Occupation

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

Human Advantage 73%

Significant human skills needed

AI Automation Risk Low Risk
2.1 / 10

This occupation requires complex human judgment, social interaction, and creative problem-solving that are difficult to automate.

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.

Also Known As: Arborist Crew Leader, Buildings and Grounds Supervisor, Cemetery Workers Supervisor, Field Manager, Gardening Manager, Gardening Supervisor, Golf Course Manager, Golf Course Superintendent +34 more

Video

Core Tasks

  1. Establish and enforce operating procedures and work standards that will ensure adequate performance and personnel safety.
  2. Schedule work for crews, depending on work priorities, crew or equipment availability, or weather conditions.
  3. Tour grounds, such as parks, botanical gardens, cemeteries, or golf courses, to inspect conditions of plants and soil.
  4. Monitor project activities to ensure that instructions are followed, deadlines are met, and schedules are maintained.
  5. Direct activities of workers who perform duties, such as landscaping, cultivating lawns, or pruning trees and shrubs.
  6. Inspect completed work to ensure conformance to specifications, standards, and contract requirements.
  7. Plant or maintain vegetation through activities such as mulching, fertilizing, watering, mowing, or pruning.
  8. Direct or perform mixing or application of fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, or fungicides.
  9. Train workers in tasks such as transplanting or pruning trees or shrubs, finishing cement, using equipment, or caring for turf.
  10. Prepare service estimates based on labor, material, and machine costs and maintain budgets for individual projects.
  11. Identify diseases or pests affecting landscaping and order appropriate treatments.
  12. Inventory supplies of tools, equipment, or materials to ensure that sufficient supplies are available and items are in usable condition.
  13. Maintain required records, such as personnel information or project records.
  14. Perform personnel-related activities, such as hiring workers, evaluating staff performance, or taking disciplinary actions when performance problems occur.
  15. Provide workers with assistance in performing duties as necessary to meet deadlines.
  16. Prepare or maintain required records, such as work activity or personnel reports.
  17. Investigate work-related complaints to verify problems and to determine responses.
  18. Perform administrative duties, such as authorizing leaves or processing time sheets.
  19. Confer with other supervisors to coordinate work activities with those of other departments or units.
  20. Direct or assist workers engaged in the maintenance or repair of equipment, such as power tools or motorized equipment.
  21. Review contracts or work assignments to determine service, machine, or workforce requirements for jobs.
  22. Order the performance of corrective work when problems occur and recommend procedural changes to avoid such problems.
  23. Confer with managers or landscape architects to develop plans or schedules for landscaping maintenance or improvement.
  24. Recommend changes in working conditions or equipment used to increase crew efficiency.
  25. Answer inquiries from current or prospective customers regarding methods, materials, or price ranges.
  26. Install or maintain landscaped areas, performing tasks such as removing snow, pouring cement curbs, or repairing sidewalks.
  27. Design or supervise the installation of sprinkler systems, calculating water pressure, or valve and pipe coverage needs.

Supplemental Tasks (1)

  1. Negotiate with customers regarding fees for landscaping, lawn service, or groundskeeping work.

Emerging Tasks

New and evolving responsibilities for this role:

  • Repair irrigation systems.

Education & Training

Job Zone 3 Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Education: Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Experience: Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
On-the-Job Training: Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Education Level Distribution

Percentage of workers in this occupation with each education level.

Bachelor's Degree
32%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
20%
Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)
14%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)
13%
Some College Courses
10%
Post-Master's Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master's degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.
6%
Less than a High School Diploma
4%

Technology & Tools

Hot Technologies

  • Facebook
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word

Software (9)

  • Inventory management software
  • Payroll software
  • Work order software

Tools & Equipment (59)

  • Adjustable hand wrenches
  • Adjustable widemouth pliers
  • Bed shapers
  • Brick cutters
  • Bucket trucks
  • Chainsaws
  • Claw hammers
  • Cordless drills
  • Desktop computers
  • Dump trucks
  • Equipment trailers
  • Farm tractors
  • Fertilizer spreaders
  • Forklifts
  • Garden spades
  • Gardening hoes
  • Gardening shovels
  • Grease guns
  • Hand saws
  • Hedge trimmers
  • Herbicide sprayers
  • Insecticide sprayers
  • Landscape rakes
  • Laser levels
  • Lawn sprinklers
  • Leaf blowers
  • Leaf rakes
  • Light pickup trucks
  • Mattocks
  • Measuring wheels
  • Multi-line telephone systems
  • Outdoor vacuums
  • Personal computers
  • Phillips head screwdrivers
  • Pick axes
  • Pitchforks
  • Pressure washers
  • Pruning saws
  • Push mowers
  • Rakes
  • Riding mowers
  • Rototillers
  • Seed distributors
  • Sidewalk sweepers
  • Skid steer loaders
  • Skip loaders
  • Snowplows
  • Socket wrench sets
  • Spades
  • Straight screwdrivers
  • String trimmers
  • Tractor disc attachments
  • Tractor mowing decks
  • Tractors with backhoe attachments
  • Trenchers
  • Two way radios
  • Weed whackers
  • Wheel loaders
  • Wheelbarrows

Where This Career Leads

Career progression organized by specialty track and experience level.

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