While landscaping involves enhancing nature and the living environment, it also aims to preserve biodiversity. Fully aligned with environmental issues, the landscaping sector offers a variety of new careers committed to protecting the planet. Career prospects, challenges, recruitment, training... Focus on careers in landscaping.
Landscape design: a variety of career opportunities
Landscaping consists of several sectors and thus offers many opportunities.
The landscaping sectors
Landscaping professions encompass several sectors:
- The development of large construction sites (along train lines, highways, real estate complexes, etc.).
- The creation of private and public gardens.
- The creation and maintenance of green spaces in cities, rural areas, and suburban areas.
- The creation of indoor gardens in workspaces, lounges, lobbies, etc.
- The maintenance and development of public and private green spaces dedicated to sports (soccer fields, golf courses, etc.).
While the main employers are local authorities and associations, more and more large companies are calling on the skills of landscaping experts.
Landscaping professions
By choosing a career in landscaping, you will have access to a wide variety of jobs. Both technical and aesthetic, these jobs involve landscaping green spaces, creating living spaces, managing several landscaping or maintenance projects, and helping to preserve ecosystems. Some are accessible with a vocational training certificate, while others require two, three, or even five years of higher education or engineering school.
Here are a few examples of landscaping jobs:
- Gardener – landscaper
- Landscape designer
- Landscape and Environmental Technician
- Site manager
- Landscape designer and draftsman
- Director of a landscape design agency
- Landscape Manager
- Landscape construction supervisor
Landscaping professions respond to environmental challenges
In the context of ecological transition, landscaping professions have evolved significantly in recent years. Beyond their primary mission of landscaping, they now contribute to protecting the environment. The profession of landscape designer was created by the French government to control landscape development and preserve biodiversity in natural environments.
The environmental challenges facing the landscaping profession are many and varied:
- Greening cities to improve air quality, combat pollution, and cool the ambient air. This also enhances heritage sites and makes them more attractive.
- Preserving local biodiversity.
- Preserving ecosystems. The use of plant protection products is limited in order to reduce their harmful impact on ecosystems.
- Reducing the carbon footprint of landscape professionals (green waste management, rational water use, decarbonization of vehicles, etc.).
In addition to environmental challenges, landscaping strives to address social issues such as:
- Respect for people's living environment (maintaining safety and cleanliness, limiting noise pollution, etc.).
- Construction site safety.
- The goal of "zero accidents."
Labels such as the Eco Jardin label or B Corp certification promote best practices among landscaping companies in a number of areas (resource management, energy, transportation, and employee health).
Landscaping: a sector that is hiring
The landscaping industry employs around 132,000 professionals in France. This significant figure is expected to increase in the coming years, thanks to high recruitment levels in the sector. More than a third of companies in the sector—including microbusinesses, medium-sized companies, and larger enterprises—plan to recruit in 2024. This is a boon for the younger generation and candidates looking for meaningful, forward-looking careers.
Among the most popular professions are:
- Landscape gardener, accessible to all qualification levels, including BTS (advanced vocational training certificate).
- Landscape designer, accessible to those with a master's degree.
- The landscape team leader, also known as the site manager, is accessible to those with a high school diploma or two years of post-secondary education.
- Landscape construction manager, accessible with two years of postsecondary education.
- Environmental and industrial risk engineer, accessible to those with a master's degree.
- Renewable energy/contaminated sites and soils project manager, open to candidates with a master's degree.
How can I train for a career in landscaping?
Landscape design professions are accessible from CAP (vocational training certificate) to master's degree level. Training is generally mandatory, especially for positions of responsibility that combine technical, management, and project management skills. All training programs are accessible through initial training, apprenticeships, or continuing education.
The Saint-Ex Sup' school, located on The Land campus in Rennes, offers several training courses for those wishing to pursue a career in landscaping:
- The BTSa in Landscape Design, accessible after high school, under an apprenticeship contract.
- The professional degree in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, accessible to students with two years of postsecondary education.
Through a professional, rich, and comprehensive program, students acquire and develop the essential skills for careers in landscaping.
The BTSa
This diploma enables graduates to pursue a career in landscape design, creation, and maintenance. The program includes theoretical and general courses (modern literature, English, economics, etc.) and scientific and technical courses (business management, biology-ecology, contexts and determinants of landscaping, agronomic sciences and techniques/plant production, etc.). Practical skills are taught through educational projects commissioned by professionals and participation in the Chaumont-sur-Loire International Garden Festival competition.
At the end of the program, students can choose to enter the workforce or continue their studies with a professional bachelor's degree, such as the one offered by the Saint-Ex Sup' school in Rennes, for example. There are a variety of career opportunities: team leader, site manager, senior design office technician, landscaping manager in local government or private companies, assistant site supervisor, etc.
The professional degree in Landscape Architecture (
) This degree provides access to careers in land use planning, with a focus on the design and maintenance of urban and landscaped spaces. The program is taught by experts in landscape architecture and emphasizes technique, strategy, and the challenges of tomorrow: the urban landscape, sustainable development tools for urban landscapes, geomatic approaches to landscape architecture, and more. Students learn about field practice and the realities of the profession through real-life projects and professional conferences.
At the end of the program, students can choose to enter the workforce or continue their studies at a graduate school of landscape architecture or in a specialized master's program. There are a variety of career opportunities: project manager, design and consulting technician, operations and control technician, environmental technician, site supervisor, etc.
Landscape design professions offer promising career prospects that are constantly evolving and aligned with the environmental challenges of tomorrow. Training is essential to acquire the key skills and meet market needs.
