Top 7 Horticulture Jobs

There are some people whose passions or hobbies define them—for example, “dog people” or “boat people.” But “plant people” are often the most hidden kind, tucked away in backyards, obsessively testing soil and talking to plants as if they were their children.

Rather than “wacky neighbor too attached to his gardening hose,” the polite term for those in love with plants is Horticulturist. If you’re one those people whose feelings for plants have crossed the line from interest to love, consider getting one of these seven horticulture jobs. You’re guaranteed to spend your days buried in dirt and seeds, making the world a little greener.

1. Plant Pathologist — You can tell that a person is sick when they complain and collect Kleenex by their bed. Plants, however, don’t give off as many signs. As a Plant Pathologist, you’re a plant Doctor figuring out what’s wrong through experiments and investigations of the diseases affecting plants and the people who eat them.

2. Nursery Worker — Like a Nursery School Teacher, you care for and keep track of your charges. In this type of nursery, however, those charges are plants, not children. You grow, water, medicate, and sell plants of all kinds.

3. Plant Care Worker — Sort of like a Gardener, you grow and care for the plants in your client’s gardens. You protect against diseases and bugs, and, in general, keep everything fresh as a daisy.

4. Horticultural Consultant — Your job is to give advice on pretty much anything that goes in the ground. This can mean discussing fertilizer with a Farmer or suggesting new golf course grass with a Landscape Architect.

5. Ornamental Horticulturist — You make things beautiful by creating flower arrangements or bunny-shaped shrubs. Employed everywhere from flower shops to landscaping firms, you use plants to decorate.

6. Horticultural Technician — Call it plant parenting or plant nursing. Either way, this botany job is all about caring for plants. You water, care for, and help plants grow everywhere from nurseries to botanical gardens.

7. Horticultural Therapist — You’re a Therapist, which means you help people who are suffering from mental illness or severe trauma get better. Unlike an Art Therapist or Dance Therapist though, you use plants and gardening to help your patients.