Home Studies Course -Start your Gardening or Landscaping Career in Horticulture Here
There are 10 lessons here, spread across 4 units:
Unit 1 – Garden features, plant selection and planning.
Unit 2 – The choice, establishment and maintenance of garden plants and lawns.
Unit 3 – The production of outdoor vegetables and fruit.
Unit 4 – Protected environments and their use in plant cultivation.
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Awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society
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Study Online; or using CD or printed notes : your choice
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100 hours study where and when you want, from anywhere in the world, and complete the course as fast or slow as best suits you
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Options available to build on this course with further studies (leading to further and higher qualifications)
Lesson Structure
There are 10 lessons in this course:
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Principles of Garden Design
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Introduction
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Landscape Principles (Unity, Balance, Proportion, Harmony, Contrast, Rythm)
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Design Elements (Line, Form, Mass, Space, Texture, Colour, Tone)
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Landscape Effects
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Colour in Garden Design
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Formal Gardens
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Informal Gardens
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Cottage Gardens
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Minimalist Gardens
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Natural Landscapes
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Oriental Gardens
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Mediterranean Gardens
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Tropical Gardens
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Plant Identification, Culture and Use -Reviewing a range of plants
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Conducting Garden Surveys and Planning
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Appraising a Site and Collecting Data for Planning
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Components of the Pre Planning Phase
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Use of Hard Garden Features and Hard Surfaces
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Scale for Landscape Plans
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Triangulation
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Surveying Slope
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Direct Contouring
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The Grid System
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Levelling Terminology and Procedure
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The site Plan
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Concept Plan
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Final Plan
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Other Plans
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Design Procedure
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Landscape Graphics
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Putting Pen to Paper
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Lettering and Graphics
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Use of Hard Landscaping Features
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Hard and Soft Landscaping
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Surfaces in the Garden
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Paving
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Using Pebbles
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Rockeries
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Mulching and Erosion Matting
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Barriers and Walls
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Trellis
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Types of Fencing
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Patios
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Seating
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Garden Structures
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Garden Art, Features and Furnishings
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Pools, Ponds and Water Gardens
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Environmental Sustainability
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Use of Soft Garden Features
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Choosing Plants
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Purchasing Plants
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Trees in the Landscape (Deciduous, Semi Deciduous, Evergreen)
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Shrubs
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Perennials and Herbs
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Types of Herb Gardens
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Wildflower Meadows
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Perennial Displays
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Annuals
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Flower Bed Design
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Cottage Gardens
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Scented Plants
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Climbers and Growing plants on Trellis
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Lawns and Turf varieties
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Plant Establishment and Maintenance
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Plants in the Landscape
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Plant Selection
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Environmental Factors
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Improving Environmental Conditions
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Selecting the Right Plant
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Which Plant to Buy
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Understanding Soils and Fertility
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Plant Nutrition
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Preparing a Garden
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Transplanting Techniques
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Fertilising and Staking
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Planting Bare Rooted Plants
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Time of Planting
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Planting Mistakes to Avoid
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Gardening in Dry Areas
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Colourful Year Round Foliage
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Establishing Annual and Herbaceous Plants
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Seed
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Selecting Herbaceous Plants and Bulbs
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Dividing and Separating Perennials
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Herbaceous Borders
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Maximising Flower Displays
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Selecting Woody Plants
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Trees and Tree Health
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Selecting Flowering Shrubs
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Hedges
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Climbers
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Water Plants and Pond Management
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Plant Health
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Weed Management
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Pruning
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What, Where and Why Prune
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Removing Dead and Diseased Wood
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Controlling Type of Growth
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Distinguishing between Bud Types
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Controlling Shape and Size
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Pruning to Rejuvinate a Plant
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Winter Pruning
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How to Prune
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Pruning Different Specific Plant Genera
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Espaliers
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Dead Heading
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Tree Pruning
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Stopping, Disbudding, Root Pruning, Dead heading etc.
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Lawns; Establishment and Maintenance
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Turf Establishment
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Soil Preparation
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Seeding, Stolonising, Sodding, Sprigging, Plugging
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Mowers and Mowing Turf
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Fertilising Turf
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Renovation: aeration, scarification, top dressing etc
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Outdoor Food Production; Vegetables
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Introduction to Growing Outdoor Food Crops
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Growing Techniques for Vegetables
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Planning a Crop
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Starting a Vegetable Garden
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Managing the Crop (Weed Control, Pests, Water etc)
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Special Techniques: No Dig, Green Manure, Cover Crops, Compost etc)
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Sustainable Cultivation Techniques
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Planting Techniques
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Review of major Vegetable Crops
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Managing Water and Irrigation
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Outdoor Food Production; Fruit
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Choosing a Site and Establishing an Orchard
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Location, Climate, Rainfall and other Site Considerations
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Deciding what to Grow
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Scope of Fruit Growing
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Pest and Disease Management on Fruit -Chemical and Non Chemical
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Environmental Problems and their Management
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Pruning Fruit Trees
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Pollination
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Review of Sigificant types of Fruits, Berries and Citrus
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Developing a Production Plan
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Protected Cultivation
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Introduction to Protected Growing
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Types of Growing Structures
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Factors Affecting Light Transmission in Growing Structures
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Management of Greenhouses: Benches, Hygeine, Watering, Temperature Control etc
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Shade Houses
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Computerised Environmental Control
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Heating Systems
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Controlling Light
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Irrigation & Nutrition Control
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Feeding Plants
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Pest and Disease Control in Greenhouses
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Containers for Growing in
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Potting Media
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Indoor Plants and their Management
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
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Develop an understanding of: design principles and how to apply them; basic surveying; garden features, plant selection; garden planning.
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Develop an understanding of plant selection, establishment and maintenance of a range of ornamental plants and lawns.
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Develop an understanding of basic cultural operations and production methods for outdoor vegetable and fruit crops.
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Develop an understanding of: environmental controls, uses and appropriate applications of greenhouses and other protected plant growing structures; the production of a range of plants in protected structures and the care of plants in the house and conservatory.
Download RHS Qualifications - Level 2 Brochure
To obtain the certificate, awarded by the RHS in England, the student needs to sit and pass written exams conducted under supervision, and assessed by the RHS.
Exams can be arranged to be sat anywhere in the world.
- Exams are offered twice annually; in February and June. A separate fee applies for exams; set by and paid to the RHS.
- A network of exam centres are located across the UK for students located in the UK
- It's easy to arrange for exams to be sat outside the UK, in any major centres around the world
- For students located elsewhere; a provision is made for exams to be conducted "under arrangements for exceptional supervision".
This is one of several new RHS Qualifications being phased in to replace older courses over the second half of 2010.
The older courses can still be studied with ACS, but there will be cut off dates on their accreditation; and the possibility of sitting an RHS exam for the older qualification may be missed. Opportunities will be made available to upgrade from the older courses to the new qualifications, irrespective.
Why Study an RHS Course with ACS Distance Education?
- Teaching RHS courses from both Australia and the UK since the 1990's
- These are world class courses examined and awarded by the largest horticultural organisation in the world
- Very strong tutor support -you actually get to communicate one on one with professional horticulturists, each with degree level qualifications in addition to at least a decade of industry experience
- Course notes developed by ACS staff and backed up by a data base of millions of words of original and unique horticultural resources.
