Train to be a Professional
Skilled and Knowledgeable Ornamental Gardeners are an "in demand" commodity. Anyone with a little muscle, may be able to find work pushing a lawn mower or hacking branches off plants- but it takes knowledge and finesse to be a good gardener or manage a good gardening business that always does the work well, has the ability to take services to another level, and impresses the client with what they can get for their money.
When you know what you are doing in the garden, you don't waste time or money, and you don't use the wrong types or quantities of plants, chemicals, fertilizers, soils, or anything else.
With more families than ever having both parents working, there has been a boom in service industries across the developed world - and employing someone to "do the garden" has become part of that change,
- The opportunities exist
- Learn to identify and manage plants, lawns and trees
- Learn to draw a plan, prune a plant and control pests
- Learn about working in a plant nursery and in a landscaping business
- Gain these and many more skills, and start a business with real potential
Course Content
There are two stages to this course.
Stage 1 requires you to complete the following fifteen lessons, to develop a broad based foundation across all important areas of horticulture.
- Plant Identification
- Parts of the Plant
- Planting
- Pruning
- Irrigation and Machinery
- Soils and Media
- Soils and Nutrition
- Seeds and Cuttings
- Other Propagation Techniques
- Landscape Application
- Problem Situations
- Indoor and Tropical Plants
- Pests
- Diseases
- Weeds
Stage 2 requires further studies that are specifically designed to teach you in greater depth, all about dealing with ornamental plants and gardens. These lessons are:
- Introduction to Landscaping
- Landscape Design Procedures
- Basic Landscape Construction
- Landscape Construction B:
- Plants for Problem Areas
- Indoor and Tropical Plants and Flower Gardens
- Herbs
- Container Growing and other Different Growing Techniques
- Arboriculture
- Planning Garden Maintenance
- Turf Care
- Introduction to Nursery Management
- Nursery Stock Maintenance and Quality
- Running A Garden Centre: Display and Display Techniques
- Marketing and Management in Ornamental Horticulture
Workload
Study when, where and however much you want. For most students, the course can be completed with a total of around 600 to 700 hours of study; and a commitment close to that may be needed to achieve desired learning outcomes.
Extra Reading
The following books, available through this web site are relevant supplementary reading for this course
- Plant Language
- Trees and Shrubs
- Perennial Plants
- Annual Plants
- Tropical Plants
- Herbs
- Plant Pests and Diseases
- Weeds
- Garden Design Part I
- Organic Gardening
- Starting a Nursery or Herb Farm
- Starting a Garden or Landscape Business
- Getting Work in Horticulture
Assessment
Self Assessment Tests are presented throughout the course. These are essentially an automated quiz. When you undertake a "SAT" or "Self Assessment Test", you will be able to see what you got correct, and what was incorrect; and in that way, you can identify your weaknesses.
An assignment is given at the end of each lesson. You should complete this assignment, paying careful attention to follow what is asked of you. It can be just as important to learn to work to specification, as it is to learn about the topic you are studying. Graduates who develop a habit of working to specification in the field of horticulture, will impress employers, and will be more efficient when self employed.
A Final Exam is offered upon satisfactory completion of all assignments. This is optional. If you choose to apply for and do this exam, you will have the possibility of obtaining a "formal credit" or "Pass Certification" for this course. A fee applies. The exam may be sat under prearranged conditions anywhere in the world. This college will award you a formal transcript, upon successful completion of the exam, as proof of your results.
Recognition and Ethics
This college is a member of the ACS Affiliates Network; a group of colleges from several countries, affiliated with each other through ACS Distance Education.. Courses are developed with input from all of these colleges, aspiring to reflect internationally accepted standards and needs.
A strict "No Plagiarism" and "No fraud" policy exists. Assignments are checked for plagiarism, and assignments will not be deemed to have been completed, if work is not your own original creation, and is found to have been copied from elsewhere. If the person doing the course is discovered to be different to the name enrolled, the enrolment and any results will be recorded as invalid and any fees paid will be forfeited.
Refund Policy
A full refund less expenses (up to 15% of fees applied) is provided to anyone wishing to withdraw from a course, within 2 weeks of enrolment. This does not apply after the first assignment has been submitted and marked; or after the two weeks has expired.
WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS INSTITUTION?
We believe that we have an ethical responsibility to make good use of the fees you pay and the time you invest into an education through our college. To this end, our first priority is always your learning. This comes before issues such as formal accreditations, speculative marketing and bureaucratic processes which all too often add considerable costs to the running of colleges, and take resources away from the provision of more valuable services to the student.
This college focuses on facilitating your learning and support to optimise that learning. We recognise that learning is all about improving knowledge and skills in your long term memory. While some colleges may focus on getting you to pass exams, by committing knowledge to short term memory; we understand that such an approach is not true education, and does little to improve your long term career or business prospects.
This course gives you the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills that are appplicable across the horticulture industry from ngrounds management to nursery through to jobs in the publiuc sector. A great way to push your career is to enrol in a comprehensive course such as this.
How This Course Will Help You
- It will give you the fundamentals of horticulture relevant to any industry sector.
- It gives you the flexibility to move within a range of industry sectors.
- It allows you to be a the forefront of a changing industry - the emphasis on well-trained gardeners with insight and talent is growing within the gardening industry. Be amongst those in demand and distinguish your skills from those of the every day 'gardener'.