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Career Details

37-1012.00 - First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers


Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in landscaping or groundskeeping activities. Work may involve reviewing contracts to ascertain service, machine, and workforce requirements; answering inquiries from potential customers regarding methods, material, and price ranges; and preparing estimates according to labor, material, and machine costs.


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
178,000
Estimate
Forecasted Employment
187,400
Estimate
Change in Employment
+9,400
Estimate
Change in Employment %
+5.3%
Estimate
Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • Establish and enforce operating procedures and work standards that will ensure adequate performance and personnel safety.
  • Inspect completed work to ensure conformance to specifications, standards, and contract requirements.
  • Direct activities of workers who perform duties, such as landscaping, cultivating lawns, or pruning trees and shrubs.
  • Schedule work for crews, depending on work priorities, crew or equipment availability, or weather conditions.
  • Plant or maintain vegetation through activities such as mulching, fertilizing, watering, mowing, or pruning.
  • Monitor project activities to ensure that instructions are followed, deadlines are met, and schedules are maintained.
  • Train workers in tasks such as transplanting or pruning trees or shrubs, finishing cement, using equipment, or caring for turf.
  • Provide workers with assistance in performing duties as necessary to meet deadlines.
  • Inventory supplies of tools, equipment, or materials to ensure that sufficient supplies are available and items are in usable condition.
  • Confer with other supervisors to coordinate work activities with those of other departments or units.
  • Perform personnel-related activities, such as hiring workers, evaluating staff performance, or taking disciplinary actions when performance problems occur.
  • Direct or perform mixing or application of fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, or fungicides.
  • Review contracts or work assignments to determine service, machine, or workforce requirements for jobs.
  • Maintain required records, such as personnel information or project records.
  • Prepare or maintain required records, such as work activity or personnel reports.
  • Order the performance of corrective work when problems occur and recommend procedural changes to avoid such problems.
  • Identify diseases or pests affecting landscaping and order appropriate treatments.
  • Investigate work-related complaints to verify problems and to determine responses.
  • Direct or assist workers engaged in the maintenance or repair of equipment, such as power tools or motorized equipment.
  • Install or maintain landscaped areas, performing tasks such as removing snow, pouring cement curbs, or repairing sidewalks.
  • Perform administrative duties, such as authorizing leaves or processing time sheets.
  • Recommend changes in working conditions or equipment used to increase crew efficiency.
  • Confer with managers or landscape architects to develop plans or schedules for landscaping maintenance or improvement.
  • Answer inquiries from current or prospective customers regarding methods, materials, or price ranges.
  • Prepare service estimates based on labor, material, and machine costs and maintain budgets for individual projects.
  • Tour grounds, such as parks, botanical gardens, cemeteries, or golf courses, to inspect conditions of plants and soil.
  • Design or supervise the installation of sprinkler systems, calculating water pressure, or valve and pipe coverage needs.
Supplemental
  • Negotiate with customers regarding fees for landscaping, lawn service, or groundskeeping work.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 Customer and Personal Service
  • 80%
    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.
 English Language
  • 78%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Administration and Management
  • 77%
    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.
 Mathematics
  • 74%
    Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
 Public Safety and Security
  • 74%
    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.
 Personnel and Human Resources
  • 70%
    Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
 Mechanical
  • 69%
    Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
 Education and Training
  • 66%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 Chemistry
  • 65%
    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.
 Building and Construction
  • 64%
    Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
 Design
  • 61%
    Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
 Clerical
  • 61%
    Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 60%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 Biology
  • 59%
    Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
 Psychology
  • 57%
    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.
 Law and Government
  • 55%
    Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
 Geography
  • 55%
    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.
 Production and Processing
  • 54%
    Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
 Engineering and Technology
  • 54%
    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.
 Transportation
  • 53%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Wrenches and drivers
  • Adjustable hand wrenches
  • Phillips head screwdrivers
  • Socket wrench sets
  • Straight screwdrivers
 Holding and clamping tools
  • Adjustable widemouth pliers
 Agricultural machinery for soil preparation
  • Bed shapers
  • Rototillers
  • Tractor disc attachments
 Aerial lifts
  • Bucket trucks
 Power tools
  • Chainsaws
  • Cordless drills
  • Leaf blowers
  • String trimmers
 Forming tools
  • Claw hammers
  • Mattocks
 Computers
  • Desktop computers
  • Personal computers
 Dispersing and spraying appliances for agriculture
  • Fertilizer spreaders
  • Herbicide sprayers
  • Lawn sprinklers
 Agriculture, forestry and garden handtools
  • Garden spades
  • Gardening hoes
  • Gardening shovels
  • Hedge trimmers
  • Landscape rakes
  • Leaf rakes
  • Pick axes
  • Pitchforks
  • Push mowers
  • Rakes
  • Riding mowers
  • Spades
  • Weed whackers
 Dispensing tools
  • Grease guns
  • Insecticide sprayers
 Passenger motor vehicles
  • Light pickup trucks
 Personal communication devices
  • Multi-line telephone systems
  • Two way radios
 Floor machines and accessories
  • Outdoor vacuums
  • Sidewalk sweepers
 Cleaning equipment
  • Pressure washers
 Earth moving machinery
  • Skid steer loaders
  • Skip loaders
  • Tractors with backhoe attachments
  • Trenchers
  • Wheel loaders
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Content authoring and editing software
  • FacebookHOT
  • Microsoft ExcelHOT
  • Microsoft PowerPointHOT
  • Microsoft WordHOT
 Business function specific software
  • Inventory management software
  • Microsoft OfficeHOT
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
 Specialty
 Advanced
 Core
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Online Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

Clicking on the Degree programs in the list below will take you away from the Careers page.
INSTITUTION
PROGRAMS
Mountain Empire Community College
Southside Virginia Community College