Why Garden Consulting Is the Best Way to Earn a Living as a Gardener

jobs in the garden industry

There's no shortage of work available to people who love plants. You could be a garden center employee, a landscape designer, a horticulturist. You could propagate plants and sell them. You could get an operator license and sell your produce at a farmers' market.

But if you're looking into garden consulting, I'm guessing you want a job where you get to not just work with plants, but create something beautiful, cultivate a community of gardeners around you, and teach others how to develop their gardening skills.

And that's exactly what a garden consultant does.

When I was first considering a career in the industry, I thought I was going to sell things from my garden. I had an over-abundance of leafy greens and herbs because I was growing so much at the time. It was actually my friend who gave me the idea to instead teach others how to garden the way I do.

That's how my company Rooted Garden came into being.

garden consultants are all about people, not products

Ever since, I've noticed that most areas of the garden industry are focused on products. You go to a big box store like Lowe's or Home Depot, and you can fill your cart with things to put in your garden instantly—mature plants, seeds, flowering shrubs, dirt, fertilizers, you name it.

The issue is that a lot of people buying those products don't actually know how to use them to find success in the garden. The employees can point the customer to where the bell pepper plant is, but can they tell the customer whether that plant is right for their situation, their particular garden setup?

This is the reason so many people think they don't have green thumbs. They buy products, get home, watch the plant die or the product not work, and end up thinking it's their fault.

This is why garden consultants are needed. As a garden consultant, you can recommend products that you know are going to work based on the system you've developed to help your clients find success. You're offering them a much better experience by taking away the stress and frustration that come with setting up a garden, coaching them through the things they need to know, and lending them support so that they can set up their gardens with confidence.

As a garden consultant, you get to help people transform not just their spaces, but their perception of themselves as gardeners.

I'm on a mission to train more gardeners all over the world to step into this role. I may be biased, but I do think garden consulting is a dream job, and below are even more reasons why.

garden consultants set their own flexible hours

Garden consultants work for themselves, so they can dictate their own hours, spending as much or as little time per week working with clients and creating products.

garden consultants have built a career doing something they're passionate about

How many people have ever wished they could quit their day job and turn their love of something into a full- or part-time career? How many of you have given away gardening advice for free?

Garden consultants get to share their passion with others and make money at the same time. It's amazing how quickly you can build a community of like-minded people around you when you're sharing what you love.

garden consultants work with highly motivated clients

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the garden industry has been booming. People have learned just how important being outdoors and maybe even getting your hands a bit dirty can be to your mental health. Even though so many have the desire to garden, most lack the knowledge to be successful.

Now more than ever before, people want proper training from someone who's been successfully gardening in their same climate and growing seasons, and those people have the time and willingness to learn from an expert.

garden consultants make an impact

Ask anyone what really helped them through the pandemic, and I bet a lot of people would say nature. We can never have too many beautiful outdoor gardens or lush green community spaces, can we? I'm convinced each and every kitchen garden does good for the entire planet, and garden consultants help bring those spaces into being.

garden consultants share their knowledge and experience

Garden consultants take their experience and their knowledge and turn it into a step-by-step system that they can pass along to students to make them feel accomplished. Very little setup is required to distribute your knowledge to others.

This is what I learned when I first started Rooted Garden. I advertised a salad garden workshop at my house, and the package included getting to harvest your own salad from my garden and then learning my system for salad gardening. 

do you think you could be a garden consultant?

Maybe you've come around to our belief that garden consulting is the best way to make a living in the garden industry. Maybe you were already interested in becoming a garden consultant. Either way, if this sounds like something that aligns with your career goals, we have a free workshop that teaches you seven ways to earn your first $3,000 working as a garden consultant.

However you decide to grow your self and your career, don't do it alone. Gardenary has all the resources you need to help you along the way.