Growing a career: horticultural technology blossoms with career opportunities

Career World, Oct, 2005 by Laura Daily

Everyone knows that plants need water to grow. So when then-junior gardener Iris Mendez planted her first flower path at the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas, she watered the flowers ... and watered ... and watered, every single day. Good plan unless your path has no drainage. Oops! "It was ugly," she recalls. "Within a week my beautiful flowers rotted into mush. I drowned everything."

Mendez, 33, learned her lesson: Always make sure flower beds have proper drainage. These days she's a full-fledged gardener at Bellagio, another Las Vegas megahotel, tending to 16.6 acres of green space.

MASTERS OF GREENERY

Flowers to fertilizer, tropical plants to trees, vegetables to vegetation: Horticulturists know their plants. These masters of greenery often develop new plants that have an improved appearance, resist disease, or grow well in different climates and soils. Some work in garden centers, commercial nurseries, or botanic gardens. Others create amazing landscapes or floral designs. Still others maintain golf courses or athletic playing fields. Many own their own businesses.

Horticulture is a job area in which you can do well with a high school education. But those wishing to jump on the fast track usually enroll in a two-year associate degree program at a community college.

"A degree in horticultural technology (HT) doesn't guarantee success, but it does open opportunities," notes Bryce Lane of the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University. "A high school graduate might struggle to make a living as a laborer--planting shrubs or mowing grass. That two- or four-year degree gives you the education and training to be competitive."

A blend of theory and practice, an HT education provides an excellent foundation in the basics of plant growth and development, pest management, landscape design, fruit and vegetable production, and greenhouse operations. Classroom time is balanced with hands-on activities, such as working in nurseries, propagation beds, demonstration gardens, and arboretums and sometimes on farms.

STAKE A FUTURE IN THE FIELD

As a student, Lane worked at a garden center loading cars and potting plants. "It's all about getting the experience," he says. "This is a career where you want to get your hands dirty before delving into the science."

So if you like making things grow, horticultural technology is definitely a place to grow a career. Baby boomers have plenty of disposable income. And guess what? They're spending a lot of it on plants, flowers, trees, and services to keep those lawns and gardens green and thriving.

That means greenhouses need workers capable of overseeing the production (sometimes 40,000 at a time) of houseplants, roses, shrubs, or holiday plants like poinsettias to supply garden centers. In turn, garden centers hire knowledgeable workers to sell plants to the public. Landscape contractors and lawn maintenance services need crew supervisors. Florists want skilled designers to arrange bouquets, wreaths, and centerpieces.

The average starting salary for horticulturists is $8 to $10 per hour. Managers or supervisors can make $10 to $20 per hour plus benefits. The national median salary for a greenhouse manager is $36,000. And if golf or football is your game, remember that someone has to keep all those putting greens and end zones in shape. Turf managers can earn $40,000 and up.

HOW ONE CAREER GREW

Mark Smith, 44, mowed his first lawn at age 11. He earned $2 for three hours' work--not exactly a great return for the effort--and realized he loved working with grass, plants, and trees. After he graduated from high school, a new lawn and landscaping company hired him as its first fulltime employee. By the time he left the company 16 years later, Smith was vice president and general manager. Today he owns Environmental Landscape Inc., a 60-employee company that provides landscaping services to businesses and apartment complexes in Charlotte, N.C.

"As I maintained lawns, I paid attention to the different shrubs, trees, and flowers that were susceptible to insects, heat, or too much moisture," he says. "I went to nurseries and spent hours looking at all the plants. Even now I read industry magazines and attend conferences."

THE HT EDGE

Though this self-taught garden guru never finished college, Smith admits he's more willing to hire people with a bit of horticultural technology under their belt. "Having that HT degree can compress the time it takes you to move into a position of responsibility. It says to me you have a real interest in the field," he explains.

Mendez credits her HT classes with helping elevate her to a supervisory role and, perhaps, a landscape design position. In fact, her employer requires career-track workers to take horticulture classes on their own time. Mendez has studied propagation, irrigation, and other fundamentals at a local community college.

"Flowers, trees, soil, and grass ... you have to learn about how they all grow," she says. "How much water do they need to survive? What will bloom in the desert? My area at the hotel has a lot of grass, so I want to study turf management."