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This occupation is found in a wide range of outdoor spaces. This may include public parks and gardens, green spaces, schools, tourist attractions, business and retail parks, historic gardens, private gardens, and estates. The horticultural spaces may be privately or publicly owned.
Work may be carried out on a variety of locations that might include domestic gardens, construction sites, retail and business parks.
Employers will vary in size and type and can include charities, commercial businesses or governmental organisations. Many organisations will be specialised in their activities, such as grounds maintenance or landscape construction.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to plan, oversee and carry out horticultural or landscaping operations to create and maintain horticultural spaces. The work involves both the soft landscaping aspects (plants and soil) and the hard landscaping (surfaces, features, and structures).
Horticulture or Landscaping Supervisors will be employed in an occupation that specialises in either horticulture or landscaping.
Horticultural Supervisors plan the maintenance of established horticultural areas. They oversee and carry out hard and soft landscaping maintenance operations and ensure that the site is maintained in line with the design, purpose and business objectives. They will have an advanced skill set, enabling them to undertake a wide range of horticultural operations.
Landscaping Supervisors will plan, oversee and undertake activities required to install landscapes to meet customer specifications. This might be complex landscapes with high values and a range of features including ornamental, horizontal and vertical structures, or smaller scale domestic gardens such as patios, retaining walls, water features, decking or pergolas.
Horticulture or Landscaping Supervisors frequently work outdoors, year-round and in all weathers. They sometimes work at heights, for example pruning taller plants and hedges.
Horticulture or Landscape Supervisors will require certificates of competence and or training to undertake particular activities and use specialist machinery.
Horticulture supervisor
Horticulture team leader
Landscape supervisor
Senior gardener
| Duty | KSBs |
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Duty 1 Supervise health, safety and welfare for undertaking horticultural activities, including key documentation, site safety planning and ensuring communication is sufficient for work to be completed safely. |
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Duty 2 Supervise environmental and heritage protection on a horticultural site. |
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Duty 3 Establish, maintain and care for plants in different environments. |
K1 K2 K3 K4 K6 K7 K8 K9 K10 K11 K12 K14 K16 K17 K18 K22 K25 K27 K30 |
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Duty 4 Manage and optimise soil condition relevant to the environment and planting requirements including the prevention of damage from traffic and works. |
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Duty 5 Develop and implement work plans to deliver projects and achieve desired quality of work. |
K2 K3 K19 K20 K21 K22 K23 K24 K25 K26 K27 |
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Duty 6 Develop and supervise the implementation of site biosecurity measures and invasive species management. |
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Duty 7 Oversee horticultural site-based projects, organise resources, budgets and people. To include environmental protection, keeping records and using digital technology. |
K2 K3 K4 K19 K20 K21 K22 K23 K24 K25 K26 K27 |
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Duty 8 Provide customer care to all stakeholders. |
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Duty 9 Supervise a team of staff or volunteers undertaking horticultural or landscaping maintenance activities. |
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Duty 10 Manage own performance and development. |
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Duty 11 Supervise, maintain and operate tools equipment and machinery. |
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Duty 12 Plan and implement the assessment, maintenance and repair of horticultural structures for safety, longevity and aesthetics. |
| Duty | KSBs |
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Duty 13 Plan, schedule and undertake maintenance for soft landscape elements. |
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Duty 14 Propagate plants and choose appropriate growing media |
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| Duty | KSBs |
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Duty 15 Plan and install landscape features, ensure resources are present and that activities meet the specification. |
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Duty 16 Survey sites for landscaping. |
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K1: The benefits of the ornamental horticulture industry for society (including human health and wellbeing) and the environment.
Back to Duty
K2: Environmental mitigation measures, procedure and regulations, including waste management, hazardous waste and recycling.
Back to Duty
K3: Principles of sustainability and how to contribute to government-led sustainability and zero carbon targets.
Back to Duty
K4: Techniques to protect and enhance biodiversity and heritage on horticultural sites, including basic ecology and legal designations.
Back to Duty
K5: How horticultural approaches vary with organisation type (for example charities, commercial, governmental) and site type (for example parks, greenspaces, heritage, botanic, destination or domestic gardens).
Back to Duty
K6: Science of plant growth and development and requirements for healthy growth and development, including plant tissues and their functions, germination, photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration and fertilization.
Back to Duty
K7: Naturally occurring factors (including microclimate, light, water, nutrients) and cultivation factors (including designed microclimates, pruning, training, irrigation, nutrition, species requirements), and how they affect plant growth.
Back to Duty
K8: Principles of biosecurity, regulation, measures and policies for horticultural sites, including when importing plant material.
Back to Duty
K9: Prevention and control methods of invasive species, including identification of species, their environmental and human impact, and regulatory requirements.
Back to Duty
K10: Scientific plant naming conventions, including genus and species.
Back to Duty
K11: Planting activities (including planting techniques, planting support, and protection methods) and their suitability to different stock types/ species and the planting environment.
Back to Duty
K12: Importance of correct plant storage, transport, planting practices and aftercare.
Back to Duty
K13: Methods to assess, rectify and maintain hard structures or surfaces, for example paving, walls, fences, pergolas, decking.
Back to Duty
K14: Soil and growing media types and factors that affect soil quality and condition and management regimes, including sources, potential problems, storage, characteristics, including the prevention of damage from traffic and works.
Back to Duty
K15: How to identify tree features that pose a risk and require professional inspection.
Back to Duty
K16: Uses of general amenity, higher ornamental and species-rich meadow turf types, including biodiversity and management implications.
Back to Duty
K17: Techniques for planning and installing turf surfaces (seed or turf) and species- rich meadows, including calculating material volumes.
Back to Duty
K18: Methods to control unwanted vegetation and suitability to different situations, including prevention of unwanted growth, vegetation clearance and routine pruning techniques.
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K19: Principles of project management, including purpose and structure of a project, roles and responsibilities, project plans and controls.
Back to Duty
K20: Principles of budgeting and keeping within a budget.
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K21: Digital tools and their ability to support business operations, including for problem solving, planning, collaboration and communication.
Back to Duty
K22: Components of work plans and specifications, including schedule of activities and resource requirements.
Back to Duty
K23: Principles of business communication and communication aids (including information technology) and how to adapt communication for different audiences and situations.
Back to Duty
K24: Principles of customer care, including types of customers (internal and external), impact of customer care on the organisation, building relationships and collaboration.
Back to Duty
K25: Statutory health, safety and welfare policies, procedures and regulations, safe working practices and how to comply with them, including how to implement and reviewing risk assessments and or Construction Design Management (CDM) plans.
Back to Duty
K26: The role of the supervisor for delivering wider business plans, including techniques for allocating work, overseeing quality, communicating work instructions and establishing safe systems of work in a team (staff or volunteers).
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K27: Principles of operating, maintaining and storing tools, equipment and machinery, including implications of legislation, manufacturer’s guidance, operator skill and training, safety and procurement.
Back to Duty
K28: The importance of maintenance regimes for hard structures or surfaces, including hazards associated with faults and damage, for example broken drainage, rotten timber, cracked paving stone, pointing, frost, damaged brick work.
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K29: Tree protection legislation and causes of damage to trees from horticultural operations, including how conservation zones and tree preservation orders impact work undertaken on trees.
Back to Duty
K30: Methods of identifying plants and their limitations, including physical inspection and assistive resources (for example, mobile applications and botanical keys), and the importance of correct plant identification.
Back to Duty
K31: Types of water feature (including formal and informal) and aquatic environments, their maintenance requirements, and the role of plants in aquatic environments.
Back to Duty
K32: Types of irrigation system and water sources, their suitability to the situation and environmental impact, and regulation and principles of use in line with manufacturers’ instructions.
Back to Duty
K33: Principles of Integrated Pest Management and planning plant pest and disease management, including types of plant threats and their impact on the plant and control measures and principles of the application of pesticides.
Back to Duty
K34: Different plant propagation methods using seed and vegetative methods (including cuttings, division and layering) and implications of propagation method on management of plants including grafting.
Back to Duty
K35: Components of a maintenance schedule and methods to assess maintenance requirements, including principles of planting design and how to enhance and manage a design through maintenance activities.
Back to Duty
K36: Turf and species-rich meadow management regimes for different outcomes and the Pitch Quality Standard.
Back to Duty
K37: Specialist pruning and training techniques for climbers, shrubs and trees.
Back to Duty
K38: Work methods for landscape construction (including horizontal, vertical, water and timber features), regulatory requirements and the importance of construction methods for quality and safety of end feature.
Back to Duty
K39: Principles and techniques for planning and installing services into landscapes, including lighting conduits, irrigation and drainage.
Back to Duty
K40: Techniques and tools for measuring and setting out a site with several features and levels for landscape construction, including methods to identify location of utilities and or services.
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K41: Estimation techniques and information sources for landscape construction projects, including construction drawings, scheduling, quantifying of human resources, materials and equipment.
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K42: Site surveying, measuring and cable and service avoidance techniques, including cable avoidance tools and interpreting diagrams to avoid water, gas and electricity.
Back to Duty
S1: Plan and implement horticultural activities using techniques to protect and enhance the environment, biodiversity or heritage.
Back to Duty
S2: Plan and implement environmental mitigation measures for horticultural tasks, including protecting sites (for example aquatic environments, soils, plants, structures) from horticultural works, waste management planning, hazardous waste and pollution controls.
Back to Duty
S3: Plan the care of plants in different environments, including suitability for the site and providing irrigation and nutrition.
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S4: Identify biosecurity threats for a horticultural site (including main pests or diseases and their identification features) and implement and communicate phytosanitary and biosecurity procedures for the site in line with legal requirements.
Back to Duty
S5: Apply scientific plant naming conventions (including genus and species) to identify plants via physical inspection and without assistive resources.
Back to Duty
S6: Plan and implement planting activities in context of the stock type/ species and planting environment.
Back to Duty
S7: Assess hard structure or surface, evaluate hazards, damage and faults and rectify, report or maintain as required.
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S8: Assess soil type and quality (imported or natural), identify soil condition and recommend management regimes as required and appropriate to the site, including the prevention of damage from traffic and works.
Back to Duty
S9: Identify basic health threats and hazards for established trees.
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S10: Plan, quantify materials and implement turf or species-rich meadow surface installation.
Back to Duty
S11: Plan and supervise vegetation control (including formative, regenerative and maintenance pruning), selecting methods and equipment.
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S12: Implement project management skills, including project processes, planning and specifications.
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S13: Use digital tools to solve problems, plan, collaborate, communicate and keep records.
Back to Duty
S14: Develop a work plan to a specification.
Back to Duty
S15: Communicate using verbal and written communication skills.
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S16: Establish safe systems of work and comply with health, safety and welfare legislation, including basic risk assessment.
Back to Duty
S17: Supervise others (staff or volunteers ), including motivation, work prioritisation, quality, problem-solving, capability for task, establishing a safety culture and resource deployment.
Back to Duty
S18: Manage use of tools and machinery on site (including safety and record keeping) and carry out selection appraisals.
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S19: Use and maintain irrigation system (hose and lance, drip, sprinkler or rotary system) to ensure accurate and timely water application.
Back to Duty
S20: Plan a programme of plant pest and disease controls in line with Integrated Pest Management principles. Spraying of pesticides and or fertilisers or non-chemical alternatives.
Back to Duty
S21: Select propagation methods and plan and implement propagating plants by seed and vegetative methods in an indoor or outdoor context.
Back to Duty
S22: Assess a horticultural area, develop an annual maintenance programme and undertake maintenance activities.
Back to Duty
S23: Assess turf or species-rich meadow quality and plan and implement the maintenance, repair and renovation of ornamental turf areas.
Back to Duty
S24: Prune or train a climber, shrub and tree using specialist pruning and or training techniques to maintain plant health and achieve design or functional objectives.
Back to Duty
S25: Select work method and plan and undertake the application of a range of landscape construction materials to a specification, including brick laying, paving, timber features; construct horizontal and vertical features.
Back to Duty
S26: Install a service into a landscape, for example lighting conduits, irrigation or draining.
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S27: Measure and set out a site with several features and levels from a construction drawing.
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S28: Plan and implement landscaping activities for a non-complex landscape construction project, including interpreting job specification and construction drawings, estimating materials required, planning resource allocation (human and physical), work quality and health and safety considerations.
Back to Duty
S29: Survey site for landscape construction, including presence of services, drainage, plantings, features, protected areas and hazards.
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B1: Puts safety first for themselves and others.
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B2: Sources solutions to problems in a proactive manner.
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B3: Committed to continuous improvement and keeping up to date with industry practice including technological advancements.
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B4: Team focused and works effectively with colleagues and others.
Back to Duty
Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this level prior to taking the End-Point Assessment. For those with an education, health and care plan or a legacy statement, the apprenticeship’s English and maths minimum requirement is Entry Level 3. A British Sign Language (BSL) qualification is an alternative to the English qualification for those whose primary language is BSL.
| Version | Change detail | Earliest start date | Latest start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.2 | Occupational standard and end-point assessment plan revised | 14/11/2024 | Not set |
| 1.1 | Standard, end-point assessment plan and funding band revised | 30/10/2023 | 13/11/2024 |
| 1.0 | Approved for delivery | 12/12/2018 | 29/10/2023 |
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