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Garden nursery assistant Green Job

Garden nursery assistants grow plants in nurseries and garden centres, and advise and serve customers.

Annual Salary

£13,000 to £19,000

Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

46 to 48 a week

You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; on a rota

1.8%
Future employment

There will be 1.8% more Garden nursery assistant jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

Your day-to-day duties may include:

  • loading and unloading deliveries
  • pruning, shaping and spacing plants
  • weeding, watering and feeding
  • potting seedlings
  • monitoring plant health and quality
  • re-stocking plant displays
  • serving customers
  • picking and packing orders for delivery

Working environment

You may need to wear protective clothing.

You could work at a garden centre.

Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers.

You can get into this job through:

  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship
  • applying directly
College

You could do a college course, which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need in this job. Relevant courses include:

  • Level 1 Certificate in Horticulture
  • Level 2 Diploma in Horticulture

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 or fewer GCSEs at grades 3 to 1 (D to G), or equivalent, for a level 1 course
  • 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
For more information
Apprenticeship

You can get into this job through a horticultural and landscape operative intermediate apprenticeship.

You can also do a packhouse line leader advanced apprenticeship, if you're working on a horticultural production line, for example picking and packing plants and flowers to order.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
For more information
Direct application

You could apply directly for jobs in a nursery or garden centre. There are no set requirements but employers will expect you to have a keen interest in plants and horticulture. Experience or qualifications in gardening, horticulture or retail work would be helpful.

More information

Further information

You can get more advice about careers in horticulture from Grow Careers.

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With experience you could become a nursery supervisor.

You may be able to move into horticultural technician work or garden centre management by completing industry qualifications like those from the Royal Horticultural Society.

How does this job help to address the impacts of climate change and protect wildlife and nature in the West of England?

Garden Nursery Assistants work in nurseries and garden centres, helping to grow, prune, feed and sell plants and trees, contributing to the natural environment. 

Examples of post-16 courses you could study at local colleges

  • Level 1 Certificate in Horticulture
  • Level 2 Diploma in Horticulture

Click here to find a local provider

Apprenticeships you may be able to take with local employers

  • Level 2 Horticulture or landscape construction operative

Click here to search for a local apprenticeship

Click here for an explanation of the different course and apprenticeship levels.

Local employers 

  • Local garden centres and nurseries

For more local employment opportunities see the 'Live job vacancies by region' section above.

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to work well with others
  • the ability to work on your own
  • to be flexible and open to change
  • persistence and determination
  • physical skills like movement, coordination, dexterity and grace
  • the ability to work well with your hands
  • physical fitness and endurance
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
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