Nursery and Garden-Center Operation Certificate of Achievement
City College of San Francisco · San Francisco, CA
- Cost
- $1,228
- Length
- 66 weeks
- Working 6 months later
- Not reported
Program names and program descriptions appear here in English, because that is the only language the federal and state records publish them in. Occupation titles are translated where O*NET publishes a Spanish name. Everything else on this page is translated.
What happened to people who took this
No outcomes reported for this program
About a third of California programs report nothing. That is a fact about the program's reporting, not evidence that it works or does not.
The jobs this trains for
This describes the jobs people do, not the classes this program teaches. It comes from the U.S. Department of Labor, which asks people already doing the work. The Department publishes it in English only, so the job names and the sentences below stay in English on this page.
Trains for more than one job. The outlook shown is the weakest of them.
Where California publishes a separate figure for San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties), it appears beneath the statewide one. Statewide stays the headline: people who train here do not necessarily work here.
First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers
Job ads may call this: Field Manager · Grounds Foreman · Grounds Manager · Landscape Manager
Some of what people in this job do. The Department rates how important each one is, and they appear in that order.
- Establish and enforce operating procedures and work standards that will ensure adequate performance and personnel safety.
- Schedule work for crews, depending on work priorities, crew or equipment availability, or weather conditions.
- Tour grounds, such as parks, botanical gardens, cemeteries, or golf courses, to inspect conditions of plants and soil.
- Monitor project activities to ensure that instructions are followed, deadlines are met, and schedules are maintained.
Show 4 more things this job involves
- Direct activities of workers who perform duties, such as landscaping, cultivating lawns, or pruning trees and shrubs.
- Inspect completed work to ensure conformance to specifications, standards, and contract requirements.
- Plant or maintain vegetation through activities such as mulching, fertilizing, watering, mowing, or pruning.
- Negotiate with customers regarding fees for landscaping, lawn service, or groundskeeping work.
What this pays in San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties)
Each bar runs from the lowest-paid tenth to the highest-paid tenth. The darker middle is where half the people are, and the line is the median.
| Area | The lowest-paid tenth earn under | Half earn under | The highest-paid tenth earn over |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $52,082 | $80,255 | $105,486 |
| Across California | $45,453 | $64,873 | $101,087 |
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) beside the same figures for the whole state. A region can sit well below or above the statewide spread, and the statewide number is the one most often quoted — so where they differ, the local row is the one that describes the work near this program.
- Typical pay in California
- $64,873per yearSan Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD: $74,124
- Projected openings
- 28,520San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD: 770
- Projected change
- +4.9%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
Getting in
- Experience needed first
- Under 5 years in a related job
- Training after you are hired
- None
Employers usually expect some time in a related job as well as the training. Ask the provider what their graduates did before they were hired.
These are the federal government's answers for the occupation, not rules this provider sets. California publishes the same two answers for every one of these jobs.
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
Pay, hiring, and what people studied
Job ads may call this: Gardener · Greenskeeper · Groundskeeper · Grounds Person
- Gather and remove litter.
- Use hand tools, such as shovels, rakes, pruning saws, saws, hedge or brush trimmers, or axes.
- Operate vehicles or powered equipment, such as mowers, tractors, twin-axle vehicles, snow blowers, chainsaws, electric clippers, sod cutters, or pruning saws.
- Water lawns, trees, or plants, using portable sprinkler systems, hoses, or watering cans.
Show 4 more things this job involves
- Prune or trim trees, shrubs, or hedges, using shears, pruners, or chain saws.
- Mix and spray or spread fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides onto grass, shrubs, or trees, using hand or automatic sprayers or spreaders.
- Use irrigation methods to adjust the amount of water consumption and to prevent waste.
- Provide proper upkeep of sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, fountains, planters, burial sites, or other grounds features.
What this pays in San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties)
Each bar runs from the lowest-paid tenth to the highest-paid tenth. The darker middle is where half the people are, and the line is the median.
| Area | The lowest-paid tenth earn under | Half earn under | The highest-paid tenth earn over |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $42,098 | $50,137 | $81,218 |
| Across California | $37,712 | $46,714 | $62,750 |
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) beside the same figures for the whole state. A region can sit well below or above the statewide spread, and the statewide number is the one most often quoted — so where they differ, the local row is the one that describes the work near this program.
- Typical pay in California
- $46,714per yearSan Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD: $50,183
- Projected openings
- 182,080San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD: 6,930
- Projected change
- +5.8%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
Getting in
- Experience needed first
- None
- Training after you are hired
- Under a month
No earlier job experience is expected, and new hires are not put through a long training period. For work like this, a program is usually the way in.
Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation
Pay, hiring, and what people studied
Job ads may call this: Lawn Specialist · Lawn Technician · Spray Applicator · Spray Technician
- Mix pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for application to trees, shrubs, lawns, or botanical crops.
- Fill sprayer tanks with water and chemicals, according to formulas.
- Lift, push, and swing nozzles, hoses, and tubes to direct spray over designated areas.
- Identify lawn or plant diseases to determine the appropriate course of treatment.
Show 4 more things this job involves
- Cover areas to specified depths with pesticides, applying knowledge of weather conditions, droplet sizes, elevation-to-distance ratios, and obstructions.
- Start motors and engage machinery, such as sprayer agitators or pumps or portable spray equipment.
- Connect hoses and nozzles selected according to terrain, distribution pattern requirements, types of infestations, and velocities.
- Clean or service machinery to ensure operating efficiency, using water, gasoline, lubricants, or hand tools.
- Typical pay in California
- $46,212per year
- Projected openings
- 3,870
- Projected change
- +3.6%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
California publishes no separate figure for this job in San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD. The statewide figures above are the only ones there are.
Getting in
- Experience needed first
- None
- Training after you are hired
- 1 to 12 months
Program details
This is a hybrid or blended program providing both in-person and online instruction.
Students who complete the curriculum in Nursery and Garden-Center Operation satisfactorily are qualified for employment in the wholesale and retail nursery businesses as growers, propagators, salespeople, and seed brokers. Graduates of this two-year course of study may also take civil-service examinations for positions as pest-control applicators and supervisors, weed-seed analysts, farm and garden supervisors, horticultural inspectors, and plant propagators.For more info, visit department at:https://www.ccsf.edu/academics/ccsf-catalog/courses-by-department/environmental-horticulture-and-floristry.
Someone else may be able to pay for this
This program was on California's Eligible Training Provider List when the state last reported it to the U.S. Department of Labor (2026-09-18). Programs on that list can be paid for through an Individual Training Account. Listings are renewed periodically and can lapse, so a program listed when the state last reported may not be listed today. Ask before you rely on it.
Ask before you enroll, not after
The order the rules set out starts at the center rather than at the school. Before a center can find somebody eligible for training services it has to gather enough to decide, at a minimum through an interview, evaluation or assessment and career planning. Referring a person to the provider they have chosen and setting up the account both come after that, and both are the center's to do — the account is a payment agreement with the training provider, and it is the provider that is paid through it. So the call belongs before enrolling and before paying. Anyone who has already done either should still ask, and ask what it means for them.
The place to ask is an America's Job Center of California
Human Services Agency of San FranciscoAffiliate site
Phone: 415-401-4800
3120 Mission StreetHSA-Mission OfficeSan Francisco, CA 94110about 2.2 miles away
Hours: Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
EDD Workforce Service - San Francisco Civic CenterAffiliate site
Phone: 415-749-7503
801 Turk StreetEDD BuildingSan Francisco, CA 94102-3117about 4.4 miles away
Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Has a veterans' representative
Goodwill Centralized Job CenterComprehensive center
Phone: 415-575-4570
750 Post StreetGoodwill of the San Francisco BaySan Francisco, CA 94109about 4.9 miles away
Hours: Monday - Friday 10:00am-4:00pm
Has a veterans' representative
At a comprehensive center all the required partner programs can be reached; an affiliate site offers some of them. Distances are straight-line, so the drive is longer. Call before you travel: opening hours here are as the federal directory published them, and the state notes its own staff are not present at every location.
Find a center anywhere in California, and check what is on the list today:
CareerOneStop — American Job Center Finder (U.S. DOL) · California EDD — Office Locator · California EDD — Eligible Training Provider List
How this gets paid for, and what to ask →
Whether a person can have a program paid for is decided by their local workforce development board and the America's Job Center staff who interview them — not by this site, and not by the training provider. California has 45 local workforce development areas and each sets its own policies, so the answer can differ between two people in neighboring counties. Nothing here is a promise of funding or a determination of eligibility.
The rules cited here, and the state and federal sites linked to, are published in English.
How this site gets its figures, and what they do not tell you →