Seasonal Intern

Educational Requirements

An internship with a high-end lawn care and irrigation business, especially one focused on management, generally looks for candidates with a mix of specific education, practical experience, and professional soft skills.

• Formal Coursework: Companies typically prefer students or recent graduates with an academic background in a related field. Common majors/coursework include:
  • Turfgrass Science
  • Horticulture or Plant Science
  • Landscape Management
  • Urban Agriculture
  • Agronomy
  • AgriBusiness
• Specific Knowledge: Knowledge or a willingness to learn about irrigation management and water conservation is often a key requirement for this specific type of internship.

Experience Requirements

• Practical Experience (Helpful but not always mandatory): While the internship is designed for learning, any prior hands-on experience in the field is a significant advantage. This could include:
• Core Technical Skills Taught/Utilized: Interns will typically be exposed to and expected to learn:
• Strong Communication Skills: Essential for interacting professionally with high-end clients, account managers, and field staff.
• Work Ethic & Self-Motivation: The work is often outdoors, physically demanding, and requires a proactive approach.
• Eagerness to Learn: A genuine interest in the "green industry" and a desire for hands-on experience.
• Detail-Oriented: Crucial for managing complex irrigation systems and ensuring the high aesthetic standards of premium properties.
• Problem-Solving Skills: The ability to identify and address issues with landscapes or irrigation systems.
• Valid Driver's License: Often required for traveling to various client properties.

In short, a strong candidate often has college coursework in a relevant science, a professional and proactive attitude, and a clear interest in combining plant science knowledge with the business and management aspects of the industry.

Special Requirements

Beyond the soft skills and general interest, an internship in high-end lawn care and irrigation management would require and/or help the intern to gain a specific blend of technical knowledge, business readiness, and practical professionalism.

While golf turf focuses on a few high-maintenance grass species, a professional landscape service deals with a whole ecosystem.

• Willingness to learn the many & various aspects of this business:
• Industry-specific software for scheduling, estimating, or customer relationship management (CRM).
• Competence with a tablet or smartphone for field reporting, photo documentation, and logging work hours.
• Valid Driver's License: This is almost universally required, as the intern will likely drive company vehicles between job sites.
• Mechanical Aptitude: A basic understanding of equipment safety, operation, and daily maintenance (mowers, trimmers, blowers, utility carts).
• Physical Stamina: The ability to work outdoors for long hours in varied weather conditions and perform manual labor (lifting, digging, walking long distances).
• Attention to Detail: A meticulous focus on site finish and aesthetics to meet the very high standards of high-end commercial or residential properties, where quality of cut, crisp edging, and clean walkways are paramount.

Job Benefits

The benefits of completing an internship with a high-end lawn care and irrigation management business, especially when compared to a traditional golf course role, are numerous and primarily centered on business acumen, client relations, and a different work-life balance.

A high-end landscape management company offers a different scale and scope than a single golf course:

• Client Diversity: Interns manage the maintenance and irrigation for multiple properties (high-end residential estates, corporate campuses, luxury HOAs, etc.), not just one continuous turf area. This requires adapting strategies based on varied client expectations, budgets, and property layouts.

• Rotational Experience (Field to Office): Many commercial internships include rotations in:

  • Field Management: Crew scheduling, quality control, problem-solving on site.

  • Account Management/Sales: Interacting with clients, understanding contracts, creating estimates and proposals for property enhancements (plantings, hardscapes, new irrigation zones).

  • Operations/Logistics: Understanding the business side, including budgeting, equipment management across multiple crews, and using industry-specific software.

• Irrigation as a Profit Center: In a dedicated lawn/irrigation business, water management is often a core, specialized service and revenue stream, not just an expense line. This provides deep technical training in auditing, retrofitting, smart controller programming, and water conservation—skills highly valued everywhere.

High-end lawn care businesses thrive on reputation and relationship management.

• Direct Client Interaction: Unlike a golf course superintendent who primarily deals with a green committee or general manager, the landscape account manager/intern often has direct and frequent communication with homeowners or property managers.

• Selling and Upselling: Interns learn how to identify opportunities for property enhancement (a new plant bed, better irrigation coverage) and package those into a proposal—a vital skill for future sales and management roles.

• Service Delivery: They learn the unique challenges of delivering consistent, high-quality, discreet service on private property, which requires a high level of professionalism and attention to detail.

This internship offers a direct path into a growing segment of the Green Industry that can provide a different schedule than golf:

Date Job is Available

March 2, 2026

Salary

$20 to $20 per hour

Overtime: Yes

Job Application Instructions

Contact Jay Woodring, Recruitment, Training & Education Manager at jwoodring@teedandbrown.com or 203-788-4713