GROWING A Career.

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Author: Daily, Laura

Flowers to fertilizer, tropical plants to trees, vegetables to vegetation: Horticulturists know their plants. These masters of greenery often develop new plants that have an improved appearance, resist disease, or grow well in different climates and soils. Some work in garden centers, commercial nurseries, or botanic gardens. Others create amazing landscapes or floral designs. Still others maintain golf courses or athletic playing fields. Many own their own businesses.

Horticulture is a job area in which you can do well with a high school education. But those wishing to jump on the fast track usually enroll in a two-year associate degree program at a community college.

"A degree in horticultural technology (HT) doesn't guarantee success, but it does open opportunities," notes Bryce Lane of the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University. "A high school graduate might struggle to make a living as a laborer--planting shrubs or mowing grass. That two- or four-year degree gives you the education and training to be competitive."

A blend of theory and practice, an HT education provides an excellent foundation in the basics of plant growth and development, pest management, landscape design, fruit and vegetable production, and greenhouse operations. Classroom time is balanced with hands-on activities, such as working in nurseries, propagation beds, demonstration gardens, and arboretums and sometimes on farms.

As a student, Lane worked at a garden center loading cars and potting plants. "It's all about getting the experience," he says. "This is a career where you want to get your hands dirty before delving into the science."

So if you like making things grow, horticultural technology is definitely a place to grow a career. Baby boomers have plenty of disposable income. And guess what? They're spending a lot of it on plants, flowers, trees, and services to keep those lawns and gardens green and thriving.

That means greenhouses need workers capable of overseeing the production (sometimes 40,000 at a time) of houseplants, roses, shrubs, or holiday plants like poinsettias to supply garden centers. In turn, garden centers hire knowledgeable workers to sell plants to the public. Landscape contractors and lawn maintenance services need crew supervisors. Florists want skilled designers to arrange bouquets, wreaths, and centerpieces.

The average starting salary for horticulturists is $8 to $10 per hour. Managers or supervisors can make $10 to $20 per hour plus benefits. The national median salary for a greenhouse manager is $36,000. And if golf or football is your game, remember that someone has to keep all those putting greens and end zones in shape. Turf managers can earn $40,000 and up.

Mark Smith, 44, mowed his first lawn at age 11. He earned $2 for three hours' work--not exactly a great return for the effort--and realized he loved working with grass, plants, and trees. After he graduated from high school, a new lawn and landscaping company hired him as its first fulltime employee. By the time he left the company 16 years later, Smith was vice president and general manager. Today he owns Environmental Landscape Inc., a 60-employee company that provides landscaping services to businesses and apartment complexes in Charlotte, N.C.

"As I maintained lawns, I paid attention to the different shrubs, trees, and flowers that were susceptible to insects, heat, or too much moisture," he says. "I went to nurseries and spent hours looking at all the plants. Even now I read industry magazines and attend conferences."

Though this self-taught garden guru never finished college, Smith admits he's more willing to hire people with a bit of horticultural technology under their belt. "Having that HT degree can compress the time it takes you to move into a position of responsibility. It says to me you have a real interest in the field," he explains.

Mendez credits her HT classes with helping elevate her to a supervisory role and, perhaps, a landscape design position. In fact, her employer requires career-track workers to take horticulture classes on their own time. Mendez has studied propagation, irrigation, and other fundamentals at a local community college.

"Flowers, trees, soil, and grass … you have to learn about how they all grow," she says. "How much water do they need to survive? What will bloom in the desert? My area at the hotel has a lot of grass, so I want to study turf management."

Mendez's day starts at 5 a.m. with rounds of the hotel grounds. One day her crew might pick up fallen pine needles; another, prune broken branches or wilting flowers. Sod is installed once a week, and lawns are mowed every seven to 10 days. On occasion, an area needs to be replanted, giving Mendez the opportunity to pitch her own designs.

And there's a lot of planting. The hotel's horticulture department orders more than 1 million flowers per year.

"For a while I worked in the hotel's indoor botanical garden, but I'm an outdoor person," she says. "I like climbing trees, planting foliage, and getting dirty. It's wonderful to watch things grow."

Though horticultural technology is all about plants, people skills count too. Whether you oversee a groundskeeping crew or help customers decide between daisies and dahlias, horticulturists rarely work alone.

If you like physical activity and nurturing things, are intrigued by plants, and enjoy the outdoors, then consider horticulture. It's a career that just keeps growing.

Get your hands dirty. That's good advice for anyone considering a career in horticulture. One place to dig around for experience is in a community garden. Bare lots, sometimes right in the heart of a busy city, are transformed into thriving minifarms, growing everything from corn and collard greens to peppers and pumpkins. At some, a handful of green thumbs tend the entire garden; at others, each gardener rents a plot and is provided access to tools, compost, and expert advice. And with more than 10,000 community gardens in the United States, odds are one is close enough to provide fertile ground for developing some gardening skills.

While many community gardens are simple setups, others are big operations where high school students gain valuable horticultural and entrepreneurial skills. For example, Chicago's Green Youth Farm, an eight-week summer apprenticeship program run by the Chicago Botanic Garden, introduces teens to horticulture, agriculture, and the "green" industry. Not only do students weed, water, plant, and harvest fruits, vegetables, and herbs, but they also sell their crops at a farmer's market.

By working in urban gardens, high school students learn how to grow their own food from seed to table as part of the Green Teen Community Gardening program in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The kids also make and sell more than 1,000 bottles each of their own salsa and barbecue sauce as part of a youth-run business venture.

To locate a community garden near you, go to www.communitygarden.org.

PHOTO (COLOR): High school students at the Chicago Botanic Garden harvest cabbages for market.

PHOTO (COLOR): Iris Mendez makes the garden grow at a hotel in Las Vegas.

PHOTO (COLOR): Students weed the pumpkin patch of the Green Youth Farm at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

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By Laura Daily