Home Garden Expert Course Course Code AHT101 Fee Code S1 Number of Assignments 8 Duration (approx) 100 hours
Want to know more about gardening? Whatever your reason for gardening, this course will help you to garden more efficiently and effectively.CONTENT
There are 8 units involved in this course. Each unit is made up of 2 or 3 lessons.
The eight units are as follows:‑
1. Basic Plant Identification & Culture
Plant names, planting, transplanting, tools & equipment.
2. Soils & Nutrition
Soil structure, nutrition, composting, soil building, drainage, fertilizers.
3. Pests & Weeds
Identifying problems, sprays, biological control, weed identification & control.
4. Landscaping
How to design a garden, rockeries, native gardens, traditional (European style) home gardens.
5. Propagation
Propagating materials, seed, cuttings.
6. Lawns: Turf varieties, laying a lawn, lawn care.
7. Indoor Gardening
Hardy indoor plants, container growing.
8. The Kitchen Garden
Vegetable gardening, fruit trees, herbs.
Aims
Identify plant health problems and know treatments.
Know the plant naming system and how plants are classified.
Understand the effect of soil structure and texture on plant growth.
Understand plant terminology and planting methods.
Understand plant pruning requirements and methods
Know plant nutrition requirements
Understand soil conditions and when they require improvement.
Recognise a range of pests and diseases and the methods of control.
Recognise a range of weeds and know various control methods.
Know a range of garden styles and the history behind them.
Have knowledge of landscape construction techniques.
Understand the elements and processes of landscape design.
Understand various propagating techniques
Propagate plants by various methods
Understand the soil preparation and requirements to establish or renovate a lawn
Know lawn maintenance requirements.
Understand requirements, including environmental and nutritional aspects of growing plants indoors (including hydroponics and greenhouses).
Know how to select plants suited to growth indoors
Develop knowledge of vegetable growing procedures and requirements.
Have knowledge of a range of fruits and berries suited to the home garden
Have knowledge of a range of commonly grown herbs and flowers
WHAT YOU WILL DO
Here is just some of what you will do:
*Read notes written and supplied by staff of this school
*Watch instructional video
*Test and name different soils
*Mix inexpensive potting mixes
*Make compost and explain how you made it.
*Learn how to identify plants effectively.
*Explain step by step how you would go about planting shrubs in your own locality.
*Explain how to transplant and transport plants from one propertyu to another.
*Determine the tools required to do gardening for a property, using a limited supply of money.
*Explain characteristics of soil, including: Soil Structure, pH and Nutrient Deficiency
*Describe how to fertilize a lawn
*Explain how to improve drainage in a soil that is too wet for plants to do well in.
*Explain how you would improve a specified soil
*Identify a nutrient deficiency
*Observe and identify different categories of pest and disease problems in growing plants.
*Compile a weed collection with pressings or illustrations of different weeds
*Compile a plant collection with pressings or illustrations of different weeds
-Describe how environmental problems affect plants
-Recommend ways of controlling different types opf problems in plants, using both natural and chemical.
-Observe and evaluate different types of gardens.
_Survey a garden in order to prepare a garden design.
-Apply a systematic procedure to landscape design, in order to produce a concept plan for a garden.
-Explain mistakes have you observe in the design and construction of different rockeries
-Build a simple cold frame and us it to propagate plants.
-Prepare propagating mix which would be suitable for striking most types of cuttings.
-Propagate different plants from cuttings.
-Prepare a plan for sowing annual flower seedlings over a 12 month period.
-Evaluate and explain a lawn seed mix from the packaging of that mix
-Observe different lawns and recommend their treatment
-Explain how to establish a lawn
-Observe and evaluate the condition of different indoor plants.
-Recommend the treatment of different indoor plants.
-Prepare lists of indoor plants for different applications.
-Find an indoor plant which needs potting up & pot it up.
-Plant a vegetable patch.
-List fruit, nuts & berries most suited for growing in your locality
-Observe the way in which herbs are used commercially (eg. in medicine, cooking etc)
-Explain why crop rotation is used in growing vegetables?
This is a "blue ribbon" course for home gardeners who want the best!
