Landscape Operative Standard Apprenticeship

What you'll learn

Industry understanding: The importance and benefits of green-space and different types of horticultural management appropriate to different sites.

Business: Project processes, planning work scheduling and requirements to meet specification, working to a budget. Business operations and the impact of decisions, individual and team performance on commercial success. Have an awareness of the commercial environment including competitors and suppliers.

Communication: The importance of clear and unambiguous communication appropriate to different audiences. The application of different forms of communication aids and their use.Customer care:how to identify client and customer, understanding their needs and facilitating relations to progress business success. Managing teams to deliver customer service. The impact of customer care on the organisation.

Supervision: How to communicate with a team and provide work instructions. How to manage a team's performance and provide feedback to team members and managers. Utilising communication and an understanding of people to work collaboratively and increase productivity and safety.

Health and safety: Obligations for managing safely; health, safety, quality, environmental (HSQE) and welfare issues within a business and on site. Knowing how to identify potential hazards and manage the risks to fully comply with legislation and industry practice.

Environmental: Waste hazards and waste reduction and recycling and environmental best practice. Impact of horticultural management on the environment. Protection of environment in each particular task.

Plant growth and development: Plant nutrition and plant requirements. The principles of germination, photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration (the science of growth).

How to manage plants correctly in different environments:The relationship between environmental conditions and plant growth and associated management.

Tools, equipment and machinery: Safe and correct operation and maintenance of tools and equipment commonly used in horticulture e.g. hand held, pedestrian and ride on in order to supervise work teams. Knowledge of requirements for purchase, hire or lease of such equipment and appropriate instruction to workers before use.

Vegetation control: Vegetation and methods of site clearance and removal of vegetation. Biosecurity; identification, prevention and control measures for pests and diseases on work sites. The identification and control of invasive alien species through supervision work methods. Reporting procedures.

Plant identification and classification: Plant identification by scientific names including genus, species and cultivar. Knowing why and how plants are identified. Know if plants are incorrectly labelled and how to use reference material to confirm identification.

Soils and growing media: Soils, growing media, compost and mulches and their management and assessment.

Plant health: Pest and disease identification and symptoms and control methods required on horticultural sites.

Protection of biodiversity and heritage: Habitat and historic value of horticultural sites, awareness of protected species and landscapes and procedures to follow.

Assess, repair and maintain hard structures: Daily management of hard structures, hazards associated with failure and damage and maintenance regimes.