A grounds maintenance worker is tasked with the general upkeep and development of a piece of property, more specifically creating a pleasing environment that simulates real natural settings as closely as possible. The job involves a variety of duties – from planting trees and other plants, to watering and trimming them, mowing the grass, disposing of the garbage, as well as applying pesticides to the plants when it’s needed and applicable to the particular situation. Grounds maintenance workers may be hired on a permanent basis by a specific company, or they may work as freelancers, getting jobs from different sources.
Becoming a grounds maintenance worker is mostly about one’s experience and knowledge in the upkeep of a garden or a natural environment in general. Having prior working experience in a job like a gardener can be very useful. Additionally, a candidate’s chances may be further increased if they’ve completed certain specialized training courses aimed at improving one’s skills required to become a good grounds maintenance worker. However, some companies may disregard such qualifications and choose to provide their own training courses instead.
The job of a grounds maintenance worker is primarily a manual labor one, so it doesn’t have some high salary attached to it in most cases. The lower end of the pay scale is at about $14,000, while the higher one is around $45,000 – the large gap can be attributed to the vast differences in the particular tasks a grounds maintenance worker is required to perform at their job, and some have very little duties attached.