Horticulture Requires Less Education But Does Require A Love for Growing Things

If you enjoy gardening, you might consider the possibility of becoming a Horticulturist. These large-scale gardeners grow vegetables, fruits, flowers, and plants. There's more to it though, than just growing things. Horticulturists are constantly working to improve the quality of their crops in a number of ways. They look for ways to improve resistance to pests and diseases, to improve hardiness, and also to add to the variety of the flowers and plants by interbreeding and bringing forth-new varieties. They know all about soil conditions and how much or how little water each variety of plant needs to receive. They specialize in seeding, grafting, cutting and all other areas of planting.

Horticulturists often work in nurseries or as gardeners or landscapers on large projects, such as landscaping hospital grounds or hotel gardens. They may also find work in floral design, or even as vegetable or fruit farmers. Wine making is also an example of something a horticulturist might do for a living. In fact, many varieties of wine are the result of breeding different kinds of grapes with each other in order to produce a new or unusual flavor.

Regardless of their professions, the one thing all horticulturists have in common is a love of growing things. In addition, most horticulturists say they enjoy working outdoors. Some positions, such as greenhouse manager or florist, are inside jobs; however those who work as landscape artists or vegetable or fruit gardening will be working outside most of the time.

The pay scale for a horticulturist, according to payscale.com, is anywhere between $27,000 and $45,000 a year. As far as the educational requirements, there are colleges that offer a 2-year degree in horticulture, so obviously it isn't something that requires a lot of education to get into; however the more education you can get in the field, the better your odds of getting a top-paying job. Also, advancement opportunities are better for those with higher education.

For those individuals who love horticulture and who also wish to help improve the environment, there are plenty of jobs available that allow one to impact the environment in a positive way. Organic farms are constantly trying to produce hardier varieties of vegetables and fruits that resist disease and pests. Since chemical pesticides and herbicides aren't used in organic farming, stronger varieties of vegetables and fruits are needed. Organic farms aside, plant production in itself is environmentally friendly, as plants produce oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide - in other words, plants clean the air naturally. Studies have shown that indoor environments that house several plants usually have cleaner air than non-plant environments.

Horticulture is definitely a fun and interesting choice of professions. Most people who choose to make horticulture their career path are happy in their careers for many years.

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