Market-oriented skilled agricultural and animal husbandry workers

How to become a gardener, horticultural and nursery grower

Official title: Gardeners, horticultural and nursery growers

Also called: Horticulturist, Landscape gardener, Market gardener, Mushroom cultivator

Gardeners, horticultural and nursery growers plan, organize and perform operations to cultivate and maintain trees, shrubs, flowers and other plants in parks and private gardens, and to produce saplings, bulbs and seeds or grow vegetables and flowers, by intensive cultivation techniques for sale or delivery on a regular basis to wholesale buyers, marketing organizations or at markets.

Main tasks

Monitoring market activity and conditions determining kinds and amounts of vegetables, horticultural and nursery products to be grown, and planning and coordinating production accordingly
Preparing land by conditioning soil, levelling ground and installing and operating irrigation and drainage systems
Planting trees, hedges, garden plants and grass
Pruning and trimming trees, shrubs and hedges, installing plant supports and protection, and rolling, mowing, aerating and edging lawns
Constructing features and facilities within gardens, such as paths or paved areas, walls, rockeries, garden beds, ponds and water features, sheds and fences
Checking the health of plants and trees, identifying and treating weeds, pests and diseases, and applying mulch and fertilizers
Producing saplings, bulbs and seeds and raising plants from seeds or cuttings
Harvesting crops, inspecting, cleaning, grading, packaging, storing and loading products for sale or delivery to market
Maintaining buildings, greenhouses and other structures, equipment and water supply systems
Storing and carrying out some processing of produce

Ways in

Qualifications Framework: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Arboriculture & Horticulture. The Qualifications Framework publishes a Vocational Qualifications Pathway for the Arboriculture & Horticulture industry (樹藝及園藝), showing QF-recognised qualifications by level: https://www.hkqf.gov.hk/ah/en/vqp. Link between the industry and this job by Peernovo.

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

Median pay: HK$15,500 a month
About 387,500 people in 2025, and about 403,200 projected by 2028. (+4.1%)
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Questions people ask

How do I become a gardener, horticultural and nursery grower?

Ways in include: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Arboriculture & Horticulture.

Do you need a degree to become a gardener, horticultural and nursery grower?

Usually not. Only 6% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Arboriculture & Horticulture.

Will AI change the work of a gardener, horticultural and nursery grower?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026