Landscaping CV Example
Updated 26 June 2026
A strong landscaping CV separates skilled tradespeople from casual labourers by showing concrete tickets, plant knowledge and measurable builds. This guide walks you through writing a CV that positions you clearly in design, construction or maintenance and proves you can do the work.
Landscaping CV examples
Junior Landscaper (Maintenance)
entryLeads with apprenticeship, driving licence and NPTC tickets, shows a real trade pathway rather than vague willingness to learn.
Landscaper (Hard Landscaping / Construction)
midSplits hard vs soft skills clearly, quantifies builds in m² and metres, and shows ability to work from drawings, exactly what construction-track employers screen for.
Senior Landscaper / Landscape Supervisor (Design & Build)
seniorDemonstrates leadership, client consultation, CAD skills and RHS qualifications, positions the candidate firmly in the design-and-build track with horticultural depth.
How to write a landscaping CV
Format and length
Keep your landscaping CV to two pages, reverse-chronological, with no photo or date of birth. Recruiters spend 10 seconds scanning for tickets, a driving licence and real project scope, so put those up front.
Section order and what to include
| Section | What to include |
|---|---|
| Personal statement | 2-3 lines positioning you in design, construction or maintenance. Name your key tickets and experience level. |
| Skills | Split hard landscaping vs soft landscaping so employers can place you instantly. List NPTC/CPCS tickets, RHS qualifications, CSCS card and driving licence. |
| Experience | Quantify in landscaping terms: m² laid, metres of wall/fencing, acres maintained, number of gardens per season. Name materials, plant species and machinery. |
| Education & Certifications | Lead with RHS qualifications if you hold them. List NVQ/apprenticeship, college horticulture courses, and spell out NPTC/Lantra tickets individually (CS30/31, PA1/PA6, mower, strimmer). |
| Additional Info | Only if genuinely relevant: RHS membership, volunteering at community gardens, or other horticultural interests. |
Tailor to the track
Landscaping splits into three career tracks, and your CV should lean into one:
- Design: Lead with CAD, planting plans, client consultation, RHS qualifications and plant knowledge.
- Construction (build): Lead with hard landscaping builds (patios, walls, decking), ability to read drawings, CSCS card and machinery tickets.
- Maintenance: Lead with grounds care, mowing regimes, hedge/turf work, spraying tickets (PA1/PA6) and NPTC machinery tickets.
Don't blur all three. Read the job advert and tailor your personal statement and skills to the track the role sits in.
Personal statement examples
Hard landscaper with five years building patios, retaining walls and driveways across domestic and commercial projects. CSCS card holder experienced in interpreting landscape plans, setting levels and installing drainage. Skilled in natural stone, porcelain paving and timber decking, with a clean safety record on site.
Hard-working and reliable landscaper looking for a new opportunity to use my skills and grow. Passionate about the outdoors and enjoy working as part of a team. Good knowledge of plants and willing to learn.
Writing your experience
The result-plus-metric pattern
Landscaping employers want to see what you built, how much, and to what standard. The formula is:
Action verb + specific task + quantity/scope + result or material.
Before (vague duty):
Maintained gardens and lawns.
After (concrete achievement):
Maintained 18 commercial sites weekly, including mowing 12 acres of amenity grass to specified heights of cut.
Before (generic claim):
Installed patios and paving.
After (quantified build):
Built 28 domestic patios per year (average 45m² each) in Indian sandstone, porcelain and granite setts, achieving 95% first-time sign-off rate.
Name materials, species and machinery
Concrete nouns prove you know the trade. Compare:
| Weak (generic) | Strong (specific) |
|---|---|
| Installed paving | Laid 120m² of porcelain patio and 40m of sleeper retaining wall |
| Maintained plants | Installed prairie-style herbaceous borders (Echinacea, Verbena, Stipa) and shade planting (Hosta, Ferns, Astilbe) |
| Used machinery | Operated ride-on mowers, strimmers and chainsaws (CS30/31) safely |
Action verbs for landscaping
Construction/build: Built, installed, laid, erected, excavated, set out, constructed, formed, compacted.
Maintenance: Maintained, mowed, trimmed, pruned, treated, applied, renovated, aerated, scarified, top-dressed.
Design/planning: Designed, specified, planned, consulted, quoted, interpreted, surveyed, measured.
Leadership: Supervised, managed, coordinated, mentored, trained, led.
Key skills & ATS keywords
Hard skills
Soft skills
ATS keywords
Education & certifications
RHS qualifications
Put RHS qualifications front and centre if you hold them. The RHS Level 2 Certificate in the Principles/Practices of Horticulture is the recognised UK benchmark, and RHS Level 3 / the RHS Diploma signal senior horticultural depth. They carry more weight with British employers than generic "horticulture course" wording.
List them in your Achievements or Education section, and mention them in your personal statement if they're relevant to the role.
NVQ and apprenticeships
Early-career candidates should foreground the recognised entry routes: a Horticulture or Landscaping NVQ (or SVQ in Scotland), plus a college horticulture course. Combined with tickets and a driving licence, this beats a thin "willing to learn" objective and signals you're on a real trade pathway.
List the awarding body, dates, and any distinction or merit grades.
NPTC and Lantra tickets
Spell out NPTC/Lantra machinery tickets individually, don't just write "machinery experience". Employers and insurers need to see the exact certificates:
- Chainsaw: CS30 (maintenance and cross-cutting), CS31 (felling and processing)
- Mowers: Pedestrian mower, ride-on mower
- Brushcutter/strimmer
- CPCS: Dumper, roller, digger (state the category)
List these in an Achievements or Certifications section, with the issuing body (Lantra, NPTC, CPCS).
Pesticide application tickets
If you do grounds maintenance or weed control, list your spraying tickets precisely:
- PA1: Foundation certificate in safe use of pesticides
- PA6: Handheld/knapsack applicator
- PA2: Boom/vehicle-mounted sprayers (if applicable)
These are gatekeeper qualifications, name the exact modules, not just "pesticide trained".
CSCS card
Add a CSCS card (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) to your CV when you want commercial, new-build or site-based work. Many main contractors won't let you on site without one. It's a quick, cheap differentiator over candidates who only have garden/domestic experience.
List it in Achievements with the card colour (green, blue, gold) and expiry date if current.
Driving licence
A full UK driving licence is effectively mandatory. State it explicitly in your Achievements or Skills section. Add B+E (trailer entitlement) if you have it, landscaping teams tow machinery, plant and waste trailers, and this is a real advantage.
Common mistakes to avoid
Writing a generic "outdoor labourer" CV with vague duties like "mowing, weeding, tidying" and no tickets, plant names or hard-landscaping builds.
Quantify in landscaping terms (m² laid, metres of wall, acres maintained), name materials and plant species, and list every NPTC/CPCS ticket and your driving licence. Recruiters can't tell a skilled landscaper from a casual labourer without concrete proof.
Blurring design, construction and maintenance into one CV, so the employer can't place you.
Tailor your personal statement and skills to the track the job sits in. A design CV leads with CAD and planting plans; a construction CV leads with hard landscaping and CSCS; a maintenance CV leads with mowing, spraying and grounds care.
Claiming "knowledge of plants and soil" without naming species, planting schemes or soil types you've worked with.
Demonstrate plant knowledge concretely: reference planting schemes you've installed (e.g. prairie-style herbaceous, shade planting), species/seasonal interest, soil-type awareness, and pest/disease identification. Name what you've actually planted.
Listing "machinery experience" or "pesticide trained" without spelling out the exact NPTC/PA tickets.
Spell out NPTC/Lantra tickets individually (CS30/31, mower, strimmer, CPCS dumper) and PA modules (PA1, PA6). Employers and insurers need to see the certificate names that match what their insurance requires.
Omitting your driving licence or assuming it's obvious.
State your full UK driving licence explicitly in Achievements or Skills. Add B+E trailer entitlement if you have it. Landscapers travel between sites and tow trailers, it's effectively mandatory and needs to be visible.
Forgetting to mention your CSCS card when applying for commercial or new-build work.
Add your CSCS card to Achievements if you want site-based work. Many main contractors won't let you on site without one, and it's a quick differentiator over domestic-only candidates.
Junior vs senior: what changes
| Aspect | Junior | Senior |
|---|---|---|
| Personal statement | Leads with apprenticeship, NVQ and NPTC tickets. Emphasises willingness to learn and develop skills. | Leads with years of experience, project values, team leadership and RHS qualifications. Positions in design, construction or maintenance track. |
| Skills section | Basic machinery tickets (mower, strimmer), turfing, hedge trimming, driving licence. May list "learning" hard landscaping or plant ID. | Full NPTC/CPCS suite, PA1/PA6, RHS Level 3, AutoCAD, client consultation, project management. Clear hard/soft landscaping split. |
| Experience bullets | Smaller scope ("assisted with", "maintained 5 sites", "installed 80m² of turf"). Focus on tasks completed under supervision. | Larger scope ("delivered 18 gardens per year", "managed teams of four", "£60k average project value"). Leadership, client liaison, design input. |
| Plant knowledge | General terms ("seasonal bedding", "shrubs and perennials"). Learning species names and care routines. | Names species and planting schemes ("prairie-style herbaceous: Echinacea, Verbena, Stipa", "shade planting: Hosta, Ferns, Astilbe"). Demonstrates soil-type and seasonal-interest awareness. |
| Qualifications | NVQ Level 2 in progress or recently completed. One or two NPTC tickets. Driving licence. | RHS Level 3 or Diploma. Full NPTC/CPCS suite, PA1/PA6, CSCS card. B+E trailer licence. Possibly design software training. |
| Achievements | Completing apprenticeship on time, passing NPTC tickets first time, zero accidents. | Award-shortlisted gardens, 100% client satisfaction, mentoring apprentices, delivering projects on time and budget. |