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What does a groundsman do?

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read

Groundsmen or greenkeepers are professionals who take responsibility for the maintenance of materials and equipment. They make certain to provide enough stock of consumables. Part of their responsibilities is to make sure that the grounds, flowers, lawns, and shrubs are kept from plant diseases and harmful insects. They are also responsible for looking after the sports grounds, including bowling greens, racecourses, tennis courts, rugby pitches, and football fields.

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Groundsman responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real groundsman resumes:

  • Used hand saws and hand pruners as well as motorized saws to manage tree cuttings on the ground.
  • Use of gas and electric equipment to include mowers, edger's, weed eaters, blowers, hedgers, and saws
  • Certify adult cpr and first aid.
  • Locate underground utility lines with the use of electronic locators and shovels.
  • Use chipper to dispose of brush, use bobcat to load wood into trailer.
  • Range from running a chainsaw to roping a limb, to running the bobcat machine.
  • Unload, pick, stage and load products for shipping along with mowing and trimming trees.
  • Used chemical treatments, shovels, hammers, measuring tape and drills to treat the poles.
  • Trim and prune trees with skil climbing to provide clearance of streets, lines, and homes.
  • Job duties are mowing lawns, planting flowers, pulling weeds, picking up trash, maintaining grind areas.
  • Experience with grinding stumps, hand and power tools to prune, hedge and remove trees, and cut firewood.
  • Maintain all equipment including sharpening blades and repairing mowers.
  • Provide proper upkeep of sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, fountains, planters or other grounds features.
  • Mow lawns, trim around sign posts, trees, etc., pull weeds in gardens and planters.
  • Climb trees with ropes and harness, both with and without the use of climbing gaffs.

Groundsman skills and personality traits

We calculated that 16% of Groundsmen are proficient in CDL, Hand Tools, and Lawn Care.

We break down the percentage of Groundsmen that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • CDL, 16%

    Drive Class A CDL trucks, Hauling and spotting material, such as, Pole trailers, and tankers.

  • Hand Tools, 15%

    Cleaned or serviced machinery to ensure operating efficiency using water, gasoline, lubricants, or hand tools

  • Lawn Care, 9%

    Maintain Palm Trees, Lawn care, Preventative maintenance on palm tree farm.

  • Blowers, 6%

    Operated powered equipment such as mowers, tractors, twin-axle vehicles, and leaf blowers.

  • Snow Removal, 5%

    Help with snow removal of local businesses and private homes.

  • Mowing, 5%

    Performed duties such as planting, painting, mowing, and trash disposal.

Common skills that a groundsman uses to do their job include "cdl," "hand tools," and "lawn care." You can find details on the most important groundsman responsibilities below.

Physical stamina. The most essential soft skill for a groundsman to carry out their responsibilities is physical stamina. This skill is important for the role because "grounds maintenance workers must be able to do strenuous labor for long periods of time, occasionally in extreme heat or cold." Additionally, a groundsman resume shows how their duties depend on physical stamina: "mowed greens, weed wiped course, cleaned warehouse, random physical labor tasks, fixing sand traps"

Most common groundsman skills

The three companies that hire the most groundsmans are:

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Compare different groundsmen

Groundsman vs. Keeper

A storekeeper is responsible for managing all a store's operations and overseeing the care and maintenance of stocks, including inventory management. Your duties will include receiving, unloading, and shelving supplies, inspecting deliveries for discrepancies and damage, and managing all documentation. In addition, you will be responsible for maintaining inventory control and coordinating freight handling. You are also responsible for planning campaigns to promote new products, mediating any conflicts between clients and staff, maintaining a sales record, and purchasing new products.

If we compare the average groundsman annual salary with that of a keeper, we find that keepers typically earn a $593 higher salary than groundsmen make annually.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between groundsmen and keeper. For instance, groundsman responsibilities require skills such as "cdl," "hand tools," "lawn care," and "blowers." Whereas a keeper is skilled in "guest rooms," "dependability," "excellent guest," and "animal husbandry." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Keepers really shine in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $38,817. Comparatively, groundsmen tend to make the most money in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $36,622.The education levels that keepers earn slightly differ from groundsmen. In particular, keepers are 2.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a groundsman. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Groundsman vs. Lawn care specialist

A lawn care worker specializes in enhancing and maintaining the cleanliness of gardens and landscapes. Most of the responsibilities will require manual work and attention to detail, along with time management. The majority of the tasks will revolve around mowing and cleaning lawns, trimming trees and other plants, maintaining flower beds, and sometimes cleaning garden fixtures. A lawn care worker may also apply pesticides and other chemicals, install ponds or irrigation, recommend fertilizers, and operate different devices or equipment.

On average, lawn care specialists earn a $1,328 lower salary than groundsmen a year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Groundsmen and lawn care specialists both require similar skills like "lawn care," "blowers," and "snow removal" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, groundsman responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "cdl," "hand tools," "construction sites," and "bucket truck." Meanwhile, a lawn care specialist has duties that require skills in areas such as "grass," "customer service," "customer locations," and "weed control." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

On average, lawn care specialists earn a lower salary than groundsmen. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, lawn care specialists earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $34,722. Whereas groundsmen have higher pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $36,622.lawn care specialists earn similar levels of education than groundsmen in general. They're 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Groundsman vs. Lawn care worker

A lawn specialist supervises the lawn gardeners keeping the garden or surroundings in a particular place like buildings, nursing homes, hospitals, government offices, and private institutions clean and green. Often you can see them trimming tall grass and bushes, cuts stems of a flower, and maintains the grass bed. This position specializes in applying different inputs such as fertilizers, leading, and others. Most of the time, they follow suggestions or comments made by their client, leading to the improvement of the yard or garden.

On average, lawn care workers earn lower salaries than groundsmen, with a $3,346 difference per year.groundsmen and lawn care workers both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "lawn care," "blowers," and "snow removal," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, groundsmen are more likely to have skills like "cdl," "hand tools," "construction sites," and "bucket truck." But a lawn care worker is more likely to have skills like "grass," "water lawns," "program rules," and "incident reports."

Lawn care workers make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $32,844. On the other hand, groundsmen are paid the highest salary in the manufacturing industry, with average annual pay of $36,622.lawn care workers typically earn similar educational levels compared to groundsmen. Specifically, they're 1.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Groundsman vs. Lawn specialist

Lawn specialists typically earn lower pay than groundsmen. On average, lawn specialists earn a $590 lower salary per year.According to resumes from groundsmen and lawn specialists, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "lawn care," "blowers," and "snow removal. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between groundsmen and lawn specialists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a groundsman might have more use for skills like "cdl," "hand tools," "construction sites," and "bucket truck." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of lawn specialists require skills like "production reports," "safety procedures," "dot," and "cleanliness. "

Lawn specialists reach similar levels of education compared to groundsmen, in general. The difference is that they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of groundsman

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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