General Horticulture Courses

Learn the Skills Needed for a Career in Amenity Horticulture 

Amenity horticulture is mostly concerned with the design, planting and maintenance of public spaces such as parks, gardens and streetscapes. Some people in this sector also work in private gardens. Amenity horticulture is broad in scope and requires people to have a range of skills in order to be able to manage built or natural landscapes.

This course introduces students to a range of different sectors of the horticulture industry, the benefits of horticulture and gardening for individuals and the community, ways of managing natural and man-made landscapes, legal and planning considerations, managing physical and financial resources, and the sustainability of landscapes and green spaces into the future. 

Add to your Amenity Horticulture Knowledge

This course is aimed at those who already have some understanding of amenity horticulture or who are taking this module after studying our Amenity Horticulture I module. It is geared towards helping you to manage horticulture sites.

The course will help you to develop skills in: Defining a mission, vision, goals and activities planning, Ensuring that the above are reached or planned within a specified time-frame, Managing budgets, Managing human resources, Managing material resources, Managing natural resources.

As a manager, you must be able to define where the organisation is going or, if that is already defined, how to get there with the resources available and in the time available. This usually means looking for more resources and solving problems related to the running of the amenity site together with the team that you are leading.

Learn How to Look After Trees

Trees need proper maintenance in order to thrive. If left uncared for, trees are more prone to various environmental disorders as well as pests and diseases.  This extremely comprehensive course develops your tree knowledge in terms of care and maintenance of trees.

Take this course to learn skills and broaden your understanding in the diagnosis and treatment of tree disorders - whether pests, diseases, nutritional or water problems, or something else. You will also learn about the standard tree surgery practices, how to prune and train both young and established trees, and appropriate safety measures to follow.

Learn Advanced Tree Care and Planning

This course develops your ability to manage trees beyond what is covered in our  Arboriculture I course in order to minimise potential long-term tree problems.

Learn about better tree selection, choosing trees for different soils, locations and climates, strengthening and improving the health of existing trees, and techniques used to better remove trees and stumps that must be taken away. This course will add to your tree knowledge and give you confidence when discussing planting plans and tree choices with clients. It will also help you to determine how a landscape could be improved with regards to the trees in it.

Discover How to Propagate Plants from Different Types of Cuttings

Whilst many plants can be grown from seed, sometimes seed is unreliable. Plants grown from seed can also vary quite significantly from the parent plant and end up with few desirable characteristics. Propagation from cuttings not only guarantees that the new plant will look the same as the parent, but also that it will reach flowering and fruiting earlier.     

Study this course to learn how to propagate plants from stem cuttings (softwood, hardwood, semi-ripe wood), leaf cuttings, leaf-bud cuttings, or root cuttings. Once you have mastered the skills, you should be able to produce a wide variety of plants from cuttings.

Learn to Manage a Garden Centre

Designed originally in conjunction with a garden department manager of a major retail chain store; this course has been very successful in training both staff and managers of retail nurseries and garden centres across the world. It continues to be updated at least annually, and continues to be used by small nurseries through to major chain stores across the country.

Many garden managers have risen from being casual staff to full time managers and this course helps with the skills needed to make that change. If you are a budding Horticulturalist with basic skills, this will help you climb the career ladder.

Discover how Gardens have Evolved Over Time

Gardens are a significant part of our heritage and continue to shape and reflect global cultures. In this course, you will study heritage gardens and the history of gardening and learn how design has influenced different historical styles of garden.

Take this course to discover new opportunities for working in garden design, development and maintenance, and an understanding of the conservation of historical gardens. Learn about how gardens have evolved from Roman times to the present day, and the value of conserving heritage parks and gardens. Discover what is possible and appropriate in garden design today. If you are a garden designer, garden history will enlighten you and vastly expand the scope of possibilities you have before you.

Learn how to Maintain Gardens Like a True Professional

A professional gardener is able to provide a quality service to their clients whilst still making a reasonable profit. To do this well, you need sound gardening knowledge. Indeed, skills and knowledge are key to good gardening just as they are to any other profession. Sadly, many gardeners don't know as much as they should. 

This course provides you with insights into horticulture skills and practices to help make you a top gardener. Learn about tasks such as pruning, planting, soils, containers, spraying, weeding and mowing. Get the rundown on machinery, tools and garden equipment. Find out ways you can improve your own business or make yourself employable in someone else's landscaping or gardening business.    

Find Out How to Create a Range of Garden Styles

Many different garden themes or styles have evolved around the world. Some, such as Chinese and Japanese gardens represent particular cultures and philosophies. Others, like water-wise gardens or xeroscapes, have evolved out of a need to conserve water in arid landscapes. There are also eclectic gardens which borrow components and elements from different styles and bring them together in a modern look.   

This course reviews a range of different garden styles and themes and how to create them. Learn to apply the principles, design features and elements that make up these different styles. This is an outstanding course for even experienced landscape designers helping you to develop skills in everything from a formal to an eclectic garden, and a Mediterranean to an oriental landscape.

Become Skilled in Horticulture Management in Your Area of the Industry

This all-round management course is designed to be relevant to all areas of horticulture, including: nurseries, garden centre retail, parks, private gardens, landscaping, market gardening and crop production. Whatever your area of work, or area of interest, you can apply what you will learn here. 

The course has lessons covering planning for efficient and economical management in horticulture in such things as work procedures and programming, budgeting and staff supervision. Gain an understanding of management theories and apply what you learn to managing human resources, physical resources and finances. Discover how to make business plans and why they are so important.

Become Skilled in Horticulture Sales and Marketing

In any business, including horticulture, success depends upon your ability to successfully market your product so that you stay ahead of your competitors. Many businesses fail because they are unable to do this.

This is a comprehensive course that offers the horticultural marketing manager or small business owner what they need to be successful in this essential component of business management.

This module covers the theoretical and practical importance of marketing in the horticultural industry, including topics such as: advertising, promotions, signage, customer relations, pricing strategy, labelling, transport, product presentation, and more.

Find Out How to Carry Out Research in Horticulture 

This course is designed to help you develop the skills and knowledge needed to plan, conduct and report on research into the horticulture industry. Research is vital for understanding a range of issues in horticulture such as which crops to grow where, trends in garden plants, new hybrids, how climate change influences what can be grown, and so forth.  On a broader scale research influences society, the environment and strategic business planning. 

The course serves as an introduction to research. It has been developed with the aim of helping students understand different approaches to research, the value of statistics, how to present research findings, and report writing. It is intended to be relevant wherever you happen to live in the world.

Learn to Determine What is Worth Researching

Building on how to conduct horticulture research (our Horticulture Research I module), this course goes into how to prioritise what to research and covers advanced research methods. Learn how to plan and execute appropriate research to get information that can make a real difference to horticultural productivity in any situation - whether for amenity horticulture or production horticulture.

The course covers different ways of presenting data, how to analyse data and how to put your research together in meaningful report which can be easily understood by other researchers or horticulturists.   

Learn Horticulture Resource Management for any Sector of the Horticulture Industry

This broad-ranging course provides a sound introduction to management in horticulture. Generic in nature, it is intended to be applicable to different sectors of the industry including: landscaping, gardening, nursery work, retail, parks and public gardens, arboriculture, turf care (green keeping), irrigation, propagation, crops, and botanic gardens.    

The course covers managing financial, human and physical resources and is suited to people running their own businesses or in management and supervisory roles in private or public businesses or organisations. Learn to plan for efficient and economical management in horticulture. Find out about such things as work procedures and programming, budgeting and staff supervision.

Learn Essential Principles & Practices of Horticulture

This is the ideal course for people wishing to learn the basic principles underlying horticulture and gardening. It blends both theory and practice to give you a sound technical grounding in a broad range of horticultural principles and practices. A section of each lesson is also aimed at improving your plant identification skills and plant knowledge.

The course introduces you to the systematic classification and naming of plants. It also teaches you basic plant biology e.g. structure and parts of a flower and how to identify leaf shapes. You'll also learn about soil testing, weeds, propagation techniques, pruning different plants, pest and disease identification and control, lawn care, how to draw simple garden plans, and more. 

Learn how to Select, Install & Operate Home Garden Irrigation Systems

Irrigation systems are much more affordable for the home garden they they ever have been. They have also become more durable and reliable leading to increased demand for people who are able to install and maintain them. This course is aimed at gardeners and horticulturists with an interest in setting up irrigation systems but who would also like to enhance their knowledge of plant water requirements.   

The course covers different types of irrigation systems and their applications in home gardens. It also helps you to design and plan irrigation depending on the situation e.g. garden beds, turf, pots. Learn how to improve the quality of turf and health of plants through appropriate water scheduling.   

Develop Expertise in Irrigation Systems and their Management

This advanced course assumes some knowledge of irrigation equipment and installation. It is suitable for foremen, supervisors, managers and installers of irrigation systems. The following topic areas are covered: Ways to optimise water efficiency, scheduling irrigation for crops & pasture, drainage system design, operating irrigation controllers, managing system maintenance, managing fertigation, evaluating irrigation designs, and design of different systems.

This course builds on skills achieved in Irrigation (BHT 304, BHT 210 or BAG213) modules to develop the student's skills to manage the design and operation of large scale irrigation systems for horticultural applications.

Gain Skills in Conservation, Restoration & Maintenance of Significant Landscapes   

This course is aimed at people with some background skills and knowledge of gardening and basic landscaping. Expand your skills to manage designed landscapes and gardens. The course will:

• Discuss appropriate management strategies to ensure the long-term survival of plants and garden features.
• Identify and evaluate sources of funding and associated issues.
• Identify and discuss the issues concerned with the presentation of a site to visitors.

A designed landscape can include any grounds that are preconceived, designed and constructed for aesthetic purposes. Consideration of parks, woodlands, water gardens and notable formal and informal gardens is included in this course. 

Learn to Manage Natural Landscapes

This course is designed to appeal to people who enjoy working outdoors in natural parks, nature reserves or wilderness areas. Whilst it is focused on managing these natural tracts of land for public use it is concerned with ways to preserve such sites and conservation strategies.   

Over 12 lessons, the student will develop an understanding of the natural environment and basic ecological principles, and learn a variety of skills ranging from basic gardening and nature park design, to erosion control, weed control and tree surgery.

Study Advanced Nature Park Management

This course is a natural progression from our Nature Park Management I course, and you are expected to have some knowledge of methods for looking after natural landscapes, but it can be taken in its own right.

The course concentrates on using indigenous plants to create natural, balanced ecosystems. It is a generic course, intended to be applicable regardless of where in the world you live.  

Over 10 lessons you also learn to create nature trails, build rockeries and pathways, construct ponds and watercourses, design picnic grounds and animal enclosures, market a nature park, and lots more.

Discover How to Successfully Grow a Range of Plants

This is an introductory course which shows the beginner how to get started in the nursery business. You learn how to propagate plants, decide what to propagate, how to start a small inexpensive operation, and to go about selling what you grow.

Part of every lesson is devoted to the important area of building up your knowledge of plants. Through six comprehensive lessons you will learn all you need to know to successfully grow a broad range of plants form seeds or cuttings. 

Learn Skills Needed for a Career in Nursery Work 

This course was designed in collaboration with nursery workers at the 'Greening Australia' Hamel Nursery, south of Perth in WA. It teaches the skills for day-to-day work in a production nursery. These skills are essential skills of the trade and are applicable to all nurseries regardless of which country you live in. 

There are eleven lessons in this course involving: the nursery Industry (operational flow charts, nursery standards, plant variety rights, transport regulations), plant identification, nursery structures, buildings, heating & cooling systems, potting mixes, seed propagation, cutting propagation, other propagation techniques, plant nutrition, pest & disease control, marketing and sales for the industry as well as some other skills. 

Become a Nursery Sales Assistant for a Career in Nursery Work

Professional sales staff are vital for any plant nursery. This course will help you to understand your product and your customers, and become an efficient salesperson.

The course was developed in response to a request from a retail nurseryman who was finding it difficult to obtain staff with appropriate skills. As he put it, job applicants were either over-qualified or lacked the basic skills needed to be able to identify plants, advise customers on their use, and to understand some basic sales techniques and procedures. You'll learn all that and more through studying this course.

Learn to Plan for Economic and Marketing Success in a Horticultural Enterprise

This is a course study focusing on management strategies, financial planning and marketing operations in horticulture. Your ability to manage a business can make a huge difference to your success in horticulture. In this course, you will learn to the business side of horticulture, including how to plan and implement effective strategies for your business and/or services.

Learn to Better Organise any Horticultural Enterprise

Horticultural skills and awareness are extremely important in any horticulture enterprise, but if you can't organise a business properly and use what you know effectively productivity, and ultimately profitability, will suffer. This course is aimed at managers, supervisors and business owners. 

Learn about legal, contractual and staff management considerations in business. Find out how to make informed interpretations and analyses, how to use critical thought processes, and how to master the complex issues that relate to the management of a range of different sectors of the horticulture industry.

Gain Knowledge and Skills in Organic Growing Methods

This course is a comprehensive guide to organic growing practices. It covers things like crop rotations, no-dig gardening, permaculture principles, organic mulches, natural methods of pest control, organic sprays, making compost, and lots more.   

The course shows you how to grow plants naturally and helps you to develop a solid understanding of the principles and procedures underlying the cultivation of plants by natural methods. You will learn to work with the environment without the use of potentially hazardous artificial fertilisers or sprays and therefore how to implement sustainability. You can apply what you learn here to gardening, nursery growing or crop farming.

Learn how to Become a Plant Breeder

This course is aimed at people who are serious about growing new plant varieties. It introduces you to the biology of plants and how they reproduce, how genetic information is passed to new plants, the way that plants are classified, and plant breeding techniques. It is assumed that you have a reasonable understanding of scientific principles to attempt this course.  

Plant breeding is a bigger industry than most people realise. In some places, earnings from plant breeding rights can equal or exceed earnings from actually producing plants. The course is of value to nursery workers where knowledge of plant breeding and selection is required. 

Become Skilled in Plant Pest & Disease Identification & Control

This course is designed to give you a comprehensive understanding of plant pests, diseases and disorders. It builds on the introduction to plant health provided in our Horticulture I course and goes in to sufficient depth to give you a solid foundation in a broad range of potential problems - whether in garden setting, plant nursery or crop situation.   

You will develop a firm understanding of plant health, the systematic identification of health problems in plants, and the techniques for control of those problems.

Improve Your Plant Knowledge

This horticulture course is aimed at people who have some understanding of plants but wish to improve their skills in plant identification and how to grow and use different groups of plants in gardens and other landscapes. 

Plant identification, culture and care are the cornerstones of being a great gardener or horticulturist. IN this course you will learn to identify over 100 plants and the cultural requirements they need to grow well. Plant identification is extremely important to horticulture it helps you to choose the right plant for the right place.

Gain In-depth Knowledge of Plant Diseases & Disorders

This course goes into the science underlying plant diseases and disorders. It is designed for the professional horticulturist who seeks a greater understanding of the way that diseases affect plants. 

Plant pathology (also known as phytopathology) is the study of plant disease - it is a combination of science knowledge and science application. This course develops your understanding of all types of plant diseases (fungal, viral, bacterial, non-infectious), their life cycles, and ways they can be controlled both with and without chemicals. 

Become Skilled in Plant Pest, Disease & Weed Control

This course teaches you how to protect a range of plants. Knowledge gained is applicable to a variety of situations from lawns to garden beds, parks and public landscapes through to nursery and crop plants.  

It is a detailed course for horticulturists, technicians and also enthusiastic gardeners. Learn to identify pests, diseases and weeds as well as gain an understanding of their life cycles which is vital if you hope to control them. Find out how to select and use appropriate treatments. Control techniques are covered in detail using chemical and biological solutions along with safety procedures and practices.

Learn about plant taxonomy - understand the conventions of naming and classifying to enable you to understand more about plants.

Understand about distinguishing features and characteristics of plants.

Learn about the relationship between different plants.

Learn how to differentiate between different plant families.

Taxonomy represents a valuable tool that horticulturists can apply in pursuit of their business.

Learn Practical Horticulture Skills Online

This course offers training in the practical side of horticulture. Although this is a distance learning course, it has been developed for those people who feel that they will gain more from a course that places most most emphasis on learning through practical experiences. In other words, you learn the theory by doing things.

There are lots of practical horticultural tasks throughout the course to help you develop your skills and knowledge of gardening techniques. If you are a student who prefers practical learning this course will suit you. Learn about how to identify plants, propagate plants, identification of pests, diseases and weeds, planting & potting, pruning and plant care, and identifying risks and hazards.

Learn Advanced Practical Gardening Skills

This course is a step up from our Practical Horticulture 1 course, but it may be taken in its own right by those with fundamental horticultural knowledge. It covers horticultural calculations, propagation management, hard and soft landscape management, planning - identifying needs for management of horticultural sites, identifying plant tissue, and other topics.

Use this course to take the next step in your career. Develop practical skills which can be used in the management of a variety of horticultural situations. The course is suited to those seeking or in positions of horticultural management, or for those who wish to improve their skills for the management of their own business.

Develop Skills in All Types of Plant Propagation

This subject assumes a very general knowledge of basic plant propagation and botany as a prerequisite. With the first lesson you will be sent a video on propagation to refresh your knowledge.

This course is aimed primarily at people who work in the nursery industry but will be of value to anyone with a broad interest in propagating plants. The student will be required to visit or contact various sites, including relevant workplaces, to observe propagation methods or inspect propagated plants, or to interview employees or management. Through this contact, the student will develop an awareness of workplaces and practical applications of the subject.

Find Out How to Grow Plants in Protected Environments

This course focuses on how to grow crops or other plants in a greenhouse, shade house or other protected environment. You will learn about the basics of how plants grow and their physiological processes e.g. nutrient uptake, photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, wilting point. With this knowledge in mind, you will also learn how to manipulate the environment to optimise plant growth. 

The course provides a comprehensive introduction to growing different types of plants and so is relevant to people working in, or aspiring to work in, different settings such as greenhouse crop production, the cut flower industry, plant nurseries, market gardening or farming.  

Turn Your Knowledge & Experience in Horticulture into a Qualification

This diploma is designed for people with extensive industry experience and knowledge who wish to fast-track a qualification. It does still require the candidate to prove sound theoretical knowledge of horticulture science and management at a diploma level through passing examinations.

Exam preparation largely involves a mentor-guided program of learning. For some candidates this may require minimal effort but for others it may be quite extensive depending on previous studies and work experience. The mentor will assess and monitor progress to ensure preparation for the exams is appropriate to the student's needs.

Study Towards Becoming a Professional Plant Propagator

Why do some seeds germinate easily, and others don't? How should seed be stored? How should seeds be treated to encourage germinate? How do you get seedlings to survive? Seed propagation can be complex, but doing this course will help you to answer these questions and many more.

Take this course to lay a foundation for working effectively with all types of seed to achieve great results, regardless of the local climate. You can grow just about anything when you know how to propagate your own plants from seed. 

Learn Soil Management through Understanding Soil Science

Soil management is the basis for healthy plants and conservation for future generations. This course will help you to understand the chemical and physical properties of soil and use this knowledge to help you better manage soils in a sustainable manner - to improve productivity and plant health.

Over eight lessons this course you will learn about soil pH, cation exchange, soil structure, water infiltration, drainage systems, erosion control, and other aspects of soil science. You will also gain the ability to carry out simple tests and determine soil characteristics, and to decide ways of treating a soil to improve its ability to grow plants. The course is specifically designed for ornamental gardens, landscaping, container growing, and turf situations.

Find Out What Tissue Culture is All About

Tissue culture involves growing plants from very small sections (sometimes microscopic) in a laboratory. It requires the use of microscopes, or at the very least a hand lens, as well as equipment such as sterile jars, petri dishes and agar. It is a propagation method which is being increasingly used to mass produce some types of plants.

Tissue culture is not appropriate for many plants, but for others such as orchids, some indoor plants, and many new plant varieties it is a very popular propagation method. This course requires you to have access to some equipment and does not include laboratory placements however you could arrange these for yourself to enhance your learning.

Gain Skills for Work in a Field that Helps the Environment 

Environmental rehabilitation of degraded landscapes and contaminated sites is an important and growing field - this course covers the fundamentals required to start or advance your career in sustainability. Natural forests are amongst the most stable and productive ecosystems. We need to plant and conserve forests for their conservation value, to help maintain healthy air, soil and water and for their potential to provide food, forage, fuel, timber and even medicines.

This course is designed for people working or wanting to work with environmental rehabilitation and recovery of contaminated sites. It helps you to develop an understanding of environmental systems. You will learn about seed collection, storage and germination, propagation, plant selection, establishment techniques, and controlling pest and disease after planting.

Learn about Effective Weed Control

In horticultural practice, if weeds are to be controlled it is critical that they are accurately identified when young. However, weeds are notorious for their diversity and resilience. These two characteristics have made weeds attractive as garden plants in countries to which they are not native.

There are many different ways of controlling weed growth, and the effectiveness of each technique is related to the varieties of weeds being controlled. In this course you will learn how to effectively control weeds in any situation. The course includes both chemical and non-chemical approaches to weed control. 

Aim for a Career in Wholesale Nursery Management

Managing a production nursery involves more than just propagating and potting up plants. Even the smallest nursery must be able to not only produce plants but do it at a predetermined cost, and sustain those plants before and during marketing and sales.

The nursery industry currently has a real need for people with skills and knowledge in managing production plant nurseries, and this course provides a solid grounding for developing those skills. Learn how to manage people as well as plant sales, and to define your target market for optimum performance.