Plants in our working environments make us happy and improve our wellbeing – but to do this the plants need to be healthy too.

Thanks to our team of dedicated interior landscape technicians, the greenery we install in your building will continue to thrive and deliver benefits for your business.

It’s a job that requires horticultural knowledge, plant care expertise and a genuine passion for plants. Skills and attributes our fabulous team of interior landscape technicians possess in ‘spades’.

Today, 19^th April, we are celebrating the inaugural International Interior Landscaper Day – a celebration of interior landscaping professionals.

In recognition of the incredible work our interior landscaping team do we asked them to tell us a bit about their journey into horticulture and what makes them so passionate about their job.

Allison – Interior Landscape Technician

Horticulture is most definitely in Allison’s roots. With a smile on her face, she recalls her mother working in Gilchrist’s Garden Centre – the very place we now call our GP Plantscape Head Office. So, when a job came up as an interior landscape technician with Gilchrist Plants, Allison jumped at the chance.

“When you have created displays and you go in and the plants are thriving you get a lot of job satisfaction. Especially when your customers love it as well.”

Russell – Plants Display Technician

One year when Russell’s Dad, a landscaper, broke his wrist Russell spent his evenings and summer doing his jobs for him, before heading to Oatridge College to study horticulture. His career began working for the Ministry of Defence as a landscaper and at Drumpellier Nursery in Coatbridge, where he had his first experience with interior plants.

“The variety of work is great and the people I work with too. It’s a great team. There’s been so much change in the last 20 years I’ve worked at GP Plantscape. So many new varieties of plants and all the sites are different. I get to do a bit of exterior too and I like that element.”

Angela – Interior Landscape Technician

Angela started working for her florist sister as a delivery driver, gradually building up skills in display making and knowledge of flowers and plants. So, when her sister emigrated to Arizona almost 30 years ago, she took a job as an Interior Landscape Technician.

“The way I would describe my job is that it’s a happy job, everyone’s happy round about plants. Working with plants cheers up your day – it really does. You may have noticed yourself that in restaurants or cafes, where there are plants, that’s where the customer sits.”

Fun fact: Angela’s sister now runs a commercial florist in Arizona, Brady’s Floral, and was part of the florist team to provide the flowers for Barak Obama’s inauguration at the White House.

Lesley – Interior Landscape Technician

As a child, Lesley grew up playing at her grandparents nursery in Neasden, North West London, but it wasn’t until she joined GP Plantscape in 2014 that she started working with plants. Throwing herself into her new career, Lesley won a well-deserved national award for Technician of the Year in 2017.

“I love my job. I think of them as my plants. I enjoy plants and seeing the enjoyment that they give to other people. Customers take pictures of their own plants, to show me and ask for advice and I love to help them. It’s a very sociable job.”

Alan – Interior Landscape Technician

Having just completed his three-month induction at GP, Allan is now out maintaining plants. His horticultural links go back to his grandparents who commercially grew tomatoes in the Clyde Valley, while his father worked as a landscaper. 

“There’s something in working with soil, I just love working with plants.

The training and shadowing others have been great here. When you are working with houseplants you see them day to day, but here we only see them every three weeks, so we need to make judgments about particular plants and their environment – temperature, light, people, seasons.”

Heather – Interior Operations Assistant

“I literally worked in an office, someone came in to water the plants within the office and I thought that looks like a lovely job, I would love to do that.”

Within a month, Heather saw an advertisement for an interior landscaping technician. She had just graduated and thought it would do until she worked out what she wanted to do. That was in 2008. She said: “I’ve never looked back since.”

“I love being out and about, being involved hands on, planting up living things and seeing a difference when you take in a plant to someone and faces light up. People are just joyful when you take in plants.”

“The amount of people that say to me, ‘that’s a lovely wee job you have’, and that’s exactly what I did. I was one of these people.”

Jo – Interior Operations Manager

Jo’s first job when she was 12 or 13 was working for a summer in a plant nursery near Perth and then took a job in Linden Garden Centre at the weekends. She had caught the horticulture bug and went onto to study for a BSc Hons in horticulture at Wye College in Ashford, Kent and gained a master’s in landscape design at Newcastle. For nearly 30 years Jo worked as a Landscape Architect before joining GP Plantscape in 2021.

“Seeing that what you are doing in your day-to-day work is having a positive effect on the environment and on people – that’s what has always floated my boat. Whether that’s landscape design, exterior landscaping or interior plants. You’re making work a better place.”

Michael – Interior Landscape Technician

There’s a bit of a theme going on here. Michael’s Dad used to be a landscaper too and after a few years working as a landscaper himself, Michael took a job with GP as an interior landscape technician almost 20 years ago.

“My job is so varied, it’s different every day. I love to see the plants I look after grow and look great.”

Louise – Interior Landscape Technician (Manchester)

Louise started her career in art and design and with a friend set up a studio designing cards and fabric. The same friends mum happened to run an interior landscaping company and after Louise started helping out with the plant maintenance she never stopped.

“Most days I can’t wait to go to work. I love working with plants, I find them very therapeutic. The job really suits me as I enjoy being out and about all day and meeting lots of different people.”

Elspeth – Interior Landscape Technician (Aberdeen)

“I wanted to do something that people would appreciate.”

In a previous life Elspeth designed and tested software for oil companies, but after seeing a job advertised for an interior landscape technician changed career paths. Having grown up on an island farm, Elspeth’s no stranger, to nature and enjoys working with plants.

“I like the variety of my job, being out and about and speaking to people who appreciate plants and the work we do.”

A huge thank you to all our interior landscape technicians.

If you feel inspired to follow a career in interior landscaping, send your c.v. to alyson.mccoll@gpplantscape.com.

While many of our technicians do have horticultural roots, it’s absolutely NOT a requirement. If you have a passion for plants, a willingness to learn and a driving licence then get in touch.

Plants@work, the association representing Interior Landscapers, are behind the brand-new initiative and are working with their American and Australian counterparts to make it a truly international affair.

International Interior Landscapers Day will be celebrated every year on the third Wednesday in April.