Gardening is a great hobby.   

• It is good for our mental and physical health.
• It provides us with home grown, fresh fruit and vegetable.
• It provides us with hobbies and interest.
• It is a great way to spend time in the fresh air and get close to nature.

But horticulture does not just have to be a hobby. Working in horticulture can also be a rewarding and beneficial career.

Why Work in Horticulture?

Good for our Mental and Physical Health

As we said above, spending time outdoors in the garden can be good for our mental and physical health. Gardening is great exercise burning around 300 calories in 30 minutes.  Spending time with nature is also good for our mental health. It helps us to focus and releases those feel good hormones to reduce anxiety and depression and improve our mood.

Skills Shortage

Due to misconceptions about horticulture and changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries are currently experiencing skills shortages in horticulture.  We need horticulturalists.  To survive, our planet needs plants and trees. Animals and humans need food and air. Horticulturalists are essential for the world!

This means that there are many job opportunities and business opportunities in horticulture.

It is predicted that the gardening industry will grow 5 – 10% in the next few years.

Opportunities in Horticulture

The horticulture industry has many, many opportunities –

• Commercial and domestic gardeners – Working in the gardens and green areas of people’s homes or businesses
• Landscapers – creating gardens and green for customers
• Garden designers – designing gardens
• Botanists – studying plant life in the wild and in the laboratory
• Pomologist - studying and cultivating fruit
• Permaculture Systems experts – maintain and create biodiversity
• Growing and selling fruit, veg, nuts and other crops
• Biophilic experts – designing green areas to include nature around built up areas
• Horticulture tutors and trainers
• Journalists
• Social media writers
• Writers
• Bloggers/vloggers and article writers
• TV presenters
• Retail staff – work in shops, garden centres, nurseries, online etc.
• Garden equipment designers and developers
• Selling garden equipment
• Nursery staff – growing, maintaining and selling plants
• Botanical illustrators – drawing images of plants and flowers
• Scientists – carrying out research and applying that research to the real world
• Growing, producing and selling herbs and herbals products or manufacturing herbal products 
• Horticultural marketing
• Horticultural therapy – working with people helping them to improve their physical and mental health through the joy of gardening and horticulture.
• Rewilding experts – bring nature back to cultivated areas
• And many more jobs.

We can’t possibly talk about every single job-type available in horticulture, there are just so many, so let’s look at the steps to deciding which career is for you.

Are you considering a career in horticulture?

Step 1

Think about your existing knowledge, experience, skills and qualifications.

Do you already know quite a bit about gardening or do you need to take an introductory course? A simple 100 hour course in horticulture may be all you need or you may want to go ahead and do a Certificate in Horticulture which will give you a much more in-depth knowledge in general horticulture but also allow  you to choose some specialised stream modules. 

Once you have decided what level you need to start with, move onto –

Step 2

What interests you?

• Designing gardens
• Rewilding
• Landscaping gardens
• Growing fruit and veg or growing a particular crop ?  
• Selling gardening products
• Marketing gardening products
• Writing about gardening and horticulture
• Other areas?

Decide on what areas of horticulture interest you.  If you are not sure about everything that is available, why not have a look at our online horticultural courses here.  

There may be more than one area that interests you.

For example, one of our tutors Diana. 

 Diana runs her own landscaping business, is involved in permaculture, is an educator  and one of our horticulture and permaculture tutors.  This is just one example of how varied a career in horticulture can be.

If you look on social media, you can see numerous posts of people who are involved in horticulture in some way and writing about it, or posting about it.

People might grow, sell and market their own produce.   A local woman grows her own herbs and scented plants, then uses them to create soaps and candles. She runs her own shop, selling them and also offers facials using the products.

You can see that horticulture is not just one job, but the opportunity of many.

So, think about the things that interest you. Then move onto –

Step 3

Hopefully if you are at step 3, you are already seeing the potential of working in horticulture. You may have some ideas.

Now is the time to think if about how you will study.

• You can read books and educate yourself.
• You can go to college or university and take a course or courses.
• You can study online or by distance learning and learn more about horticulture while you continue to work in your existing job.

Training in horticulture does not mean you have to give up work now. 

Not many people can do that and studying online horticulture courses means that you can –

• Continue in your existing job whilst training in horticulture - we did a great blog on Studying while you work - how to plan your studies 
• Study at a time to suit you – Early morning, late night, lunch time, before work, on the train or bus.
• Study where suits you – your home, your office, on the bus, the train, a coffee shop, in the garden or a greened area (hopefully, it is in a green area to fully appreciate the beauty of nature while you are studying).
• Take your time to study. Sometimes life gets in the way. You may have less time to study than at other times in your life, so work at your own pace.

Step 4

You have hopefully now decided –

• What level of horticulture you need to start with
• What area(s) of horticulture you are interested in
• How and when you will study.

Now you need to take the final step and get started.  There are so many options out there and you might not be sure which one is the right one for you to get started with. 

Our horticulture tutors are all experts in their own field. They are also enthusiastic, keen, friendly and happy to help you to decide which course or courses are right for you.

Click here if you have any questions for a tutor.  https://www.acs.edu.au/advice/course-counselling.aspx

Or you can enrol today and get started. https://www.acs.edu.au/courses/gardening-and-horticulture-courses.aspx

Our courses are designed to help you to –

• Learn about horticultural theory
• Learn horticultural techniques and practices
• Understand how horticulture is a great opportunity for an exciting career or to establish a new business
• Help you to realise that horticulture has virtually limitless opportunities

If you want to be outstanding in your field (pun intended), why not get studying with ACS and benefit from the extensive experience of our horticulture tutors?