Gardener vs lawn care technician

The differences between gardeners and lawn care technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a gardener and a lawn care technician. Additionally, a gardener has an average salary of $32,912, which is higher than the $32,439 average annual salary of a lawn care technician.

The top three skills for a gardener include GRASS, mowing and hand tools. The most important skills for a lawn care technician are lawn care, customer service, and mowing.

Gardener vs lawn care technician overview

	Gardener	Lawn Care Technician
Yearly salary	$32,912	$32,439
Hourly rate	$15.82	$15.60
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	5,411	102,726
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	High School Diploma, 47%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	2	2

Gardener vs lawn care technician salary

Gardeners and lawn care technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Gardener	Lawn Care Technician
Average salary	$32,912	$32,439
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $47,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Union City, CA	Billings, MT
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Massachusetts
Best paying company	UC Santa Barbara	Four Seasons
Best paying industry	Media	Finance

Differences between gardener and lawn care technician education

There are a few differences between a gardener and a lawn care technician in terms of educational background:

	Gardener	Lawn Care Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	High School Diploma, 47%
Most common major	Plant Sciences	Business
Most common college	-	-

Gardener vs lawn care technician demographics

Here are the differences between gardeners' and lawn care technicians' demographics:

	Gardener	Lawn Care Technician
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 56.4% Female, 43.6%	Male, 93.5% Female, 6.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 28.0% Asian, 1.8% White, 56.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%	Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 1.8% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	3%	3%

Differences between gardener and lawn care technician duties and responsibilities

Gardener example responsibilities.

Manage hardscape installation team and project
General grounds maintenance of exterior landscaping, including trimming, weed control, lawn mowing, and applying fertilizer.
Operate and maintain lawn mowers and tractors for seeding, aeration, snow removal and fertilizing of grounds.
Operate vehicles or power equipment, such as mowers, snow blowers, chain-saws, electric clippers and pruning saws.
Operate a variety of equipment including hand and power tools, blowers, mowers, and drive a vehicle around campus.
Clean grounds using rakes, brooms, trash can, and hand blower.

Lawn care technician example responsibilities.

Manage hardscape installation team and project
Used various types of lawn equipment lawn mower, edger, leaf blower, chippers/shredder, aerators, rakes and shovels.
Utilize hand tools such as shovels, rakes, pruning saws, saws, hedge, brush trimmers and axes.
Weed eating, edge, tree trimming and chipping, and cut grass on walk behind and ride on mowers.
Used hand and power tools, mowers, weed eaters, blowers, edgers, and administer chemicals to control weeds.
Dog trenches or holes using shovels, picks, hands or trench tools, plant trees flowers and lawns.

Gardener vs lawn care technician skills

Common gardener skills

GRASS, 20%
Mowing, 10%
Hand Tools, 7%
Blowers, 7%
Rakes, 5%
Grounds Maintenance, 5%

Common lawn care technician skills

Lawn Care, 30%
Customer Service, 19%
Mowing, 8%
GRASS, 7%
Basic Math, 6%
Weed Control, 6%

Gardener vs. similar jobs

Gardener related careers

Gardener related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Building and Grounds Maintenance Industry
Gardener
Gardener vs Lawn Care Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse building and grounds maintenance jobs