You can apply for an apprenticeship while you are still at school and living in England. To start a landscape apprenticeship you will need to be:

16 or over by the end of the summer holidays and not enrolled in full-time education.

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You can be employed to work in public parks and gardens, green spaces and historic gardens, private gardens and estates, or in production nurseries and retail outlets. Many businesses will be specialised in their activities, such as grounds maintenance, soft-landscaping or hard landscaping.

Soft landscaping/horticulture includes propagation, the establishment and maintenance of plants and cultivated areas.

Hard landscaping includes establishment of hard surfaces and structures in addition to the establishment of plants in cultivated areas.

Horticulture and Landscape Operative/Supervisor

The Operative is a Level 2 qualification and the Supervisor level 3, typically lasting 18-24 months, choosing to focus on either horticulture or landscaping.

It involves planning and maintaining large gardens, parks and other green spaces.

If you choose the landscaping route, you will learn how to install various hard-landscape construction features and structures e.g. paths, patios, fences and walls. This will include basic brick laying, paving, and timber decking, setting levels and services identification.

Free hand cutting and bench cutting of hard landscape materials during construction using abrasive wheels.

Assess and repair hard structures; evaluate hazards and damage and if appropriate carry out repair or report. Examples include broken drainage, rotten timber, cracked paving stone and frost damage brick work.

Principles of plant growth and development.

Plant growth and development, vegetation control, biosecurity, plant identification, soil science and plant health.

English & Maths, apprentices without Level 2 English and Maths must achieve Level 1 and take the test for Level 2 before taking the end-point assessment. Emergency first aid: Level 3 award in emergency first aid at work. Pesticides: Level 2 Principles of Safe Handling and Application of Pesticides Guidance OR Level 2 Award in the Safe Use of Pesticides