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First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in landscaping or groundskeeping activities. Work may involve reviewing contracts to ascertain service, machine, and workforce requirements; answering inquiries from potential customers regarding methods, material, and price ranges; and preparing estimates according to labor, material, and machine costs.
Also Known As:
Field Manager
Golf Course Superintendent
Grounds Crew Supervisor
Grounds Foreman
Grounds Maintenance Supervisor
Grounds Manager
Grounds Supervisor
Groundskeeper Supervisor
Landscape Manager
Landscape Supervisor
Wages
Annual wages for First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
230,000
2% Change From 2024
Explore Landscape and Groundskeeping Workers video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Install or maintain landscaped areas, performing tasks such as removing snow, pouring cement curbs, or repairing sidewalks.
- Monitor project activities to ensure that instructions are followed, deadlines are met, and schedules are maintained.
- Prepare service estimates based on labor, material, and machine costs and maintain budgets for individual projects.
- Answer inquiries from current or prospective customers regarding methods, materials, or price ranges.
- Establish and enforce operating procedures and work standards that will ensure adequate performance and personnel safety.
- Schedule work for crews, depending on work priorities, crew or equipment availability, or weather conditions.
- Tour grounds, such as parks, botanical gardens, cemeteries, or golf courses, to inspect conditions of plants and soil.
- Plant or maintain vegetation through activities such as mulching, fertilizing, watering, mowing, or pruning.
- Maintain required records, such as personnel information or project records.
- Prepare or maintain required records, such as work activity or personnel reports.
- Design or supervise the installation of sprinkler systems, calculating water pressure, or valve and pipe coverage needs.
- Review contracts or work assignments to determine service, machine, or workforce requirements for jobs.
- Recommend changes in working conditions or equipment used to increase crew efficiency.
- Direct activities of workers who perform duties, such as landscaping, cultivating lawns, or pruning trees and shrubs.
- Confer with other supervisors to coordinate work activities with those of other departments or units.
- Negotiate with customers regarding fees for landscaping, lawn service, or groundskeeping work.
- Design or supervise the installation of sprinkler systems, calculating water pressure, or valve and pipe coverage needs.
- Perform personnel-related activities, such as hiring workers, evaluating staff performance, or taking disciplinary actions when performance problems occur.
- Provide workers with assistance in performing duties as necessary to meet deadlines.
- Inventory supplies of tools, equipment, or materials to ensure that sufficient supplies are available and items are in usable condition.
- Direct or assist workers engaged in the maintenance or repair of equipment, such as power tools or motorized equipment.
- Train workers in tasks such as transplanting or pruning trees or shrubs, finishing cement, using equipment, or caring for turf.
- Plant or maintain vegetation through activities such as mulching, fertilizing, watering, mowing, or pruning.
- Order the performance of corrective work when problems occur and recommend procedural changes to avoid such problems.
- Plant or maintain vegetation through activities such as mulching, fertilizing, watering, mowing, or pruning.
- Order the performance of corrective work when problems occur and recommend procedural changes to avoid such problems.
- Inspect completed work to ensure conformance to specifications, standards, and contract requirements.
- Direct or perform mixing or application of fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, or fungicides.
- Confer with managers or landscape architects to develop plans or schedules for landscaping maintenance or improvement.
- Perform administrative duties, such as authorizing leaves or processing time sheets.
- Identify diseases or pests affecting landscaping and order appropriate treatments.
- Investigate work-related complaints to verify problems and to determine responses.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")