How to become a gardener or Horticultural worker
Official title: Gardener/Horticultural worker
Also called: Gardener, Horticultural worker, Landscape technician, Assistant Horticulturist, Landscape technician
Gardener/Horticultural worker performs operations work in nurseries or greenhouses for the production of horticultural crops. He/she cultivates flowers, trees, shrubs and other plants in parks or in public or private gardens.
Main tasks
- 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 fertilisers
- 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
Ways in
- Apprenticeship: Work-study diploma. Related ITE work-study diplomas: Work-Study Diploma in Arboriculture & Horticulture. You are employed by a company and study at ITE at the same time. Peernovo matched these from course names.
- Polytechnic or ITE: ITE course (Nitec or Higher Nitec). Related ITE courses: Higher Nitec in Landscape Management & Design. Peernovo matched these from course names; ITE does not publish which jobs each course leads to.; Polytechnic diploma. Related diplomas: Diploma in Landscape Design & Horticulture (Ngee Ann Polytechnic). Peernovo matched these from course names; polytechnics do not publish which jobs each course leads to.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: $21,600 a year. The middle half earn $21,000 to $22,800 a year.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a gardener or Horticultural worker?
Ways in include: ITE course (Nitec or Higher Nitec); Polytechnic diploma; Work-study diploma.
How much does a gardener or Horticultural worker earn in Singapore?
Median full-time pay is $21,600 a year (Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg)). The middle half earn $21,000 to $22,800.
Will AI change the work of a gardener or Horticultural worker?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg): Resident Occupational Wages (Occupational Wage Survey) (June 2024 (data.gov.sg update 2026-04-01)), Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0, 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