Landscape maintenance (or groundskeeping) is the art and vocation of keeping a landscape healthy, clean, safe and attractive, typically in a

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

, institutional setting or estate. Using

tools A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

, supplies, knowledge, physical exertion and skills, a

groundskeeper Groundskeeping is the activity of tending an area of land for aesthetic or functional purposes, typically in an institutional setting. It includes mowing grass, trimming hedges, pulling weeds, planting flowers, etc. The U.S. Department of Labor e ...

may plan or carry out annual plantings and harvestings, periodic weeding and fertilizing, other

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

, lawn care,

snow removal Snow removal or snow clearing is the job of removing snow after a snowfall to make travel easier and safer. This is done by both individual households and by governments and institutions. De-icing and anti-icing De-icing is defined as removal ...

, driveway and path maintenance, shrub

pruning Pruning is a horticultural, arboricultural, and silvicultural practice involving the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. The practice entails the ''targeted'' removal of diseased, damaged, dead, ...

topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

, lighting,

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

, swimming pool care, runoff drainage, and

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

, and other jobs for protecting and improving the

topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic matt ...

plants Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

, and garden accessories. Groundskeepers may also deal with local animals (including birds, rodents, reptiles, insects, and domestic animals or

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...

s), and create means to attract or repel them, as desired or necessary. A garden may also be designed to include exotic animals, such as a

koi pond Koi ponds are ponds used for holding koi carp, usually as part of a garden. Koi ponds can be designed specifically to promote health and growth of the Nishikigoi or Japanese Ornamental Carp. Koi ponds or lakes are a traditional feature of Japa ...

. In larger estates, groundskeepers may be responsible for providing and maintaining habitat for wild animals.

Landscape maintenance industry

According to IBISWorld, who published an article in September 2019 on the Landscape Industry in the US, the Landscaping Industry is worth $98.8 billion. From 2014-2019, the industry had an annual growth of 4.4%, but it is estimated that from 2019- 2024 the industry will decrease to only a 1.5% annual growth. The Industry is suspected to have a 1.2% growth in the number or businesses and low entry barriers for new companies. Due to the continuous and stead growth of this industry, competition for new businesses is high. In May 2017, the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics ( BLS ), estimated that 912,360 "Landscape and Groundskeeping Workers" maintained jobs under this job title. These workers have an average annual pay of $29,700 paired with an mean hourly wage of about $14.28. These jobs hold a variety of hourly rates ranging from $9.59, which equals an annual pay of $19,960 a year, to $20.61, which holds an annual pay of $42,870. The exact description of this job can change solely based on the company that has posted the job description, but according to the BLS, " 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." The BLS also claims that this job title excludes "Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse (45-2092)." Demand for landscaping and pool installation work increased during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

due to the increased number of

remote work Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...

ers spending time in their homes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landscape Maintenance Landscape architecture

Landscape maintenance industry

See also

References