Is a Green Career for You?

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Do you enjoy working with flowers, trees, and greenery?
Would you like to turn backyards into natural showplaces?
How about growing and maintaining the turf on a football
field? If so, you might be on a green career path. And an
interest in installing, growing, and caring for plants can
be profitable. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates
that wholesale receipts for greenhouse and nursery crops
totaled $15.7 billion in 2004, up about 20 percent from
1998. In addition, according to the National Gardening
Association, spending on landscape installation and
construction tripled–rising from $3.6 billion in 1997 to
$11.2 billion in 2002.
All that growth means lots of jobs and variety for
the people who decide what to grow and for the people
who tend those plants. Some of these occupations, such
as landscape architect, require formal education; others
do not. People often start out in grounds maintenance or
retail jobs, for example, and work their way, by acquiring
either education or experience or both, into occupations
that require more skill and offer higher pay.