Gardening involves a variety of jobs, from landscaping and advising what plants to put where, to carrying out all the work, including lopping trees, building ponds and, in some cases, even laying a driveway or installing an outside tap.

Some gardeners specialise in work such as the best types of plants for your garden's soil, while others may specialise in garden ponds or water features.

Gardeners don’t need any formal qualifications but there is wide range of qualifications that they could have, ranging from an apprenticeship in amenity horticulture, which usually includes NVQ and SVQ to Level 2, through to certificates and diplomas in horticulture, or and even a degree.

Often landscape gardeners will visit for free and some may even produce a design without charge if they have the contract to carry out the work.

Find out more by browsing websites such as the Association of Professional Landscapers, Landscape Institute and British Association of Landscape Industries.

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• contact our partners, Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.
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