Landscaper Job Description Templates for Install Crews
Landscaper job description templates for install, hardscape, planting, and seasonal crews: 6 role variants with pay, licensing, and overtime notes.
TL;DR
A landscaper job description should name the specialty, state the hourly rate, list the equipment, and set the physical requirements in concrete terms. Field crews are non-exempt: overtime past 40 hours, and yard loading plus site-to-site travel counts as paid time. National median pay is $18.82 per hour (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025). Six templates below.
Most landscaper job descriptions you find online describe a mowing route. They list trimming, edging, blowing, and general grounds upkeep, and they work fine if that is your business. If you install, they are useless, so this page gives you six templates written for install crews.
An install crew builds something that did not exist last week, and the person who can lay a patio to line and grade is not interchangeable with the person who runs a mower. If another owner asked me where to start, I would say to write the posting for the one specialty you are hiring, not for a generic landscaper.
This is a large trade. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projections (2025-35), landscaping and groundskeeping workers held about 1,188,600 jobs in 2025, with about 149,500 openings projected each year through 2035. Many of those hires happen at small companies where the owner writes the posting between an estimate and an equipment breakdown.
At FirstHR we build hiring templates for that reader. The six below cover an install crew member, a crew leader, a hardscape installer, a gardener, an irrigation and lighting technician, and a seasonal laborer, each with the pay, licensing, and classification notes that generic versions skip.
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The core split in landscaping hiring is between project work and route work. Install and design-build crews arrive at a property, build to a plan over a few days, and move on. Maintenance crews visit the same properties on the same day every week. The screening, the pay, and the retention problems are different in each.
An install hire has to read a plan sheet, hold a grade, handle material safely, and keep quality steady on day four when everyone is tired. A route hire has to be consistent and fast on tasks that never change. Both are skilled in their own way, and a posting that blurs them attracts applicants who will quit within two weeks.
Project work, defined scope
Install and design-build
Crews arrive with plants, soil, stone, and equipment, build to a plan over a few days, and leave. Hiring rewards plan reading, grade work, equipment handling, and stamina. Pay tends to run above route maintenance because the skill ceiling is higher.
Closest thing to construction
Hardscape
Patios, walls, and steps pull in excavation, base compaction, saw cutting, and silica dust control. This is where exposure to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules and the highest wage rates both live, and where a generic landscaping posting fails hardest.
Knowledge, not just labor
Plantings and horticulture
The gardener role: plant identification, pruning to species, soil work, seasonal color, and plant health diagnosis. Screening is entirely different from crew hiring because you are testing knowledge, not lifting capacity.
A separate posting
Maintenance of an existing site
Weekly mowing routes, bed care, and grounds upkeep on properties you already service. It runs on route discipline and consistency rather than project skill, and it deserves its own job description rather than a paragraph in this one.
Tip
Post the Specialty in the Job Title
Landscaping candidates scan titles on a phone in a few seconds. Crew Member (Landscape Install), Hardscape Installer, Irrigation Technician, and Gardener each pull a different applicant pool. A posting titled simply Landscaper collects everyone and filters nobody, which means you spend the peak week of your season screening people who were never right for the job. Put the specialty, the rate, and the yard location in the first two lines.
What Belongs in a Landscaping Posting
A landscaping job description does four jobs at once: it sells the work, it filters applicants, it protects you legally, and it closes the hire. Most postings in this trade do only the first, in three lines, with no rate. Here is the full inventory.
The parts candidates read first
Install, hardscape, plantings, or irrigation, named in the title
Hourly rate or a real range, not a phrase about competitive pay
Where the yard is and what time the day starts
Season length and whether winter work exists
The parts that filter applicants
Driver license and driving record expectations
Equipment the person will operate and any required training
Physical requirements written as specific weights and postures
The parts that protect you
Non-exempt status stated on the posting
Essential functions written plainly for accommodation purposes
Work authorization and Form I-9 notice
Equal opportunity statement
The parts that win the hire
Overtime availability during peak weeks
Boot, gear, and tool allowances
Paid training and license reimbursement
Rehire priority and an end-of-season bonus for seasonal roles
Two sections carry more weight here than in office hiring. The physical requirements section screens honestly and documents the essential functions of the job if an accommodation question comes up later, so write real weights and postures instead of a vague line about lifting. The equipment list tells an experienced candidate whether the job is a step up or a step down.
6 Landscaper Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: company overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. Every template except the crew leader template also has a physical requirements section. The bracketed fields are the only parts you change.
Download All 6 Landscaper Job Description Templates
Install crew member, crew leader, hardscape installer, gardener, irrigation technician, and seasonal laborer. All in one download.
Landscape Crew Member· Install crew, entry to mid
The core install posting: bed prep, grade, planting, sod, mulch, and assisting on hardscape and irrigation. Written to be trainable from zero.
The core install posting: bed preparation, grade, planting, sod, mulch, and assisting on hardscape and irrigation. Written so you can hire and train someone with no prior season.
Landscape Crew Member (Install) Job Description
LANDSCAPE CREW MEMBER (INSTALL) JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: ([City, State])
Reports to: [Crew Leader / Install Foreman / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time, [year-round / seasonal, approximately March to
Active OnboardingsTrack and manage employee onboarding progress#EmployeeStageProgressStatus1Angela MartinSenior AccountantStagePre-boardingProgress1/9 tasksStatusOn Track2Darryl PhilbinWarehouse ForemanStageFirst DayProgress4/10 tasksStatusOverdue3Ryan HowardSales AssociateStageFirst WeekProgress7/11 tasksStatusOn Track4Kelly KapoorCustomer Service RepresentativeStageFirst MonthProgress10/12 tasksStatusOn Track
Template 3: Hardscape Installer
Base preparation, compaction, cutting, paver and stone setting, and segmental wall systems, with the silica and excavation rules written where the crew will see them.
Hardscape Installer Job Description
HARDSCAPE INSTALLER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: ([City, State])
Reports to: [Hardscape Foreman / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time, [year-round where weather allows]
kitchens, fire features] in [City, State]. We are hiring a Hardscape Installer
for our [number]-person hardscape crew. This is the highest-skill, highest-paid
production work we do, and the finish quality is visible for twenty years.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Hardscape Installer builds paver, stone, and block features: excavation,
base preparation and compaction, laying and cutting material to pattern, setting
wall block to line and level, and finishing joints and edges.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Excavate to depth, haul spoil, and prepare a compacted aggregate base in lifts
•Screed bedding material and lay pavers or natural stone to the pattern and
line called out on the plan
•Cut material with a [wet saw / cutoff saw / splitter] using dust controls
•Build segmental retaining walls: base course, block placement, geogrid,
drainage stone, and caps
•Set steps, edge restraint, and drainage; verify slope away from structures
•Operate [plate compactor, rammer, mini excavator, skid steer, track dumper]
after training and authorization
•Protect adjacent turf, beds, and structures; keep the site clean and safe
•Call in or confirm utility locates before any excavation begins
•Follow trench and excavation rules when digging for footings and drainage
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[2+] seasons of paver, stone, or masonry installation experience
•Able to read a plan, work to line and grade, and hold a tight joint
•Comfortable with saws and compaction equipment and with silica dust controls
•Valid driver license [required / preferred]
•[Manufacturer certification in segmental wall or paver installation preferred]
•Must be legally authorized to work in the United States and complete Form I-9
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING CONDITIONS
•Lift and carry up to [75] pounds repeatedly; move block and stone all day
•Kneel, bend, and work at ground level for extended periods
•Work outdoors in heat, cold, and wet conditions
•Exposure to respirable silica dust when cutting; wet cutting or vacuum dust
collection and respiratory protection are required per our program
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Hardscape installers are non-exempt: hourly and overtime-eligible past 40 hours
in a workweek. Two safety rules drive real cost on these jobs. Cutting, sawing,
or grinding pavers, block, and stone generates respirable crystalline silica and
triggers the OSHA silica standard, which means wet cutting or on-tool dust
collection, plus a written exposure control plan. Excavation for footings,
drainage, and utilities is governed by the excavation standard: a trench 5 feet
deep or greater needs a protective system unless it is cut entirely in stable
rock, and past 20 feet the standard slope and shoring tables no longer apply, so
the protective system has to be designed or approved by a registered
professional engineer. Build both into the bid, not into the afterthought. This
is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $ per hour, [premium over general crew rate], [tool
allowance], [certification reimbursement]
To apply, email with photos of finished work if you have
them.
Template 4: Planting and Horticulture Specialist
The gardener role: plant identification, pruning to species, soil work, seasonal color, and plant health diagnosis, plus pesticide applicator licensing handled properly rather than assumed.
Planting and Horticulture Specialist (Gardener) Job Description
PLANTING AND HORTICULTURE SPECIALIST (GARDENER) JOB DESCRIPTION
Company or estate: ([City, State])
Reports to: [Owner / Property Manager / Account Manager]
[Company Name] installs and cares for [ornamental beds, perennial borders,
native plantings, container programs, kitchen gardens] for [private estates /
commercial properties / design clients] in [City, State]. We are hiring a
gardener who knows plants by name and by habit, not just by tag.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Planting and Horticulture Specialist installs and maintains ornamental plant
material: selecting and setting plants, soil preparation and amendment, pruning
to species, seasonal color rotations, and diagnosing plant health problems
before they spread.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Install trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs, and annual color per the planting
plan or your own design where assigned
•Prepare and amend soil; interpret soil test results and adjust
•Prune ornamentals correctly for the species and the season
•Run seasonal color rotations and container programs on schedule
•Scout for insects, disease, and nutrient problems and recommend treatment
•Apply fertilizer and, where licensed, pesticide products in line with the
label and state rules
•Manage the irrigation schedule for beds and containers and flag failures
•Select and inspect plant material at the nursery; reject poor stock
•Keep a planting record: what went in, where, when, and how it performed
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[3+] years of hands-on horticulture or fine gardening experience
•Strong plant identification across [trees, shrubs, perennials, natives] for
this region
•[State pesticide applicator license required / preferred / we will sponsor]
•[Horticulture degree or certificate preferred]
•Valid driver license and acceptable driving record
•Must be legally authorized to work in the United States and complete Form I-9
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING CONDITIONS
•Lift and carry up to [50] pounds; move container stock and soil amendments
•Kneel, bend, and hand-dig for extended periods
•Work outdoors year-round in the conditions this region delivers
•Exposure to pollen, soil, and, where licensed work is performed, pesticide
products handled under label requirements
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Gardening and horticulture work performed for clients is non-exempt: hourly and
overtime-eligible. Do not classify a regular gardener as an independent
contractor when you set the schedule, supply the tools and vehicle, and direct
the method. If any part of the job involves applying restricted use pesticides,
federal rules require the applicator to be certified, and commercial applicators
are certified by the state, usually by examination with periodic recertification.
Keep license numbers, categories, and expiration dates on file. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $ per hour, [license premium], [continuing education
paid], [benefits]
To apply, email with your plant experience and any
license numbers.
Template 5: Irrigation and Landscape Lighting Technician
Pipe, heads, zones, controllers, and low-voltage lighting across install and service, with travel time between service calls and on-call policy addressed up front.
Irrigation and Landscape Lighting Technician Job Description
IRRIGATION AND LANDSCAPE LIGHTING TECHNICIAN JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: ([City, State])
Reports to: [Irrigation Manager / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time, [seasonal with winter service work]
[Company Name] staffs up every spring to handle the install season. This is a
defined seasonal position with a stated start and end date, a real chance of
rehire next season, and [snow removal / holiday lighting] work available in the
off months for those who want it.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Seasonal Landscape Laborer supports install and cleanup crews through the
peak season: hauling and spreading material, hand-digging, planting, hauling
debris, and assisting skilled crew members on hardscape and irrigation work.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Load and unload trucks and trailers at the yard and on site
•Spread mulch, topsoil, stone, and compost; haul material by wheelbarrow
•Hand-dig holes and trenches where equipment cannot reach
•Plant material and install sod under direction
•Rake, blow, and haul debris; keep every site clean at the end of the day
•Assist hardscape and irrigation crews as assigned
•Operate hand tools and [designated power equipment] after training
•Follow all crew safety rules, including heat, hydration, and rest practices
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•No prior experience required; we train
•Reliable transportation to our yard at [time] each scheduled day
•Able to work outdoors in heat and in the weather this season brings
•[Minimum age: 18 for equipment operation; 16 and 17 year olds may be hired for
non-hazardous tasks only, subject to federal and state youth employment rules]
•Must be legally authorized to work in the United States and complete Form I-9
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING CONDITIONS
•Lift and carry up to [50] pounds repeatedly through a full shift
•Continuous walking, bending, shoveling, and lifting
•Extended outdoor work in heat, humidity, and sun; shade, water, and rest breaks
are provided per our heat illness prevention practice
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Seasonal does not mean exempt, and it does not mean contractor. Seasonal
landscape laborers are ordinary non-exempt employees: they get overtime past 40
hours in a workweek, they complete Form I-9 like everyone else, and they are
covered by workers compensation in the states that require it. The FLSA
exemption for seasonal amusement and recreational establishments does not cover
a landscaping company. If you use the H-2B program for seasonal crews, the
recruitment, wage, and disclosure obligations attached to the temporary labor
certification apply to your domestic workers in corresponding employment too.
Youth employment rules limit what workers under 18 may operate. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $ per hour, [overtime available in peak weeks], [end of
season bonus for completing the term], [rehire priority next season]
To apply, call or text .
Overtime, Travel Time, and Crew Leaders
Landscape field employees are non-exempt: hourly, with overtime at one and one-half times the regular rate past 40 hours in a workweek. Landscaping is not agriculture for Fair Labor Standards Act purposes, so the farm overtime exemption that owners sometimes reach for does not apply to an install crew.
The Department of Labor spells this out in its interpretation at 29 CFR 780.206: planting trees and shrubs on residential or business property is not agriculture when the employer did not grow them, and mowing lawns is not agricultural work unless it is incidental to farming.
The crew leader question is where money actually gets lost. The executive exemption requires four things together: payment on a salary basis (a set amount, not pay by the hour) at or above the federal weekly threshold; a primary duty of management; customary direction of two or more full-time employees; and authority to hire or fire, or hiring and firing recommendations that carry particular weight.
A foreman who spends the day installing plant material fails the primary duty test, because managing the crew is not the main job.
Overtime law
Landscaping is not agriculture under the FLSA
Owners hear that farm work carries an overtime exemption and assume it reaches them because the job involves plants and dirt. It does not. The agricultural exemptions in the Fair Labor Standards Act turn on farming operations and practices performed on a farm in connection with farming, and the analysis follows the employee’s actual activities rather than the employer’s industry label. Installing a patio, planting stock you bought rather than grew, and running a mowing route are none of those things. The narrow exception runs the other way: employees of the nursery that actually grew the plants can be doing agricultural work when they set that stock on a client property, which is exactly why the test follows the activity and not the industry label. Treat every field employee as non-exempt: hourly, with overtime at one and one-half times the regular rate past 40 hours in the workweek. Where an employee genuinely splits time between exempt farm work and non-exempt landscaping, the burden of segregating the work sits on you, not on the employee.
Paid time
The day starts at the yard, not at the first job
Yard time and drive time are where crew payrolls quietly come up short. Time an employee spends loading trucks, hitching trailers, checking equipment, and picking up material at the yard is work, and once that day has started, the drive from the yard to the first site and between sites is compensable travel. The ordinary home-to-work commute is not compensable, but the moment you require a stop at the shop first, the clock has begun. The practical fix is mechanical: clock in at the yard, clock out at the yard, and stop paying by the job hour. Crews that get paid from site arrival to site departure are underpaid by whatever loading and drive time add up to each day, and that unpaid time multiplies into overtime during the install season.
State licenses
Licenses live at the state level, and there are more of them than you think
A landscaping company can trip over four separate licensing regimes at once: pesticide applicator certification, landscape contractor licensing, irrigation and backflow licensing, and a commercial driver license when the truck-and-trailer combination is rated above the federal weight threshold. Keep each license number and expiration date where a renewal reminder can find it.
Safety risk
Safety exposure is concentrated in a few tasks
There is no landscaping-specific OSHA standard, so the general industry and construction rules apply according to the work being performed, and the exposure clusters in a handful of tasks. Cutting pavers, block, and stone releases respirable crystalline silica and triggers the silica standard, which means wet cutting or on-tool dust collection plus a written exposure control plan. Trenching for irrigation and footings falls under the excavation rules: 5 feet or deeper needs a protective system unless it is cut in stable rock, and anything deeper than 20 feet needs a design from a registered professional engineer. Chainsaws, chippers, and mowers carry their own guarding, training, and personal protective equipment obligations. Heat reaches every crew that works outdoors through the summer, so shade, water, rest, and acclimatization for new hires belong in your written practice.
Travel between sites has a plain rule too. In Fact Sheet #22 on hours worked, the Department of Labor states that travel from job site to job site during the workday is work time and must be counted as hours worked, so the crew clock keeps running between stops, not only on the property.
Pay structure does not change the obligation. Piece rates, day rates, and per-job pay are all lawful in landscaping, and all of them still require overtime computed on the regular rate for the week.
Labeling the crew as contractors fails on the same logic. A crew you schedule, equip, transport, and direct is a crew of employees, whatever the paperwork says.
Licenses, Equipment, and Safety
Licensing in landscaping is mostly state and local, and there are more regimes than most owners expect. Anyone who applies or supervises the application of restricted use pesticides must be certified, and commercial applicators are certified by their state, normally by examination in specific categories with periodic recertification.
Beyond pesticides, several states license landscape contractors as a construction trade once a job crosses a dollar threshold, many states and local water authorities license irrigation contractors and backflow testers separately, and a truck and trailer combination rated above the federal weight threshold puts your driver into commercial driver license territory.
Whichever of these apply to your crew, name the license in the posting and verify it before the start date, not after the first job.
Requirement
How to handle it in the posting
Driver license
State whether the person will drive company trucks and what driving record standard applies
Commercial driver license
Required when the truck and trailer combination is rated above the federal weight threshold
Pesticide applicator license
Required for restricted use products; state whether you require it, prefer it, or will sponsor it
Irrigation or backflow certification
Confirm state and local water authority rules before advertising irrigation work
Equipment authorization
List the specific machines and state that training and authorization come before operation
Silica dust training
Required where the crew cuts pavers, block, or stone; name wet cutting or dust collection
Work authorization
Every hire completes Form I-9 on time; state it plainly in the posting
Age restrictions
Youth employment rules limit power equipment operation; set a minimum age per task
Safety exposure clusters in a few tasks rather than spreading evenly. Trenching for irrigation and footings falls under the excavation rules, where 5 feet is the depth that triggers a required protective system and anything deeper than 20 feet needs an engineered design.
Cutting stone triggers the silica standard, and heat reaches every outdoor crew. The heat fix is written into the schedule rather than the handbook.
Our overview of OSHA requirements for employers covers the recordkeeping and training baseline, and child labor rules matter here because 14 and 15 year olds may not operate power-driven mowers, trimmers, or similar equipment at all.
What to Pay a Landscaper
National medians are the floor of the conversation, not the answer. The right number depends on your metro area, the specialty, and whether the role runs year-round, and hardscape and irrigation technicians normally sit above the general crew rate inside the same company.
By the numbers
National Pay Benchmarks for Landscaping Roles
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), landscaping and groundskeeping workers earned a national median of $18.82 per hour ($39,150 per year), ranging from $14.98 at the tenth percentile to $27.28 at the ninetieth. First-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers earned a median of $28.09 per hour, or $58,430 per year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS).
Role
National median (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
What it means for your posting
Landscaping and groundskeeping worker
$18.82 per hour ($39,150)
The baseline crew rate; the tenth percentile sits at $14.98 and the ninetieth at $27.28
First-line supervisor, landscaping and grounds
$28.09 per hour ($58,430)
Crew leader benchmark; still usually non-exempt and overtime-eligible
Construction laborer
$22.66 per hour ($47,120)
The realistic comparison for hardscape crews you are trying to recruit
Tree trimmer and pruner
$24.50 per hour ($50,960)
Pull rate for anyone with climbing or chainsaw skill you want to keep
Pesticide handler and applicator, vegetation
$22.28 per hour ($46,340)
Justifies a license premium for gardeners who hold a certification
Landscape architect
$38.40 per hour ($79,870)
Design-build companies that carry design staff should budget at this level
Rate alone rarely wins in this trade because the competitor down the street can match it in a day. What holds people is the package around it: overtime available in peak weeks, boot and gear allowances, paid training and license reimbursement, a truck that starts, and a season that runs long enough to matter. Publish a good-faith range where pay transparency laws apply, and keep the rate visible in the posting itself.
Active Onboardings
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Each new hire, set up in one go
Put tasks, documents to sign and courses into one plan, then send all of it with one launch.
Seasonal status changes the term of employment, not the employment law that applies. Seasonal landscape laborers are ordinary non-exempt employees who earn overtime, complete Form I-9, and fall under workers compensation coverage in the states that require it. The FLSA exemption for seasonal amusement and recreational establishments does not reach a landscaping company.
Write the posting with real dates. A stated start month, a stated end month, an honest description of how weather moves both, and a rehire priority commitment beat a vague promise of steady work, because seasonal candidates are comparing offers on exactly those terms.
Warning
Seasonal Does Not Mean Contractor, and It Does Not Mean Cash
The two shortcuts that end in a Department of Labor claim are paying seasonal crews as independent contractors and paying them off the books. Both fail on the same facts: you set the schedule, you own the equipment, you direct the work, and you decide who goes where. Run seasonal hires through the same Form I-9 process and the same payroll as everyone else, and if you use E-Verify, apply it consistently to every new hire rather than selectively.
Some landscaping companies fill seasonal crews through the H-2B temporary non-agricultural visa program, and the trade is its largest single user. Landscaping and groundskeeping worker was the top certified H-2B occupation in fiscal 2025, at 89,013 certified positions, about 38 percent of all certified positions, according to the Department of Labor Office of Foreign Labor Certification.
The H-2B program is capped by statute at 66,000 visas a year, split evenly between the two halves of the fiscal year. Certified positions are jobs the Department of Labor approved, not visas issued, which is why the figure above can exceed the cap.
The route into the program is a temporary labor certification, which requires you to test the domestic market first and to extend the same wage and conditions to domestic workers in corresponding employment.
Hiring Crews Without an HR Department
Landscaping hiring fails in three predictable places: the posting is too thin to compete, the paperwork arrives in one wave, and the returning crew gets re-onboarded from zero every spring. Each has a fix that costs nothing but structure.
You need thirty people in six weeks and you are also selling the jobs
Landscape hiring is not a steady trickle. It is a wall that arrives with the first warm week. The owner who writes the posting is the same person estimating jobs, ordering material, and fixing a hydraulic line, which is why so many landscaping postings are three lines long and say nothing about pay, equipment, or start time. Candidates in this trade compare offers in minutes, usually on a phone, and a posting that hides the rate loses to the one down the street that states it. Fix the structure once: one posting per role with the rate, the yard location, the start time, the season length, and the equipment named. Then reuse it every spring and change only the numbers.
Every hire needs different paperwork and it all lands in the same two weeks
An install crew member needs Form I-9 and a signed safety acknowledgment. A hardscape installer adds silica training and equipment authorization. A gardener adds a pesticide applicator license copy with an expiration date. An irrigation tech adds a backflow certification. A crew leader adds a driving record check and a vehicle policy. Multiply that across a spring hiring wave and the folder system stops working around the fifteenth hire. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence for every new crew member, with e-signature for policies and acknowledgments, document storage tied to the employee profile, expiration dates tracked on licenses and certifications, and training modules assigned before the first shift. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Half your crew comes back next season and you re-onboard them from scratch
Seasonal rehire is the cheapest hiring channel a landscaping company has, and most companies waste it. The returning crew member already knows your equipment, your yard, your quality standard, and your clients, and they still get treated like a stranger every March: new forms, new orientation, no record of what training they completed last season. Keep an alumni list with rehire eligibility, performance notes, and equipment authorizations attached to a profile that survives the winter. Reach out in February, before the competition posts. Then re-onboard only what actually expired, which is usually the acknowledgments and a short refresher, not the whole sequence. Rehire priority stated in the original posting is also a real retention tool for people choosing between two seasonal offers.
Beyond those three fixes, a background check is worth running where the role involves driving company vehicles or working on occupied residential property.
1Install, hardscape, plantings, irrigation, and seasonal labor are five different hires, and one generic landscaper posting attracts applicants who fit none of them.
2Landscape field employees are non-exempt: overtime past 40 hours in the workweek, and landscaping is not agriculture under the FLSA, so the farm exemption does not apply to install crews.
3Time loading at the yard and traveling between sites during the day is paid time, so the clock starts at the yard, not at the first job.
4A working crew leader who installs alongside the crew usually fails the executive exemption primary duty test regardless of title or salary.
5National median pay is $18.82 per hour for landscaping and groundskeeping workers and $28.09 per hour for first-line supervisors (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
6List every license in the posting: pesticide applicator, irrigation and backflow, state landscape contractor licensing, and commercial driving for heavy combinations.
Good to know
Spring Crews Bring a Wave of Paperwork
Landscape hiring arrives in one wave every spring, and so does the paperwork. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence for every crew member, with e-signature for policies and acknowledgments, document storage for license copies and training records, and expiration dates tracked so a lapsed applicator license does not surface mid-season. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a landscaper do?
A landscaper installs and cares for outdoor spaces, and on the install side that means building something new rather than maintaining something existing. The work covers grading and soil preparation, planting trees, shrubs, perennials, and sod, spreading mulch and stone, setting edging, and assisting on hardscape features like patios, walkways, and retaining walls. Larger companies split the trade into specialties: hardscape crews build the stone and block work, gardeners handle plantings and plant health, irrigation technicians install and service systems and low-voltage lighting, and crew leaders run layout, grade, hours, and client contact on site. Maintenance work such as weekly mowing routes and grounds upkeep is a related but separate role with different screening and a different pay band. Write the posting for the specialty you are actually hiring, because the skills barely overlap.
What should a landscaper job description include?
Include nine things: the specialty in the job title, the hourly rate or a real range, the yard location and daily start time, the season length and whether winter work exists, the specific duties for that specialty, the equipment the person will operate, any license required such as pesticide applicator or commercial driving, the physical requirements written as concrete weights and postures, and the non-exempt classification. Add a Form I-9 work authorization notice and an equal opportunity statement. Candidates compare offers in minutes, usually on a phone, so a posting that leaves out the rate gets passed over for one that shows it. Concrete physical requirements also do two jobs: they screen applicants honestly, and they give you a written record of the job’s essential functions if an accommodation request ever arises.
How much does a landscaper make?
The national median for landscaping and groundskeeping workers is $18.82 per hour, or $39,150 per year, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025). Ten percent of those workers earned less than $14.98 per hour, and ten percent earned more than $27.28. First-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers, the benchmark for a crew leader, had a median of $28.09 per hour, or $58,430 per year. Nearby trades pay more: tree trimmers and pruners had a median of $24.50 per hour, pesticide handlers and applicators in vegetation work $22.28, and construction laborers, the closest comparison for hardscape crews, $22.66. These are national figures across every setting, so benchmark against your metro area and the specialty. Hardscape and irrigation technicians normally earn more than the general crew rate in the same company.
Are landscapers exempt from overtime?
No. Landscape field employees are non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act: they are paid hourly and earn overtime at one and one-half times the regular rate for every hour past 40 in a workweek. Two beliefs cause most of the trouble here. One is that landscaping is agriculture and so gets the farm overtime exemption. It does not, because those exemptions cover farming and work done on a farm, and a landscaping company that installs plants it bought is doing neither. The other is that a crew leader with a title and a salary is automatically exempt. The executive exemption needs a salary at or above the federal weekly threshold, a primary duty of management, direction of two or more full-time employees, and either the power to hire and fire or recommendations on those decisions that carry particular weight. A working foreman who installs alongside the crew usually fails the primary duty test. This is general information, not legal advice.
Is travel time paid for landscaping crews?
Yes, once the working day has started. Yard work such as loading the truck, hooking up the trailer, inspecting tools, and collecting material counts as hours worked, and so does the drive from the yard to the first job and from one site to the next. A normal commute from home to the yard generally does not count, but requiring the crew to report to the shop first starts the clock at the shop. Problems start when crews are paid only from site arrival to site departure, because that leaves the loading and driving time out of both the paycheck and the overtime calculation. The fix is mechanical: clock in and out at the yard, and give the crew a time system they can use from the truck. This is general information, not legal advice.
What is the difference between a landscaper and a gardener job description?
A landscaper job description is built around installation and physical production, while a gardener job description is built around horticultural knowledge. The landscaper posting screens for grade work, material handling, equipment operation, stamina, and the ability to follow a plan sheet. The gardener posting screens for plant identification across trees, shrubs, perennials, and natives, pruning correctly for species and season, soil interpretation, seasonal color rotations, and diagnosing insect, disease, and nutrient problems before they spread. Pay and hiring channels differ accordingly: gardeners often come from horticulture programs, nurseries, or estate work, and a state pesticide applicator license is frequently part of the job. If you need both, post both roles separately rather than writing one description that asks for everything and attracts nobody in particular.
How do I hire a landscaping crew without an HR department?
Run a fixed sequence and start it in late winter, before the first warm week sets off everyone else in your market. Post one job description per specialty with the hourly rate, yard location, start time, and season length stated openly. Screen by phone in under ten minutes on three things: reliable transportation to the yard, equipment experience, and availability for the full season. Do a paid working day rather than a long interview, because this trade shows itself in an afternoon. Then onboard as a checklist: Form I-9 completed on time, safety and equipment training documented, license copies collected with expiration dates, and policy acknowledgments signed before the first shift. FirstHR runs that onboarding sequence with e-signature, document storage, and renewal tracking. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
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