jobfacts

Horticultural trades

SOC 2020 5112

Horticultural trades workers intensively cultivate vegetables, plants, fruit, shrubs, trees and flowers in greenhouses, market gardens, nurseries and orchards.

Also calledPrunerFruitmanRubber planterFruit gardenerGardenerHorticultural assistantand 35 more titles
Typical full-time pay£27,3002025 Provisional
People in the job14,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month141↓ 0.1%on last year · 369th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
What full-time horticultural trades earn, 2025
£27,300 typicaln/ptop 10%
n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less thanNot published
25%Not published
Median£27,300
75%Not published
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £27,300
South East!£27,300
London!£26,300
North EastNot published by ONS–
North WestNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
East MidlandsNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
ScotlandNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £27,300
South East£27,300 (small sample)
London£26,300 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
North WestNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
East MidlandsNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
ScotlandNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £24,000
  • 2024 £25,800
  • 2025 Provisional£27,300
↑ 13% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 141 jobs for horticultural trades are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026128
Jul 2026144
Jun 2026146
May 2026138
Apr 2026177
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026154
Jan 2026209
Dec 202565
Nov 2025117
Oct 2025155
Sept 2025121
Aug 2025131
Jul 2025157
Jun 2025151
May 2025181
Apr 2025184
Mar 2025189
Feb 2025179
Jan 2025134
Dec 202462
Nov 2024109
Oct 2024128
Sept 2024140
Aug 2024126
Jul 2024164
Jun 2024187
May 2024249
Apr 2024230
Mar 2024175
Feb 2024163
Jan 2024200
Dec 202395
Nov 2023117
Oct 2023122
Sept 2023101
Aug 2023168
Jul 2023156
Jun 2023304
May 2023272
Apr 2023262
Mar 2023235
Feb 2023235
Jan 2023221
Dec 2022164
Nov 2022197
Oct 2022188
Sept 2022180
Aug 2022207
Jul 2022238
Jun 2022250
May 2022297
Apr 2022264
Mar 2022375
Feb 2022256
Jan 2022309
Dec 2021222
Nov 2021229
Oct 2021263
Sept 2021259
Aug 2021185
Jul 2021247
Jun 2021193
May 2021199
Apr 2021192
Mar 2021238
Feb 2021177
Jan 2021146
Dec 2020136
Nov 202089
Oct 2020117
Sept 2020121
Aug 2020132
Jul 2020145
Jun 202080
May 202060
Apr 202059
Mar 2020145
Feb 2020197
Jan 2020181
Dec 2019103
Nov 201999
Oct 2019112
Sept 2019154
Aug 2019141
Jul 2019187
Jun 2019154
May 2019196
Apr 2019143
Mar 2019167
Feb 2019133
Jan 2019136
Dec 201868
Nov 201896
Oct 2018133
Sept 2018153
Aug 2018186
Jul 2018177
Jun 2018143
May 2018189
Apr 2018146
Mar 2018162
Feb 2018170
Jan 2018193
Dec 201780
Nov 2017108
Oct 2017105
Sept 2017141
Aug 2017173
Jul 2017141
Jun 2017181
May 2017207
Apr 2017215
Mar 2017263
Feb 2017216
Jan 2017219
Is there a shortage of horticultural trades?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedWell above usual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedWell above usual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
54%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for agricultural and related trades, which includes horticultural trades. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London78
North Yorkshire12
Herefordshire, County of9
Bristol, City of7
Birmingham6
Horsham5
Leeds5
South Kesteven5
Manchester5
Buckinghamshire5
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where horticultural trades are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 16,012 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, ranking it 2nd of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
WomenToo few in the survey to give a reliable figure
Age of horticultural trades
n/p
n/p
n/p
29%!
38%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–34Not published
35–44Not published
45–5429% (small sample)
55–6438% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent!61%
Higher education below degree!14%
A levels or equivalent!43%
GCSEs or equivalent!22%
Other qualifications–
Not published
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent61% (small sample)
Higher education below degree14% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent43% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalent22% (small sample)
Other qualificationsNot published
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: retail sale of flowers, plants, seeds, fertilisers, pet animals and pet food in specialised stores (35%), landscape service activities (19%), plant propagation (10%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
61%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
1
from level 3
Apprenticeships take
2 years
typically
T Levels
1
college courses for 16 to 19 year olds

Apprenticeships

1 for this job
Level 3About 2 years

Crop technician

You gain
Safe Use of Pesticides foundation unit plus one of the following: boom sprayer, mounted…; Level 3 award or training and assessment in emergency first aid at work minimum 1 day…
Details on Skills England

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Other qualifications

QualificationTypeLevel
Agriculture, Land Management and ProductionT Level3

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • prepares soil in field, bed or pot by hand or machine
  • mixes soil, composts, fertilisers and/or organic matter and spreads fertiliser and manure
  • sows seeds and bulbs and transplants seedlings
  • propagates plants by taking cuttings and by grafting and budding, applies weed-killer, fungicide and insecticide to control pests and diseases
  • prunes and thins trees and shrubs
  • supports trees by staking and wiring

Skills

  • execute disease and pest control activities
  • prepare planting area for planting
  • grow plants
  • prepare flower arrangements
  • prepare planting area
  • propagate plants
  • prune plants
  • use gardening equipment
  • nurse plants
  • prune hedges and trees
  • coordinate greenhouse environment
  • execute fertilisation
  • harvest crop
  • maintain storage facilities

Knowledge

  • pest control in plants
  • plant disease control
  • plant species
  • crop production principles
  • horticulture principles
  • pruning techniques
  • pruning types
  • agronomy

Suits people who like

  • Practical, hands-on work
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for skilled agricultural and related trades, a group of 5 jobs that includes horticultural trades.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 13%about 47,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 2035266,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.