Horticulture
GREEN CAREERS
No Two Days the Same scotland.lantra.co.uk
Why work in Horticulture? Horticulture is the growing and harvesting of plants, but it is also so much more. It can be about how we grow the food we eat, how we want our landscapes to look, and how we engage with the natural world.
With the global population estimated to increase 29% by 2050, horticulture will play an increasingly important role in ensuring we have enough food, but in less space. The UK relies heavily on getting food from elsewhere, with 40% of vegetables and 84% of fruit imported. Would you like to help the industry improve on this and lower our future food miles? Climate change will affect horticultural production in Scotland too, but will vary across the country, with soil, crop type and management. Resources like water and nutrients may become limited in some regions, making it more difficult to grow certain crops. In other areas, we might see more wind, rain and higher temperatures. All of these things help decide how successful horticultural plants are going to be, and the scale of their impact changes with the climate.
The horticulture industry makes a big contribution to the Scottish economy and local communities. It is also one of the most advanced within the UK, with lots of research and development taking place into using the latest technology. All this work is creating huge job opportunities for people who are passionate about plants and wanting to help grow solutions to challenges.
For example, in some regions, different types of weather throughout the year might affecting the ways in which plants flower and fruit. Elsewhere, these plants may actually do better as a result of less frost damage and longer growing seasons. However, new pests and pathogens could appear in areas where the climate prevented them from doing so before.
How do I get started?
Be part of the solution! Whichever route you prefer, the development of new technologies and our increasing understanding of climate change are resulting in a demand for new people from a wide variety of backgrounds to work in horticulture. Whether you are interested in growing food that is safe and nutritious, without damaging our natural environment, or if you are keen to create beautiful landscapes and green spaces and bringing them to life whilst creating a wide range of natural habitats, then horticulture could be for you!
2,900+ There are over 2,900 garden centre businesses in the UK, employing over 64,000 people
£
There are hundreds of pathways into Horticulture. Some require advanced training and education such as a degree or PhD; others require short course certification or on-the-job training, while others are through apprenticeships and traineeships. Speak to your local college or training provider or look at jobs available in your area to get an idea of what qualifications employers are looking for. See contact details on back page. There’s lots of demand for new entrants across these areas, and many different pathways into the industry. Horticulture is always changing, with advances in pest control, growing techniques, machinery and cultivation. There are opportunities for everyone!
5 billion+
The UK horticulture industry is worth over £5 billion each year, and generates thousands of career opportunities
200,000 A top quality football pitch contains 150-200,000 leaf blades in every square metre. Each one of them needs skilled care and attention
Horticulture Career Options
Here are some of the jobs you could be doing in our industry.
// PRESERVING NATIVE HABITATS, TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE
// GROWING SAFE AND NUTRITIOUS FOOD
Botanist Biologist Ecologist Habitat Restoration Scientist Horticulturist Plant Geographer Urban Planner Weed and Invasive Plant Scientist
Grower Hydroponics Specialist Plant Breeder Plant Propagator
Soil Specialist Agronomist Culinary Horticulturist Food Scientist
// CREATING BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES AND SPACES Floriculturist Gardener Green Space Officer Horticulturist
Hydrologist Landscape Designer Nursery Owner Public Garden Worker
Routes into a Career in Horticulture
Depending on your current skills and experience, you could enter at different levels.
JOB LEVEL
SENIOR ROLES
SUPERVISORY ROLES
SUPERVISED ROLES
SCQF LEVEL
TRAINING AND COURSES
12
Doctorate
11
Masters | Graduate Apprenticeship
10
Honours Degree | Graduate Apprenticeship
9
Degree | Graduate Apprenticeship
8
Advanced Diploma: Golf Management | HND Garden Design | HND Horticulture HND Horticulture with Plantmanship | HND Golf Course Management Graduate Apprenticeship
7
Advanced Certificate: Golf Course Management | HNC Horticulture HNC Garden Design | HNC Landscape Management | HNC Golf Course Management
6
Highers | NPA Local Food Production | Land-based Workplace Skills Award Foundation Apprenticeship | Modern Apprenticeship | Scottish Vocational Qualification
5
NC Greenkeeping | NC Horticulture | NPA Rural Skills | Scottish Vocational Qualification NC Horticulture with Landscape Construction | Modern Apprenticeship Land-based Workplace Skills Award | Certificate in Estate Skills NC Horticulture with Horticulture Therapy NQ Landscape Design Construction and Management
4
NC Introduction to Horticulure | NPA Horticulture | NC Rural Skills NC Greenkeeping: An Introduction | Skills for Work: Rural Skills Land-based Workplace Skills Award | Land-based Studies Certificate Introduction to Gardening and Horticulture Skills
3
Access to Land-based Industries
Making a difference
Lee McPherson:
Natalie McCall:
There’s something quite therapeutic about working as a gardener because nature has such a healing quality. It’s really rewarding to spend pretty much every day of the year outside, working with the squad and the plants to improve the areas that we cover.
Therapeutic horticulture helps people to improve their wellbeing by gardening and there are around 500 groups involved across Scotland, connected by a charity called Trellis. Although people have appreciated the health benefits of gardening for centuries, the profession in its modern form is only just emerging.
Qualified Gardener
We have a pretty wide-ranging role at the Council, including designing, planting and maintaining the flower beds so they look beautiful for the people of East Lothian and all our visitors.
Therapeutic Horticulture Practitioner
Doing all the work to create a new planting area is really exciting, especially when so many people are going to see it.
Therapeutic gardening practitioners work in care homes, hospitals, day centres, schools, rehabilitation centres and community gardens. You need an understanding of accessible garden design and to have a creative approach towards adapting traditional tools and techniques to suit people’s individual health needs.
“I love answering people’s questions about horticulture because you feel you’re making a difference”
“You need to enjoy working with people to help them get maximum benefit from their gardening”
Sustainability is much more important to us now, so we’re starting to use different types of plants. This helps us tackle climate change while saving money and water, and is better for insects and wildlife too.
While you do need horticulture skills, it’s also important to know about health and care principles and practice.
When we’re busy planting in May and June, I can be managing a team of 7, but also enjoy working with local volunteers who prepare the town for the Beautiful Scotland and RHS Britain in Bloom awards. We’ve actually won Gold in our category every year, which I think’s pretty impressive. I get huge satisfaction from looking back at the end of the day and seeing healthy, beautiful plants in tidy beds and thinking, “I helped create that!”
My job is so rewarding as it’s full of opportunities to support a diverse range of people, project partners and places, through designing, developing and managing social and therapeutic gardens and programmes. If you want a career that enables you to help people connect more deeply to nature, each other and themselves, therapeutic gardening is a fabulous choice.
Photo Credits: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Martin P McAdam, Kirsty Wilson, Scottish Rugby/SNS Images
Find out more For information on training and qualifications available, email scotland@lantra.co.uk or call 01738 310 164. www.scotland.lantra.co.uk www.myworldofwork.co.uk @lantrascotland @lantrascotland @lantra.scotland
GREEN CAREERS
Lantra in Scotland is supported by the Scottish Government Updated October 2022