Landscaping is a fascinating career for anyone to choose. You’ll reap the mental health benefits of being in nature every day, turn tired spaces into uplifting ones and you can earn a very good wage. A senior in the trade can make almost £42,000 per year, which is significantly higher than the UK average.
However, your success will be determined by your skills, services and how you compete against the other 18,800 landscaping businesses in the UK. This makes it important to hit the ground running and offer the best services to help your business grow.
That’s why we’ve put together this handy guide for landscaping beginners or experienced heads looking to take their business to a whole new level. Continue reading to learn more about the landscaping industry, the various types of it, what you should buy and the things you need to bear in mind before you start.
What is landscaping?
Landscaping is all about modifying areas of land to turn them into beautiful spaces to be enjoyed by homeowners or customers. Typically, landscaping is done in people’s gardens, in public spaces like parks or in private areas like a golf course.
You’ll be injecting new life into some green spaces, adding flowers, trimming shrubbery and cutting lawns.
What are the different landscaping styles?
If you’re looking to decide your unique selling point, you could pick a particular landscaping style to focus on. If you become an expert in this field, people will seek your skills and may be willing to pay a higher rate for your top-notch services. Here are some of the most popular landscaping styles:
Tropical
Give your clients a tropical look with lush greenery and bright, bold colours. This style typically has palm trees and exotic plants, but the UK doesn’t necessarily support these. That doesn’t mean you can’t create a beautiful tropical garden, though!
Woodland
Create that cosy cabin-in-the-woods vibe with this style. You’ll be injecting forest trees and softwoods into the outdoor space while adding beautiful flowers. This option is relatively easy to maintain too, keeping you and your clients happy.
Desert
Another low-maintenance style is desert. With very little water needed to keep the plants alive, you can keep this garden looking incredible with ease. Features you may look to add include a firepit to bring that desert heat and an outdoor kitchen to make the most of hot summer days.
Country-specific
There are plenty of styles specific to countries around the world too. Each option offers its own charms and styles, and popular options include the following:
- English
- Japanese
- Tuscan
- French
- Spanish
How can I become a landscaper?
Becoming a great landscaper won’t happen overnight and there are a few steps you’ll need to take before you can call yourself a fully-fledged landscaper. This includes:
- Attaining at least four GCSEs or equivalent. Your grades should be at least a pass and include English and maths.
- Find a college course to learn basic landscaping skills from scratch. A great starting course for landscaping includes Practical Horticulture.
- Find an apprenticeship or full-time role to get first-hand experience and learn from someone who’s been working in the trade for a while.
- Complete a higher education degree or degree apprenticeship. This could be in landscape architecture or horticulture.
- Upskill by doing further training. Outside of your studies or workday, you can find plenty of tips and tricks online to take your skills to a whole new level.
Once you’ve done all this, you should have the knowledge, skill set and CV to attract clients and start your own business.
What do I need to buy when I start my own landscaping business?
Starting your own landscaping business is the most lucrative method in any trade. If you plan on starting yours, you’ll need to register your business and get the following:
- Getting top-quality equipment like cordless chainsaws that you can depend on
- Acquiring your LISS license
- Picking up a reliable van to carry your tools to and from worksites
- Hiring staff that work hard and show up on time to help you complete bigger jobs
- A customer management system to keep your relationships with clients positive and offer clear communication
- A website for clients to book your services. You could utilise social media too and show your services to the more than 57 million Brits with an account.
What else do I need to know before starting in the landscaping trade?
You should be all set to start your business now. When you do start, do the following to help yours grow:
Make sure you ask for reviews
Reviews make your business easier to find and put more trust in your services, leading to more bookings being made. Trustpilot and Feefo are great websites for this, so simply send a link to your clients after you’re done with their outdoor space to get a review.
Register with Checkatrade
Another way to make your landscaping business more accessible is to put yours on Checkatrade. Many clients will use Checkatrade to find tradespeople in their local area. They can either contact you direct or make a request for you to pick it up at your convenience. There is a fee to pay for a Checkatrade account, however, so make sure you filter that into your budget.
Invest in a card machine
Some tradespeople have trouble receiving payment from clients, which can be frustrating and sometimes leads to financial struggles. Investing in a card machine means you can receive payment while you’re still at the client’s home, giving you peace of mind, every time.
Life as a landscaper can be an extremely positive one with good money, rewarding work and satisfying tasks to complete every single day. Start your landscaping business today using the tips above and we’ll be confident that you can make it a huge success.
Plus, there’s no better time to get into the trade with spring fast approaching and plenty of green spaces needing to be organised after a cold winter.
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