How To Become A Garden Center Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a garden center associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a garden center associate. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.05 an hour? That's $33,394 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 0% and produce 1,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreGarden Center AssociateUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,394

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

6.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.70%

Asian 5.79%

Black or African American 11.37%

Hispanic or Latino 15.40%

Unknown 5.51%

White 61.23%

Gender

female 40.66%

male 59.34%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.5

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.5

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a garden center associate

Explore garden center associate education requirements

Most common garden center associate degrees

High School Diploma

36.3 %

Bachelor's

28.4 %

Associate

21.6 %

Start to develop specific garden center associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	18.91%
Product Knowledge	10.92%
Pallets	8.32%
Sales Floor	8.19%
Water Plants	6.64%

Complete relevant garden center associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New garden center associates learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a garden center associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real garden center associate resumes.

Research garden center associate duties and responsibilities

Participate in ordering of all nursery stock and managing inventory.
Assist in troubleshoot problems and educate customers on their cell phones and plans.
Recommend customers to home depot tool protection plan to make repairs beyond manufacturer warranty.
Care for plants, loaded/unload pallets, cashier, handle money, put together lawn furniture

Prepare your garden center associate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your garden center associate resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a garden center associate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable garden center associate resume templates

Build a professional garden center associate resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your garden center associate resume.

Apply for garden center associate jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a garden center associate job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do garden center associates rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

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1 star

Garden center associate reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2023

Pros

none

Cons

the rats that follow you home and taunt you for 3 years by hiding in the dirt and eating the roots of the plants until you realize it's actually the nerves of your brain