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Date: 10/06/2025

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.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Follow planned landscaping designs to determine where to lay sod, sow grass, or plant flowers or foliage.
    • Rake, mulch, and compost leaves.
    • Mix and spray or spread fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides onto grass, shrubs, or trees, using hand or automatic sprayers or spreaders.
    • Plant seeds, bulbs, foliage, flowering plants, grass, ground covers, trees, or shrubs, and apply mulch for protection, using gardening tools.
    • Advise customers on plant selection or care.
    • Prune or trim trees, shrubs, or hedges, using shears, pruners, or chain saws.
    • Use hand tools, such as shovels, rakes, pruning saws, saws, hedge or brush trimmers, or axes.
    • Trim or pick flowers and clean flower beds.
    • Decorate gardens with stones or plants.
    • Water lawns, trees, or plants, using portable sprinkler systems, hoses, or watering cans.
    • Maintain irrigation systems, including winterizing the systems and starting them up in spring.
    • Mix and spray or spread fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides onto grass, shrubs, or trees, using hand or automatic sprayers or spreaders.
    • Mow or edge lawns, using power mowers or edgers.
    • Maintain or repair tools, equipment, or structures, such as buildings, greenhouses, fences, or benches, using hand or power tools.
    • Plant seeds, bulbs, foliage, flowering plants, grass, ground covers, trees, or shrubs, and apply mulch for protection, using gardening tools.
    • Plan or cultivate lawns or gardens.
    • Build forms and mix and pour cement to form garden borders.
    • Build forms and mix and pour cement to form garden borders.
    • Shovel snow from walks, driveways, or parking lots, and spread salt in those areas.
    • Operate vehicles or powered equipment, such as mowers, tractors, twin-axle vehicles, snow blowers, chainsaws, electric clippers, sod cutters, or pruning saws.
    • Trim or pick flowers and clean flower beds.
    • Use irrigation methods to adjust the amount of water consumption and to prevent waste.
    • Prune or trim trees, shrubs, or hedges, using shears, pruners, or chain saws.
    • Install rock gardens, ponds, decks, drainage systems, irrigation systems, retaining walls, fences, planters, or playground equipment.
    • Gather and remove litter.
    • Care for artificial turf fields, periodically removing the turf and replacing cushioning pads or vacuuming and disinfecting the turf after use to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.
    • Attach wires from planted trees to support stakes.
    • Mix and spray or spread fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides onto grass, shrubs, or trees, using hand or automatic sprayers or spreaders.
    • Operate vehicles or powered equipment, such as mowers, tractors, twin-axle vehicles, snow blowers, chainsaws, electric clippers, sod cutters, or pruning saws.
    • Care for natural turf fields, making sure the underlying soil has the required composition to allow proper drainage and to support the grasses.
    • Haul or spread topsoil, or spread straw over seeded soil to hold soil in place.
    • Care for established lawns by mulching, aerating, weeding, grubbing, removing thatch, or trimming or edging around flower beds, walks, or walls.
    • Mow or edge lawns, using power mowers or edgers.

    Skills

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    3
    Workplace Documents
    4
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    Knowledge

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 37240/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 17.9/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 42,650
    • Yearly Projected Openings 5470

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Attention to Detail
    • Integrity
    • Cooperation
    • Self Control
    • Dependability
    • Achievement/Effort

    Tools

    • Adjustable widemouth pliers
    • Adjustable wrenches
    • Agricultural tractors
    • All terrain vehicles tracked or wheeled
    • Axes
    • Backhoes
    • Cable reels
    • Cargo trucks
    • Concrete mixers or plants
    • Cultivators
    • Draglines
    • Dump trucks
    • Ear clamps
    • Ear plugs
    • Fertilizer spreaders or distributors
    • Forestry saws
    • Forklifts
    • Front end loaders
    • Garden forks
    • Gas generators
    • Gas welding or brazing or cutting apparatus
    • Goggles
    • Graders or land levelers
    • Grinding wheels
    • Hammers
    • Hand sprayers
    • Handheld thermometer
    • Harrows
    • Hedge clippers
    • Hoes
    • Hydraulic truck cranes
    • Ladders
    • Lawnmowers
    • Levels
    • Measuring wheels for distance
    • Paint sprayers
    • Pallet trucks
    • Picks
    • Pipe or tube cutter
    • Power blowers
    • Power chippers
    • Power drills
    • Power saws
    • Power trimmers
    • Precision file
    • Protective gloves
    • Rakes
    • Rollers for lawn or sports grounds
    • Rubber mallet
    • Saws
    • Screwdrivers
    • Scrubbing machines
    • Secateurs or pruning shears
    • Seeder attachment
    • Shielded metal arc welding or stick welding machine
    • Shovels
    • Snow blowers
    • Snowplow attachments
    • Sockets
    • Soil core sampling apparatus
    • Spades
    • Sprayers
    • Squeegees or washers
    • Stencils or lettering aids
    • Tape measures
    • Tarpaulins
    • Trowels
    • Water pumps
    • Water sprinklers
    • Weeders
    • Wheel loaders

    Technology

    • Electronic mail software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Web page creation and editing software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

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