Landscape maintenance

One example of a maintained landscape from Beaverton, Oregon.

Landscape maintenance (or groundskeeping) is the art and vocation of keeping a landscape healthy, clean, safe and attractive, typically in a garden, yard, park, institutional setting or estate. Using tools, supplies, knowledge, physical exertion and skills, a groundskeeper may plan or carry out annual plantings and harvestings, periodic weeding and fertilizing, other gardening, lawn care, snow removal, driveway and path maintenance, shrub pruning, topiary, lighting, fencing, swimming pool care, runoff drainage, and irrigation, and other jobs for protecting and improving the topsoil, plants, and garden accessories.

Groundskeepers may also deal with local animals (including birds, rodents, reptiles, insects, and domestic animals or pets), and create means to attract or repel them, as desired or necessary. A garden may also be designed to include exotic animals, such as a koi pond. In larger estates, groundskeepers may be responsible for providing and maintaining habitat for wild animals.

Landscape Maintenance Industry

Some private research firms estimate that Landscape Maintenance is a $77 Billion industry in North America with nearly 1 million employees working for over 400,000 businesses as of February 2016.[1]

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimated in May 2015 that statistical group 37-3011 "Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers" numbered 895,600 with a median annual wage of $25,030.[2] The BLS desscribes the functions of this group as "Workers typically perform a variety of tasks, which may include any combination of the following: sod laying, mowing, trimming, planting, watering, fertilizing, digging, raking, sprinkler installation, and installation of mortarless segmental concrete masonry wall units".

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Landscaping Services in the US: Market Research Report". ibisworld.com. 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  2. ↑ "Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2015". bls.gov. 2015-05-01. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.