Australian Natives I

ONLINE STUDY AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS

Be an Expert with plants from Australia
Australian native plants are increasing in popularity in many countries throughout the world and are grown commercially as cut flowers in Israel and South America. Eucalypts are widely planted trees throughout California, and is an increasingly popular specimen tree used in gardens of Southern England. Macadamia nuts and Tea Tree Oil are produced in commercial plantations not only in Australia, and beyond. Many Australian natives are also well suited as indoor plants.

Australian climatic conditions range from hot-dry to cold-wet; soils also vary according to region from alkaline to acidic. Consequently the plant life of this large country is abundant and diverse, offering an interesting range of possibilities, whether you live in Australia or elsewhere.

Lesson Structure

There are 9 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • Scope and Nature of Native Plants
   • Taxonomy: Botanical and Horticultural Nomenclature
   • Binomial System
   • Levels of Division
   • Plant Families
   • Species, Hybrids, Varieties and Cultivars
   • Botanical Keys and their Use
   • Origins of Australian Plants
   • Continental Drift
   • Resources for More Information
   • Sources for Seed Information
2. Cultural Techniques
   • Cultivation
   • Things that can Go Wrong: Pests, Diseases, Environmental Problems, Nutrition
   • Soils
   • Improving Soil Structure
   • Soil Water Management
   • Compost
   • No Dig Growing Techniques
   • Feeding Natives
   • Pruning
   • Temperature
   • Planting, Staking, Mulching
   • Special Planting Techniques
   • Natives for Shade
   • Controlling Weeds
   • Propagation; seed, cuttings, etc
   • Stock Plants
3. Eucalypts
   • Introduction
   • Types of Eucalypts; gums, stringybarks, boxes, ironbarks, yates, peppermints, etc.
   • Hybrid Eucalypts
   • Eucalypt Cultural Requirements
   • Review of Important Eucalypt Species
4. Native Trees
   • Casuarina; Casuarina and Allocasuarina, Gymnostoma and Ceuthostoma
   • Casuarina Culture
   • Review of Casuarina and Allocasuarina species
   • Australian Conifers: Overview
   • Cupressaceae: Actinostrobus, Calitris, Diselma
   • Araucariaceae; Araucaria
   • Podocarpaceae; Dacrydium, Microcachrys, Microstrobos, Phyllocladus, Podocarpus
   • Taxodiaceae:
   • Macadamias
   • Brachychiton
   • Angophora
   • Lophostemon
5. Acacias
   • Introduction to Legumes; Papilionoideae, Caesalpiniodeae and Mimosoideae
   • Overview of Acacia
   • Acacia Cultural Requirements
   • Review of Important Acacia species
   • Elements of drawing a Landscape Plan
   • Landscape Design Procedure
6. Myrtaceous Australian Plants
   • Review of the Myrtaceae Family
   • Callistemon overview
   • Callistemon Culture
   • Important Callistemon cultivars and species
   • Leptospermum overview and Culture
   • Important Leptospermum Species
   • Baeckea
   • Calothamnus
   • Calytrix
   • Eugenia
   • Homoranthus
   • Kunzea
   • Melaleuca
   • Micromyrtus
   • Scholtzia
   • Syzygium
   • Verticordia
   • Thryptomene
7. Grevilleas
   • Grevillea Overview
   • Types of flower: Erect Cluster, Toothbrush, Pendant, Cylinder
   • McCilveray’s Classification into eleven main groups
   • Flower and Leaf Terminology
   • Review of Low Growing Grevilleas
   • Banksia Type Hybrids
   • Hybrid Parents from tropics and sub tropics
   • Poorinda Hybrids
   • Review of many Important Species
   • Culture
   • Related Proteaceae Natives: Dryandra, Hakea, Banksia, Telopea
8. Ground Cover and Small Shrubs
   • Overview of Fabaceae (Egg and Bacon) Plants
   • Brachyzema
   • Castenospermum
   • Clianthus
   • Gastrolobium
   • Gompholobium
   • Goodenia
   • Hardenbergia
   • Hovea
   • Jacksonia
   • Kennedya
   • Oxylobium
   • Swainsonia
   • Viminaria
   • Boronia; overview and culture
   • Boronia species
   • Prostanthera
9. Commercial Applications
   • Fragrant Natives
   • Uses for Eucalyptus
   • Uses for Grevilleas
   • Uses for Acacia: timber, tanning, cut flowers, food, etc
   • Aboriginal Uses for Acacias
   • Growing Natives in Containers
   • Bush Tucker

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Classify most significant cultivated native plants, to the family level.
• Determine cultural practices to maintain healthy native plants.
• Explain the identification and culture of eucalypts in your locality.
• Explain the identification and culture of native trees.
• Explain the identification and culture of acacias in your locality.
• Explain the identification and culture of native shrubs, including species of Acacia, Melaleuca, Callistemon and Leptospermum
• Explain the identification and culture of different Proteaceous native plants, with particular emphasis on the genus Grevillea.
• Explain the identification and culture of a range of Australian Native ground covers and small shrubs.
• Determine commercially viable applications for different native plants.

Some of our Horticulture Tutors

John L. Mason Dip.Hort.Sc., Sup'n Cert., FIOH, FPLA, FAIH, MACHPER, MASA
Mr Mason has had over 40 years experience in the fields of Horticulture, Business, Education and Journalism. He has extensive experience both as a public servant, and as a small business owner. He has held positions ranging from Nurseryman and Landscape Designer to Director of Parks and Recreation (City of Essendon) and magazine editor.
John is a well respected member of many professional associations, and author of over forty books and of over two thousand magazine articles. Even today, John has written a number of best selling reference texts used by horticultural courses at universities and colleges internationally. His publishers include Simon and Shuster, and Landlinks Press (CSIRO Publishing

Maggi Brown Cert.Ed.(Environment)
Maggi is regarded as an expert in Organic Growing throughout the UK, having worked for two decades as Education Officer at the world renowned Henry Doubleday Research Association (now Garden Organic). She has been active in education, environmental management and horticulture across the UK for more them three decades.

Yvonne Sharpe RHS Cert.Hort, Dip.Hort, M.Hort, Cert.Ed., Dip.Mgt.
Over 30 years of experience in horticulture, education and management, Yvonne hastravelled widely within and beyond Europe, and has worked in many areas of horticulture from garden centres to horticultural therapy. She has served on industry committees and been actively involved with amateur garden clubs for decades. Yvonne is also a member of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG).

Dr. Lynette Morgan B. Hort. Tech., Ph.D. in Horticultural Science   Dr Morgan has a broad expertise in horticulture and crop production, and a keen appreciation of the global scene. She travels widely as a partner in Suntec Horticultural Consultants, and has clients in central America, the USA, Caribbean, South East Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

Gavin Cole B.Sc., Psych.Cert., Cert.Garden Design, MACA
Gavin has over 20 years of industry experience in  Landscaping, Publishing, Business and Psychology. He was operations manager for a highly reputable British Landscape firm (The Chelsea Gardener) before starting up his own firm. He has exhibited at Chelsea Flower Show, and designed gardens across England and Australia.  He spent the best part of three years working in our Gold Coast office, partly as a writer for Your Backyard (gardening magazine), and partly as a tutor in both psychology and horticulture.

Rosemary Davies Dip Hort Sc.    Rosemary trained in Horticultural Applied Science at Burnley, a campus of Melbourne University. Initially she worked with Department of Agriculture Victoria as an extension officer (Garden Advisory Service), taught horticulture students, worked on radio with ABC radio (clocking up over 24 years as a presenter of garden talkback programs, initially the only woman presenter on gardening in Victoria) and she simultaneously developed a career as a writer. She is author of several booka and hundreds of articles.

FAQ's

What qualification will I achieve for completing this course?

This is an individual module course. The individual module courses are 100 hour long usually and can be taken on their own or as part of a larger program of study.
If you wish to take an individual module course as a stand alone course, you can elect to sit an optional exam at the end of it.
If you successfully pass the exam and all assignments, you will receive a Statement of Attainment. You can take examinations at a time and location to suit you. If you enrol, you will be sent further information on how to arrange examinations at the end of the course.
If you do not wish to take the exam, you will receive a Course Completion letter when you have passed all assignments.
There is an assignment at the end of each lesson. So for example, if an individual module course contains ten lessons, you will need to complete ten assignments. Assignments can be sent to us via email, post or fax.
Other qualifications, such as certificates, diplomas etc may require examinations to be taken as part of the overall assessment process.
You can find further information on the examinations process by clicking on the “Enrolment” link above.
You can find further information on other courses by clicking on the “Courses” link above.

More Information on ACS Distance Education and our courses

Who are our tutors?
Our tutors are all highly experienced and professional, knowledgeable in their field of study. We have staff from around the world, enabling us to gain a wide variety of perspectives. We have a school in the UK and in Australia. If you would like to have a look at our tutors, then click on the “About Us” in the boxes above and choose “The Staff” option.

Sample Course Notes
Our courses are all written by highly qualified tutors and writers, who also teach on the courses, so know them well. We strive to update our courses and improve them with new information, methods and knowledge on an ongoing basis. If you would like to see examples of some of our courses, then choose the “Enrolment” option above, and then click on “Sample Course Notes”.

What learning method should I choose?
We offer three learning methods – e-learning, correspondence and online. If you are not sure which is the right choose for you, then click on the “Learning” box above, then “Learning Methods.”

How Long will it take to complete the course?
This obviously varies from student to student. Some students will have more time for study than others. Some students may work quicker than others, so it is an individual thing. We estimate that most students will take, for example, 4 – 6 months to complete a 100 hour individual module, but we allow up to 12 months for you to complete it.
Longer courses will obviously take longer. You can find more information on the length of time required and so on the “Enrolment” box, then selecting “Terms and Conditions of Enrolment.”

What Do Our Students think of us?
If you would like to read comments from our previous students, then choose the “About Us” option above, then “Student Testimonials”.

I don’t think this is the right course for me.
If you’re not sure about this course, then why not look at our wide range of other courses. Click on the “Courses” box above.
You may also wish to design your own course to fit in with exactly what YOU want. To do so, click on the “Enrolment” box, then “Design your Own Course”.
If you would like more advice on a course, then you can contact us and ask a tutor about the courses. You can contact us by calling 0800 328 4723 or +44(0) 384 442752 or emailing info@acsedu.co.uk

Recognition and Accreditation
For more information on our recognition and accreditation, click on “The School”, then “Recognition”.

Who is ACS Distance Education?
If you want to know more about ACS and our history, then please click on “The School”, then “About us.”