

LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE PROFESSIONAL
The most notable certifications include those from the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS), the oldest membership society of grounds professionals, representing over 1,000 industry professionals in the United States, with members in Canada and overseas. However, certifications and training are available to help grounds maintenance workers enhance their grounds maintenance job skills and advance their careers. Ground Maintenance Certifications and Trainingīesides pesticide handlers, most grounds maintenance roles require no formal training or licensing. Groundskeepers are often members of facilities management teams and departments. Maintenance workers who work on golf courses are referred to as greenskeepers.


Other facilities that commonly rely on grounds maintenance include commercial parking lots, cemeteries, and golf courses. In some institutions, horticulture students partake in beautifying campuses as part of their coursework. Learning Institutions: Schools rely on grounds maintenance–such as snow removal from walkways–to ensure the safety of students, faculty, and visitors.Poorly maintained athletic fields can lead to slips, falls, and injuries such as grass burns. Sports Facilities: Grounds maintenance keeps turfs safe for athletes.Commercial Properties: Shopping centers, malls, and office complexes need landscape maintenance to retain their aesthetic value and to ensure the safety of visitors and occupants.Residential Facilities: Ground maintenance workers water, prune, and weed plants that provide privacy, shade, and visual appeal, as well as making sure accessibility to and from facilities is always open and safe.Similarly, both residential and commercial property owners use grounds maintenance to increase perceived property values, resulting in higher selling prices.įacilities that rely on grounds maintenance include: One referenced study found non-landscaped homes valued at $150,000 to be worth as much as $19,000 more with “sophisticated landscapes with color and large plants.” Property owners prioritize grounds maintenance to boost occupant morale, attract and maintain business, and preserve property investments.Īs reported in Virginia Tech’s The Effect of Landscape Plants on Perceived Home Value, landscaping can increase property value by up to 12 percent. Landscaping is the practice of building aesthetically pleasing extensions of indoor living into the outdoors. The goal of grounds maintenance is to improve the appearance of landscaped features. The term can also be extended to indoor gardens, nurseries, and potted plants. It includes activities such as pruning, landscaping, and mowing. Grounds maintenance refers to activities undertaken to keep outdoor areas clean, beautiful, and orderly.
