential owners

• Commercial outdoor nurseries and greenhouses

• Seasonal garden centers

Greenskeeper

As a greenskeeper, you'll be responsible for landscape maintenance of outdoor green spaces.

This labor-intensive job requires physical fitness for long hours of outdoor work.

Job responsibilities may also include:

• Handling small and large technical equipment

• Application of fertilizers and pesticides

Typical employers:

• Golf and country clubs

• Tourist resorts

Lawn Care Specialist

As a lawn care specialist, you'll provide regular lawn maintenance services for residential or commercial properties to help maintain healthy lawn spaces.

Job responsibilities may also include:

• Trimming hedges

• Safely using chemical

Typical employers:

• Private businesses providing lawn care services to residential and commercial properties

Photo by Elaine Casap on Unsplash

If you're interested in using your horticultural knowledge for helping to grow safe and nutritious food or helping in the recovery process for sick people, then you can explore these career options.

Horticulture Inspector

Produce Inspector

As a horticulture inspector, you'll examine plants, seeds, and plant facilities to ensure they meet the health and safety regulations.

As a produce inspector, you'll examine fresh produce during the growth and harvest process, and grade them according to USDA guidelines.

Job responsibilities may also include:

• Label inspected products and issue recalls for products that don't meet safety standards

Typical employers:

• Government agencies

• Private organizations also offer similar roles to ensure their facilities and products comply with regulations

Horticultural Therapist

As a horticultural therapist, you'll use your knowledge of plants to help patients with physical and mental health issues through plant-based and gardening activities.

Job responsibilities may include:

• Designing and maintaining wellness gardens

• Planning gardening therapies and exercise in consultation with medical professionals

• Teach gardening classes

Typical employers:

• Hospitals, rehabilitation centres

Profile #2: Find a Good Fit for Ron

Ron has recently completed his Bachelor’s in horticulture. He has also worked on a local farm during his vacations to gain work experience. He's comfortable using heavy garden and lawn equipment and enjoys outdoor work.

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

Finally, if you enjoy expressing yourself through words and sharing your knowledge about plants and gardening techniques there are many opportunities to write and publish your work in print, television, or digital media.

Horticulture Writer

As a subject matter expert in your field, you'll write about and publish your work on plants, gardening, and agricultural techniques. You can also collaborate with other horticulture experts in research and education to write about the latest breakthroughs and innovations.

Job responsibilities may also include:

• Creating your own illustrations

• Adding your own images

Typical employers:

• Horticulture related publications

• Self-employment opportunities (personal blog sites)

• Private firms and government institutions also hire horticulture content writers for creating promotional content for public engagement

Now that you’ve seen the wide scope of green careers, here are some next steps to help you narrow down your career choice.