Landscaping is not agriculture in most legal, tax, and regulatory contexts, even though the two fields share overlapping roots in plant science. The federal government classifies them under entirely different industry codes, and that distinction affects everything from overtime pay to tax exemptions to pesticide licensing. Where it gets interesting is the gray area: horticulture, the branch of science that connects them both.
How the Federal Government Classifies Each Industry
The clearest separation comes from the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which the federal government uses to categorize businesses. Landscaping services fall under NAICS 561730, a subset of “Services to Buildings and Dwellings.” Agriculture occupies an entirely separate sector. In other words, the government considers mowing lawns and installing flower beds closer to janitorial services than to farming.
That said, the overlap shows up in the workforce data itself. Within the landscaping services industry, the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks occupations like “Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse” and “Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers.” The people doing the work often have agricultural skills and training, even if the business they work for is not classified as agricultural.
The Horticulture Connection
The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture defines horticulture as “that branch of agriculture concerned with growing plants that are used by people for food, for medicinal purposes, and for aesthetic gratification.” Under that umbrella, environmental horticulture deals specifically with producing plants for ornamental use in constructed environments, and landscape horticulture involves the design, installation, and maintenance of both indoor and outdoor spaces.
So from a scientific standpoint, landscaping is a specialized branch of agriculture. A landscape horticulturist uses the same soil science, plant biology, and pest management knowledge as a farmer. The distinction is in the end product: food and fiber on one side, aesthetic and functional outdoor spaces on the other. Universities typically house both disciplines in the same college of agriculture, and many landscape professionals hold degrees in agricultural sciences.
Why the Legal Distinction Matters for Workers
The Fair Labor Standards Act draws a hard line between agricultural and non-agricultural work, and it has real consequences for pay. Employees classified as agricultural workers are exempt from federal overtime requirements. They don’t have to receive time-and-a-half for working more than 40 hours a week. Smaller farm operations that use fewer than 500 “man days” of labor in any quarter (a man day being any day someone works at least one hour) can be exempt from both minimum wage and overtime requirements the following year.
Landscaping workers generally don’t fall under these agricultural exemptions. The Department of Labor specifically flags this as a common violation: employers sometimes fail to pay overtime to workers whose jobs are related to agriculture but don’t meet the FLSA’s definition of it. If you’re maintaining someone’s yard or installing plants at a commercial property, you’re typically entitled to overtime pay, even if the work looks a lot like what happens on a farm.
Tax Treatment Is Different Too
Tax law reinforces the split. California’s tax code offers a useful illustration because the state spells out the distinctions clearly, and many other states follow similar patterns. Farm equipment qualifies for a partial sales tax exemption if it’s used at least 50% of the time producing and harvesting agricultural products, but the business must operate under agricultural SIC codes (generally 0111 through 0291 for farming, or 0711 through 0783 for agricultural service providers like crop harvesters and soil preparers). A landscaping company buying a riding mower would not qualify.
The difference extends to the plants themselves. Sales of ornamental and landscaping plants are generally taxable. Plants sold for food production, such as vegetable starts, fruit trees, and berry bushes, get different treatment. Fuel exemptions follow the same logic: diesel fuel used for farming purposes on a California farm is exempt from excise tax, but fuel burned by a landscaping crew driving between residential clients is not.
Horticultural buildings designed specifically for commercially raising plants can qualify for partial exemptions, but they must be used exclusively for that purpose. A greenhouse at a nursery growing ornamental plants for resale could qualify. A landscaping company’s storage shed would not.
Pesticide Licensing Requirements Differ
If you apply pesticides, the type of license you need depends on whether you’re working in agriculture or landscaping. New York State’s system is a clear example. Commercial applicators working in agricultural plant production (Category 1A) need a separate certification from those working in structural and residential pest control (Category 7A). The recertification cycles and credit requirements differ: agricultural plant production requires 8 credits every three years, while structural pest control requires 12.
Private applicators, meaning farmers using restricted pesticides on their own land, fall into yet another licensing track with a five-year recertification cycle and 10 credits required. A landscaper spraying herbicide at a client’s home doesn’t fit into the private applicator category at all, regardless of how similar the chemical application might look in practice.
Where Landscaping Crosses Into Agriculture
The line blurs in a few specific situations. The USDA recognizes urban agriculture as a distinct category that includes community gardens, rooftop farms, hydroponic facilities, and vertical production. If a landscaping company designs and maintains an edible garden or urban farm, that portion of its work starts to look much more like agriculture, potentially qualifying for USDA programs aimed at urban growers.
Nurseries and sod farms sit in a similar gray zone. Growing ornamental plants or turf grass for sale is classified as agricultural production in many state tax codes, even though the end product goes into landscapes rather than onto dinner plates. A sod farm operates under agricultural NAICS codes and qualifies for farm equipment tax exemptions. The landscaping company that buys and installs that same sod does not.
The practical takeaway: landscaping and agriculture share scientific foundations, many of the same skills, and some of the same plants. But in the eyes of federal and state governments, they are separate industries with different rules for wages, taxes, licensing, and regulatory oversight. The classification of your business or your job under one category or the other can directly affect your paycheck, your tax bill, and what certifications you need to operate legally.