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The differences between lawn care workers and gardeners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a lawn care worker and a gardener. Additionally, a gardener has an average salary of $32,912, which is higher than the $29,667 average annual salary of a lawn care worker.
The top three skills for a lawn care worker include GRASS, mowing and water lawns. The most important skills for a gardener are GRASS, mowing, and hand tools.
| Lawn Care Worker | Gardener | |
| Yearly salary | $29,667 | $32,912 |
| Hourly rate | $14.26 | $15.82 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 88,268 | 5,411 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
Gardeners are skilled employees who are responsible for monitoring the health of all plants and trees while maintaining the landscape of a garden. These gardeners are required to trim lawns edges while using rakes and brooms to remove lawn clippings and clear other debris from the ground. They need to use various gardening tools to perform basic pruning while neatly shaping bushes and trees to the desired design. Gardeners must also apply liquid fertilizers and chemical control agents to remove weeds and protect the attractiveness of the landscapes.
Lawn care workers and gardeners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lawn Care Worker | Gardener | |
| Average salary | $29,667 | $32,912 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $38,000 | Between $22,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Fargo, ND | Union City, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Lawn Doctor | UC Santa Barbara |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Media |
There are a few differences between a lawn care worker and a gardener in terms of educational background:
| Lawn Care Worker | Gardener | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Plant Sciences |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between lawn care workers' and gardeners' demographics:
| Lawn Care Worker | Gardener | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 77.5% Female, 22.5% | Male, 56.4% Female, 43.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.5% Asian, 1.5% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 3% | 3% |