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About Horticulture
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Average Salaries
Horticulture workers may earn between $37,000 and $71,000 per year
Turn your love of plans and gardens into an exciting, hands-on new career by studying a horticulture course.
Learn how to grow your own food, get out in nature, and build in-demand skills for a hands-on career by studying a horticulture course.
Horticulture is the science or art of cultivating plants. By studying a horticulture course you’ll build specialised practical skills in a broad range of areas relating to the successful cultivation of plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables, and broader protection of vital natural resources. You’ll learn how to identify and diagnose problems in plants, develop soil and nutrition programs for treating plants, how to use tools and machinery related to plant care, and, if you choose, you may also study the business of horticultural management.
You’ll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the natural world and learn critical skills for its protection and conservation. Bu studying a horticulture course, you’ll build the critical knowledge and skills needed to make a real difference in the protection of our most vital natural resources.
The study of horticulture covers five separate disciplines, and you may study all in a horticulture course. You will study floriculture, the study of flowers; landscape horticulture, for a career in landscape gardening; olericulture and pomology, the study of fruit and vegetables; and post-harvest physiology, to understand and manage the way product is handled after harvest.
You may choose to apply the skills and knowledge you learn in a horticulture course to your own garden or small plot, or seek employment in the horticultural sector after completing your course. You may study a horticulture course as a certificate or diploma course.
If you’re passionate about the natural world, curious about the way it works and committed to using your skills to protect and conserve it, studying a horticulture course is your next career step.
What do horticulture graduates do?
After completing a horticulture course, you’ll likely work as a horticulturalist, performing tasks such as:
- Preparing and maintaining garden beds and growing sites;
- Propagating and planting trees, bushes, hedges, flowers and bulbs;
- Preparing lawn areas by planting grass and spreading topsoil and turf;
- Maintaining planted and grassed areas by weeding, trimming, fertilising, watering and mowing;
- Pruning trees and hedges;
- Lopping, pruning, spraying and dusting plants;
- Producing and distributing compost and fertiliser;
- Planning, drawing, preparing and constructing landscape areas;
- Organising and conducting food production operations, such as collecting, storing, grading and packaging produce, and organising its sale and dispatch;
- Directing and managing general horticulture operations, including managing staff and business requirements, including production and resource preparation; and
- Contributing to horticulture discussion and policy, including writing reports and submissions and attending panels, workshops and discussions.
Career Outcomes
Career Outcomes
After completing a horticulture course, you’ll likely work in a role addressing issues including plant cultivation and conservation, natural resource management and planning, environmental protection and conservation, and food security and related issues. You may choose to work in a private nursery or garden, or for a government department or non-government organisation.
After completing a horticulture course, you’ll be qualified to work as a:
Is horticulture right for you?
You’ll enjoy working in horticulture if you:
- Enjoy practical work
- Are passionate about the environment
- Are curious
- Are patient
- Enjoy problem-solving
- Are organised and efficient
- Want a career outdoors
- Work well with details
- Enjoy planning
- Enjoy repetitive work
- Want a meaningful and rewarding career
- Want to make a difference
Job opportunities
The Australian Government’s Job Outlook identifies the horticulture profession and a medium-sized and relatively stable industry in Australia. Currently employing approximately 13,600 people, it is likely to grow slightly to employ approximately 13,700 people by 2020. Job opportunities in the industry have remained constant over the last decade, and are available in most areas of Australia.
Average Salaries
According to PayScale, a horticulturalist can expect to earn on average between $37,000 per year and $71,000 per year, with an average annual salary of approximately $49,000. PayScale observes that earning capacity remains reasonably steady throughout a horticulturalist’s career, with entry-level practitioners earning comparative wages to more experienced horticulturalists.
PayScale notes that approximately 15 percent of horticulturalists have more than 20 years of professional experience, indicating that it’s relatively common for people to remain in this profession for the duration of their career.