Go for the Master's degree.

Depends on what kind of position you are wanting to get.

Just a general horticulturist at a botanical garden

Have you spoken with a career counselor?W hether it is biz, horticulture, medicine, etc, you need to assess honestly and accurately your field of interest. interacting with public, research, policy making, availability of jobs, career advancement, etc. It makes a diff and would be a shame not to have a general idea before you invest time and money in post grad degree

It definitely makes a difference what sort of position you are looking for. A Masters in Horticulture is probably overkill for a position in a botanical garden. Unless you were the curator :-) It is also more than is necessary for any sort of retail nursery position or general working landscaping position. A Masters would be more appropriate if you were doing research, teaching at a college level, going into breeding/hybridizing or plant pathology.

btw, the NYBG horticultural program is extremely well-regarded!!

I am not so sure yet what position I want to work in but I definitely want to be working at a garden and maintaining all the plants there. I interned at a botanical garden for 5 months recently and my title was 'horticultural intern' and I pretty much maintained all the plants and the weeds there. So I want to do something similar.

Oh really? Then I guess I am not going for masters then. I will probably do the certificate program in NYBG. Thanks! But do these kind of jobs give you decent pay and good benefits like insurance and 401k?

I would ask the employers what they are looking for in a degree program or certificate. Knowing the answer in advance should be a big help in preparing.

There is no Right or Wrong answer in this regard, just HONEST answers. Do you want job or do you want a career? Just b/c you enjoy tending to plants and weeds now doesn't necessarily mean you will feel this way forever. Again, speaking to a counselor will hopefully offer a glimpse into various aspects in hulticulturist/botanist world and how they match your personality and goals.

One thing I can tell you is: I never feel as close to nature and my Creator as when I'm doing something in the garden. so very rewarding spiritually. But Mother Nature doesn't seem to be as concerned with practical and necessary matters as 401Ks. Good luck to you. Find a career counselor.

Horticulture in ANY form is not a particularly lucrative career path :-) And being a gardener - even at a botanical garden - is close to the bottom of the income generating scale. One doesn't enter this profession to generate a healthy income but more for the love of the job and the activities it entails. Any benefits provided will be up to the institution or organization you become associated with - some do provide full benefits; others do not.

Well I've been researching for specific positions in horticulture and I can't seem to find an exact position of any sort. Is a 'gardener' a legitimate position in horticulture? And what other positions would you recommend for someone, which is me, who likes to be outside all the time and deal with plants?

While I don't intend for it to sound demeaning, your position as a "horticultural intern" is essentially that of a gardener :-) And there are many opportunities for professional gardeners - in botanical gardens or arboreta, as a private or estate gardener, working for municipal parks departments, zoos and resorts, self-employment, etc. Sometimes these positions are labeled as "groundskeepers".

Other positions that might interest you would include landscaping and/or landscape design, however these include activities significantly beyond just plant care. Also, working for a period of time for a very high quality independent retail nursery or garden center will bring you into contact with a very wide range of plant material that can expand your knowledge base if one is motivated to engage and self-study :-)

One place to research to see what's available in the industry and what income it might generate is the job clearinghouse, 'hortjobs.com'. And interning with various horticultural professionals, while not a great income generator, can also expose you to various positions and horticultural career paths you might like to follow.

You might want to go through the archives on both the Landscape Design forum and the Professional Gardening forum for previous inquiries about jobs or types of jobs in this field. They have been discussed thoroughly on both sites :-)

Yes well I want to become a gardener, doesn't really matter where though. But I want to know, do some people who become gardeners do it because they are uneducated and can only do physical labor? Such as some of the landscapers who are mostly immigrators from the south. If that is the case, I may have to rethink because I have a B.A and I don't want to waste the 4 years I worked on to get the college degree.

I have thought about landscape design but I actually want to deal directly with plants and I don't like sitting in the office thinking and planning. I've done an office job before and I absolutely hated it and quit so I know the feeling. And I've actually looked through hortjobs but there really isn't anything available near my area...

There are gardeners and then there ARE gardeners :-) It's a bit tricky to explain to someone outside of the industry but horticulture as a career path is largely unregulated and there is a lot of blurring of the lines. Anyone can enter the industry and call themselves whatever they like - gardener, landscaper, landscape designer, etc. - and if they have the skills, they can get away with it. That doesn't mean at all that they are particularly knowledgeable.

And yes, unskilled labor from south of the border are often called gardeners - they are often the bulk of a landscape contractor's work force. But that does not necessarily mean they could land a position as an estate or private gardener or work for a botanical garden or in an arboretum. That requires a degree of plant education and knowledge they just don't have. And the employers for these sorts of positions know that and are looking for the educational or experiential background of someone with a lot of plant knowledge.

Becoming a professional gardener is a major step up from being just a laborer. Although not a highly lucrative field - not many are in hort - it does require a skill set and experience far beyond that of a common landscape laborer and is a very respectable and rewarding endeavor. What is a Professional Gardener.

One of the great things about a career in horticulture - above and beyond the attraction of being outdoors, messing about with plants and doing something you love - is that you can create your own specialized job or position. For example, I am a consulting horticulturist. I visit clients' homes or properties and offer advice on plant identification, diagnose disease and insect problems, make recommendations for soil amending, drainage, pruning or removal and offer plant suggestions. And I am also a landscape designer, so I prepare full landscape designs for those that wish them, as well as smaller, partial designs or planting plans. But I am more often out in the field than I am sitting behind a desk or drafting table (although there is quite a lot of that as well!!). If suitable positions are not widely available in your area, create your own!! You can build up a clientèle of homeowners as a private gardener or become a garden coach or specialize in fine or detail pruning - this is sometimes referred to as "fine gardening" and denotes a pretty impressive skill level. And there is a great deal to be said about self employment as well!! You can be as successful and as profitable in this endeavor as your creativity and motivation allows.