The Unexpected Realities of Being a Plant Expert
As professional horticulturists, we’re problem-solvers. Think of us as ‘Techies For Plants.’ But unlike the contractors who maintain office electronics, coffee machines, or HVAC systems, a horticulture technician’s product is a living organism. Plants are perishable, which creates challenges for our job that are entirely unique from all other trades.
Although being an interiorscape expert is a plant-lover’s dream, not every day is ‘dreamy’. Here are some surprising things about a horticulture technician’s job:
Unexpected Skills:
Water is heavy. We often carry 30 pounds in watering cans or push a 200 pound tank.
We are continually educating ourselves on new plant varieties, and their specific needs.
We are hired as customer service experts, then extensively, and intensively trained as technicians.
As horticulturists, we tackle the “yuck” factors of plants, including pests, disease, rot, and fungus.
We ‘train’ our plants to only need water every 2-8 weeks.
Our job is physical: kneeling, squatting, climbing, lifting, and overhead stretching. Not to mention we’re on our feet the whole day.
Unexpected Loss:
Construction and renovation wreak havoc on plants, including stifling dust, falling debris, and workers moving our plants to ill-suited areas, including cold, drafty places.
Each season brings changes in the plant’s environment. Heating, A/C, and fluctuating sun exposure can cause irrevocable damage to foliage.
Plants thrive in a greenhouse and adjusting to the new environment of an office can take weeks.
Root-level problems due to fertilizer toxicity and soil-borne diseases originate with the grower, and may not manifest until months later.
Cold damage from doors being propped open kills plants. It happens often, and we rarely are given the opportunity to protect the plants.
Vapors from Industrial cleaning chemicals can kill the plants.
Unexpected Finds:
People use our plant pots to discard: empty bottles, half-eaten fruit, cigarette butts, candy, baby wipes, band-aids, latex gloves, and countless wrappers.
We discover lost items such as pens, pacifiers, tiny toys, jewelry, coins, and keys.
Some people dump water in our plants, which oversaturates the soil. Other liquids we’ve come upon are: cleaners, colas, coffee, smoothies, vomit, milk and beer.
Over the years we’ve also seen hanging ornaments, clip-on trinkets, a corroded battery, a lizard, and a myriad of painted rocks.
Unexpected Pride: Quotes from our Techs:
“I’m proud to have a job that connects me to the environment.”
“A client told me their plants look better than ever since I started taking care of them.”
“Seeing new growth on my plants is exciting, it makes me happy.”
“When I walk into an account and all the plants look healthy...it just feels good.”
“It’s satisfying and funny hearing onlookers say they thought the plants were fake.”
“Getting compliments from the clients makes my day.”
“People tell me I have their dream job. I’m proud of that everyday!”
“Even on long days, this job brings me a lot of joy.”
As Plant Techies, we love what we do. Each of us undergoes a background check and drug-screen before we are hired, and then spend 6 months in horticulture training with on-site and greenhouse instruction. We’re fully prepared for the challenges, and the unexpected issues that come when working with beautiful, living plants.
