General Horticulture Courses

Understand Amenity horticulture

“This is the place to start for anyone with an interest in amenity horticulture or who wishes to understand the industry. Graduates will develop knowledge of the industry at both a global and local level of the different sectors of the industry and become familiar with responsible environmental management strategies of natural and created landscapes.” Gavin Cole - B.Science, Psych. Cert., Cert.Garden Design, MACA - ACS Tutor.

As an amenity horticulturist, you will promote and implement strategies that conserve soil, water, air and biodiversity for the benefit of future generations, whether you work in backyard gardens to those or in the management of national parks covering thousands of hectares. This course will develop your ability to establish and manage sites responsibly and with sensitive consideration of both human and environment requirements.

Amenity horticulture is the fastest-growing area of horticulture

There are excellent opportunities for employment or self-employment in different aspects of horticulture. Plan, design and manage land sites that are used for recreation, pleasure, visual enhancement, or environmental improvement rather than for the production of economic crops. This course will give you the skills and knowledge to ensure all relevant concerns are identified and appropriately considered when planning amenity sites.

Learn to Maintain a garden in the most efficient way!

Over ten lessons, you learn how to effectively maintain a garden while reducing the amount of time, labour and costs involved. A course for garden horticulturalists, gardeners and garden owners.

We usually think of garden maintenance as a summer priority when lawns, weeds and plants grow vigorously but even in winter a garden may deteriorate without regular maintenance. Proper maintenance however costs both time and money. Fortunately, there are shortcuts but these require knowledge and the right materials and equipment.

Learn to Market Plants and Horticultural Products with a Distance Learning Course“

In any business, including horticulture, success depends upon good marketing of your product. This subject covers the theoretical and practical importance of marketing in the horticultural industry, including topics such as advertizing, promotions, signs, customer relations, pricing strategy, labelling, transport, product presentation, and more!

"This course has made a big difference to many businesses in the past. Learn strategies pertinent to this kind of business that you had never thought of!” - Tracey Morris Dip.Hort., Cert.Hort., Cert III Organic Farming, ACS Tutor.

Develop the skills and knowledge needed to plan, conduct and report on research in social, technological and environmental issues that impact on Horticulture today and which are needed for strategic business planning.

• This course has been developed by professionals in both Australia and the UK, with the aim of being relevant throughout the world.
• This is a module in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture

Resource management for successful horticulture businesses. 
Planning for efficient and economical management in horticulture includes such things as work procedures and programming, budgeting and staff supervision. The course is relevant to all areas of horticulture including nurseries, parks, private gardens, market gardening and fruit production.

“Horticultural knowledge and skill may guarantee employment; but you need more to be successful in business or effective as a manager. This course provides you with that extra!" - John Mason  Dip Hort Sc, FIOH, FPLA former Parks Director, Principal ACS Distance Education

HOME STUDY COURSE FOR A HORTICULTURE CAREER

• How to Grow Plants
• How to identify over 100 different plants

This is an ideal course for the beginner, this is a basic, yet thoroughly practical course which gives you a sound broad technical grounding in horticultural principles and practices.   YOU WILL LEARN:

• To identify, propagate and care for different types of plants.
• The systematic way plants are classified.
• Structure and parts of a flower.
• To identify different leaf shapes.
• Different ways to control weeds.
• Simple soil tests.
• Making propagating and potting mixes.
• Identifying pest and disease problems.
• How and why to prune different plants.
• Drawing a simple garden sketch plan.
• To plant or repair a lawn; and lots more.

• Plant knowledge is the founation of all good horticulture
• People who can identify plants impress employers and clients
• Graduates know what to look for when examining plants; how to work out what family a plant belongs to, and ways of narrowing a plant down to determine genus and species after that.
• Plants within a family or genus share common management requirements: learn identification and you have a foundation for managing plants.

Identifying plants is something prized by employers, but all too often minimized in modern courses due to financial constraints.

Student Comment: "I have found the course to be interesting and challenging, with great learning materials that really make you research the industry and get involved. It has been a great way to study because it has allowed me to work in the industry and study at the same time. I have found the online resources to be fantastic, the tutors feedback constructive and the fact that assignments can be submitted online makes the process so easy." Tom Wood, Australia - Diploma in Horticultural Science course.

"This course is great for expanding your knowledge of a variety of plants that you will come across in all aspects of Horticulture. Plant Id skills are an absolute requirement of being a Professional Horticulturalist, and this is a good place to gain that knowledge.”- Tracey Morris Dip.Hort., Cert.Hort., Cert III Organic Farming, ACS Tutor.

Want to know how to keep your plants alive?

Study pest and disease identification and management online or by correspondence.

• Learn to identify pest and diseases in plants
• Develop a deep understanding of plant health
• Study the systematic identification of health problems in plants 
• Learn how to control plant pests and diseases 
• Learn how to maintain high quality gardens for business or home

There is always more than meets the eye and problems can be solved easily with this course.

Student Comment: "I have found the course to be interesting and challenging, with great learning materials that really make you research the industry and get involved. It has been a great way to study because it has allowed me to work in the industry and study at the same time. I have found the online resources to be fantastic, the tutors feedback constructive and the fact that assignments can be submitted online makes the process so easy." Tom Wood, Australia - Diploma in Horticultural Science course.

IRRIGATION - HOME STUDY COURSE

Learn how to build and maintain an efficent irrigation system. 

This is a ten lesson course that covers the design, installation, maintenance, operation and evaluation of simple irrigation systems. This course is similar to BHT304 and BAG213, but focuses on irrigation for parks, home gardens, and other ornamental horticulture areas.

GAIN VALUABLE IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT SKILLS

The following topic areas are covered:

• Ways to optimise water efficiency
• Scheduling irrigation for nurseries, gardens, turf and horticultural crops.
• Drainage system design
• Operating irrigation controllers
• Managing system maintenance
• Managing fertigation
• Evaluating irrigation designs
• Design of different systems

This course builds on skills achieved in Irrigation (BHT210 and BHT204) modules to develop students’ skills to manage the design and operation of large scale irrigation systems for horticultural applications.

Learn to manage significant landscapes and gardens of note. This 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.

DO YOU WANT TO WORK WITH ANIMALS AND NATURE?
Then this course is for you!
This course has been specifically designed for people working or wishing to work in nature parks and reserves, in managerial or technical positions. Learn about natural environments, and the management of zoos, wildlife parks, nature reserves. 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.
The course covers many of the fundamental tasks which people who work in such parks need to do; including weed control, soil management, land rehabilitation, landscape construction, etc.

"A great course, prepare to be challenged! This is a growth area and more specialists will be required in the future. This is sound course that will encourage you to start gaining the skills and knowledge required to work in this field.” - Adriana Fraser Cert.Hort., Cert.Child Care, Adv.Cert.App.Mgt., Cert IV Assessment and Training, Adv.Dip.Hort, ACS Tutor

This course is a natural progression from Nature Park Management I, but can be taken in its own right. It concentrates more on plants and using them to create natural, balanced ecosystems. 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.

“This course will help you to round off your skills! Couple this course with the previous one to provide you with broader plant skills. It also enables you to understand all the components that make up a nature park.” - Adriana Fraser Cert.Hort., Cert.Child Care, Adv.Cert.App.Mgt., Cert IV Assessment and Training, Adv.Dip.Hort, ACS Tutor.

Learn to manage Legal, contractual and staffing aspects of a Horticultural Enterprise.

Develop a capacity to apply legal, contractual and staff management considerations to demonstrate informed interpretation and analysis, critical thought processes and an understanding of complex issues in relation to the management of a range of different sectors of the horticulture industry. Prerequisite: Operational Business Management I

Building on the first operational business module this course delves into the prominent legal aspects of the horticulture industry in terms of contract and employment law as well as sound financial practices. In addition, man management techniques designed to improve productivity are discussed. Ideal for anyone in a horticultural management position.” - Gavin Cole B.Sc., Psych.Cert., Cert.Garden Design, MACA, ACS Tutor.

Learn to Grow Organic Plant Crops and Manage Organic Gardens with a Distance Learning Course

This course shows you how to grow plants naturally with organic methods. Develop a solid understanding of the principles and procedures underlying the cultivation of fruit and vegetables by natural methods. Work with the environment and without the use of artificial fertilizers or sprays. It is a similar course to commercial organic vegetable growing, but has more on fruit trees/crops in course content.

Learn how to treat plant health problems correctly!

A must course for horticulturalist that want to boost their plant health and prevent damage by pests and diseases. 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. This knowledge is vital for all practising Horticulturalists.

Garden School -Distance Learning Course

Practical Gardening Skills can be learnt by Distance Education.

This course has been teaching hands on horticulture, through self paced home studies, for over 10 years.

Can you learn the practical side of horticulture by distance education?  This course is the ANSWER! It really does work, particularly if done online, or on CD, where you can make full use of interactive learning tasks and coloured photography on the computer. This course has been written to satisfy curriculum developed by the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK (Advanced Certificate and Diploma level) It will give you a great background to start your career or to enhance your current skills.

Learn Practical Skills by Home Study: Distance education IS Practical -more than most people think!

A course to develop all the practical skills that you learn when working under the supervision of an horticultural expert. The course contains all the tips to develop excellent practical skills in the management of a variety of horticultural situations. You will feel confident to take on tasks and achieve good skills in your field.

Learn to Manage Soil to Grow Plants with a Distance Learning Course

Good soil conditions are critical to the healthy growth of most plants. Over eight lessons this course will develop an understanding of physical & chemical properties of soils, 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. This course provides a credit in ACS qualifications, accredited through IARC, and also prepares you to sit for RHS modules and acquire credits in the RHS advanced certificate or diploma.

“It may be obvious to most that healthy soils produce healthy plants, but what is a healthy soil when it comes to crop production? This course goes deep into the chemical and physical aspects of soil composition, testing, and management to provide the student with the necessary skills to manipulate soils for optimal crop yields.” - Gavin Cole B.Sc., Psych.Cert., Cert.Garden Design, MACA, ACS Tutor.