As the world is knowing more about climate change there is an increase in contribution from many companies and industries to make it easy. Maintaining a good aesthetic and eye-catching garden is something that a company wants when they want to create a good atmosphere in the campus. As per a survey 85 million household in America gardens absorb almost 2 million tonnes of CO2 every year. These gardens need a gardener to maintain them and handle all the other works related to the plantations.
Gardener is paid from $15 an hour to an average of $37000 per year. Yes, a lot of companies will give you a good pay if you have goods skills and knowledge as a gardener. Many big companies interview dozens before hiring a good gardener. The questions mostly check your knowledge, personality and your overall interest in gardening.
Top 21 Gardener Interview Questions
1.Have you ever worked as a gardener?
This is the most common question asked in an interview. If you don’t have any professional experience in gardening please do not lie. Be truthful and honest. Try to highlight you personal interest in gardening and also try to focus on your knowledge in the field of gardening. However, if you have any previous experience, you can share the details of your previous job
2. Share any memorable moment as a gardener.
This is the question check if you cherish your moments as gardener. You could mention any great event you or your company participated in to make the job seem important to you. E.g. A few years ago the company I worked for participated in annual astonishing gardens competition. It was a great competition and chances of winning were very thin. We worked hard for 8 months to make the garden look beautiful and perfect. Finally we won the competition at the end and were given a nice monetary award.
3. Why did you choose gardening as a career?
Here you could highlight your passion for gardening and share any moments even if it is from your childhood to prove that you really enjoy gardening.
4. What are the challenges that you expect as a gardener?
As a gardener you need to know everything that can help make the garden look beautiful and ease off the plantation and maintenance process. You should have good knowledge about the irrigation methods and best timing for sowing seeds to suggest any changes. So you need to be up to date and I think being up to date about all the developments in the gardening field will be a challenge as a gardener.
5. Do you know anything about our company? Why did you apply here?
This question checks your seriousness about the job and if you research about the company, you will not only look sincere but also dedicated. So, try to mention any previous articles or news that will help you expand your answer
E.g. Yes, I know a lot about your company. You really have a very good name out there in the field of horticulture. Your company have experience in many tough areas of gardening like seed storage, environment effect study. So I think this is the perfect place that will help me grow my knowledge and excel as a gardener.
6. What do you think a typical day of a head gardener is like in this company?
This question depends on the place you will be working for. Before answering this, you should know the company’s work nature, area of garden and number of staff for gardening work. This will give you an idea of the scale of work you will be handling as a gardener.
7. Can you suggest some synthetic or natural controls for earwigs?
Earwigs aren’t mostly that harmful for the plants. They actually help in population control of some of the wild weeds and plants feeder that can hamper plant growth. So, unless you are sure that earwigs are the reason of your problem there is no need of any action. However, you can use insecticidal soaps to keep them in check.
8. How will you grow strelitzias indoors?
Srelitzias can be grown indoors if you provide it with ample amount of sunlight direct from sun, water regularly and provide proper warmth. Make sure you feed the plant with compost in spring before the growing period starts. Then you should fertilize every week in growing period.
9. Can you suggest any plant that gives lot of oxygen but doesn’t need much sunlight?
There are lots of plants that can grow in low light and still give out ample amount of oxygen E.g., Spider plant, Grape ivy vine, Chinese evergreen, Kangaroo vine, etc
10. Do you anything about vegetable known as pregnant onion?
Pregnant onion or Ornithogalum Longibracteatum is a flower plant and belongs to lily family. It is natively found in south Africa but surprisingly it also grows in some parts of US.
11. I once saw a plant named tweedia in a magazine. It was very beautiful but it is hard to get your hands on it. Do you know anything about it?
Tweedia is a blue flowering plant which really rare to find as referred in some of the gardening books. It is fragrant and its foliage is very aesthetic. This makes it perfect and in demand as bridal bouquet. Its botanical name is tweedia caerulea. It is mostly found in parts of south America.
12. What are some common problems with English roses?
Even though English roses are known for being a disease resistant shrub and long-lasting flower plants there are some issues with some varieties of English roses. Like- some varieties don’t tend to last long after a cut and some varieties like ‘Graham Thomas’ fades early.
13. Do you know anything about Good red English rose?
Good red English roses are a symbol of love and passion all around the world. Those are small busses and requires a warm climate. However, these flowers have a short vase life but are fragrant enough to make it worth it. It will gloom better and last longer if it is to be planted in a half whiskey barrel.
14. Can you mention some of the difficulties faced to grow organic plants?
As you don’t use any kind of chemical pesticides that can boost the growth, it takes long time to grow organic plantation. Also, the danger of pest attack prevails due to not using pesticides.
15. What are some of the tools used in gardening which you have experience with?
It is really important to have experience with gardening machineries like lawn mowers, chain saws, leaf blower, trimmers, etc. You can exaggerate a bit about your experience with tools if you are confident enough.
16. Did you ever try or suggested any change in irrigation system at your current workplace?
Irrigation system plays an important part in gardening. The irrigation system in my previous workplace was quite efficient but it could also have been improved if the sprinklers were increased to reach the faraway sites.
17. Even after giving more than enough water the limbs of my Japanese maple started wilting last summer. Do you know how to save the tree?
Its seems like the symptom of Verticillium wilt. It is a soil borne fungal disease. It mainly affects vascular systems of Japanese, Norway maple and many other plants. If the fungal spread is wide then it is not most likely to be saved but if only few branches are affected then regular watering and applying slow releasing fertilizers may work.
18. If I want to cut down clematis, what is the best time to do it?
The pruning period for clematis depends of the type of clematis you have. If it blooms on dead wood can be cleared of by removing dead woods and if it blooms on current season wood then you must cut it down in spring before the growth period starts.
19. If you are hired as a head gardener, will you be able to coordinate with other junior gardeners?
Here you should emphasize how important it is to work as team to be a better gardener and maintain a better plantation. You could refer to some of your team work moments as gardener at you previous workplace. Any event you participated in or any other challenge that you tackled as a team player.
20. What will you prefer organic or non- organic plantation?
I will obviously prefer organic plantation but I don’t think that there is anything like organic plantation. If you are doing it properly then it is organic because using chemicals in greater extent is never a gardening practice. It is commercial profit practice.
21. Are you satisfied with what we are offering you as a salary?
Yes, I am satisfied with pay but here the interest and passion for the job is more important than the amount of salary. I won’t completely deny the importance of salary amount but I don’t think it should override your dedication towards planting and gardening.
Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (for Gardener interviews):
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