Home Garden Expert Online Course

Home Garden Expert Online Course
Full Fee $595.00 incl GST - Best Value!
Payment Plan $800.00 incl GST
Duration 100 hrs (12 months)
Exam Optional
Tutor Support Yes unlimited by email
Qualification Certificate
Clear

Why study this Home Garden Expert course?

Calling all gardening enthusiasts! If you want to develop the skills to create the garden you have always dreamed of, Careerline’s online Home Gardening course is designed for you.

Whether you are an experienced gardener or a beginner with a genuine passion for plants, this course will help you achieve your gardening goals. Study home garden expert alongside Careerline’s home fruit growing, permaculture, or flower growing courses to make the most of your online learning experience.

Whether you hope to upskill, become a more skilled hobbyist, or get a head start on future studies, studying with Careerline will have a positive impact on your future. This online home garden expert course will help you to deepen your understanding of plant care, lawn and garden maintenance, and propagation. Your new skills will help you feel prepared as you design, plant, and care for your dream garden.

What will you learn?

Careerline’s online Home Garden Expert course is ideal for home gardeners who want to become gurus. As an online home gardening student, you will learn about plant identification and culture, including the common and scientific names of plants, pruning, mulching, and seasonal gardening. Further, you will study soil texture and structure, as well as the skill of keeping plants healthy through nutrition. You will become aware of the symptoms of common pests, weeds, and diseases, and learn how to prevent and control them.

This course will also teach you how to landscape effectively using native and introduced plants, hedges, and colour. You will study the art of propagation, including growing from seeds and cuttings. Home Garden Expert students learn how to design, maintain, and renovate lawns, and how to choose an appropriate turf type. Finally, you will develop the skills needed to grow plants indoors, and to grow edible crops to use in your kitchen.

Who is this online Home Gardening course for?

Careerline’s Home Garden Expert course is for gardeners of any experience level or ability who want to improve their skills. You will be able to apply your newfound knowledge to either your hobby or your career. The course is primarily for home and hobby gardeners, but is also suitable for landscapers, nursery retail employees, and garden designers who want to upskill.

This online home gardening course is also ideal for anyone interested in pursuing further study in garden design, landscaping, plant science, horticulture, or nutrition.

Course 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

 

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    Detailed Course Outline

    This course is made up of a number of lessons or units.  Each of these has self assessment questions, a set task (practical homework) and an assignment which you can upload online.  Click below to read about each of the lessons and what you will learn.

    There are 8 lessons in this course:

    Basic Plant Identification & Culture

    • Plant names-common and scientific
    • Recognising groupings of plants into families and genera
    • Planting
    • Understanding cold in the garden
    • Protecting new plantings
    • Different potting needs
    • Hanging baskets
    • How to select the most appropriate plant
    • Transplanting from pots
    • Basic planting procedure
    • Best time to plant
    • Planting bare rooted plants
    • Mulching
    • Tools & equipment.
    • How to cut with secateurs
    • Aims of pruning
    • Pruning terminology
    • When to prune
    • Pruning methods
    • Pruning in the home orchard
    • Review of 16 different plants

    Soils & Nutrition

    • Soil texture and structure
    • Different soils for different purposes
    • Terminology
    • Water, air, temperature of soil
    • Nutrient elements
    • Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sulfur
    • Minor elements
    • Deficiencies and toxicities
    • Feeding plants
    • Factors affecting fertiliser application
    • Organic fertilisers; manures, rock dusts, seaweed
    • Ways to apply fertiliser
    • Soil chemical properties
    • Soil building
    • Improving texture, fertility, etc
    • Total salts
    • Acidity and alkalinity
    • Composting
    • Drainage
    • Review of 16 different plants

    Pests & Weeds

    • Identifying problems
    • Preventative measures
    • Types of problems -parasitic and non parasitic, pest, disease, environmental etc
    • Chemical vs natural controls
    • Common problems and treatments used for them, both natural and chemical
    • Safety with chemicals
    • Plants to improve soils -cover crops
    • Biological control
    • Weed identification
    • Types of weeds
    • Types of weed problems
    • Weed control methods
    • Review of 16 different plants

    Landscaping

    • Types of gardens -formal, informal, natural
    • Cottage gardens, Mediterranean, Japanese, naturalistic, permaculture
    • History of Gardening
    • Design principles or concepts -line, texture, colour, balance etc.
    • Using paving, stone, gravel, etc
    • Selecting landscape materials
    • Moving earth
    • Using timber
    • Rockeries
    • Drainage -surface and sub surface
    • Designing a home garden, step by step, through to drawing the plan
    • Creating user friendly gardens
    • How to use colour
    • Creating a natural style
    • How to use plants
    • How to create a garden room
    • Native gardens
    • Traditional (European style) home gardens.
    • Hedges and Mazes
    • Review of 16 different plants

    Propagation

    • Methods -asexual and sexual
    • Equipment, cold frames
    • Seed treatments -acid digestion, stratification, scarification, etc
    • Soils, soil mixes, propagating media
    • UC mixes
    • ph
    • Types of media and components -rock, stone, synthetic, organic, soil
    • Growing plants from seed
    • Hygiene
    • How to sow into containers
    • Germination
    • Pricking out seedlings
    • Cutting propagation
    • Types of cuttings, hardwood, softwood, herbaceous, nodal, tip, etc
    • Cutting treatments -hormones, wounding etc
    • Managing parent plants
    • Cutting propagation for a range of specific plant genera
    • Setting out cuttings
    • Potting on cuttings
    • Review of 16 different plants

    Lawns

    • Value of lawns
    • Lawn shape and design
    • Ways of establishment -seeding, turfing, rough mowing
    • Laying a new lawn
    • Turf grass varieties -couch, fescue, rye, bent, kentucky,
    • Lawn problems -nutritional, environmental, pest, disease, weeds
    • Lawn renovation -topdressing, dethatching, aeration, etc
    • Turf maintenance practices -rolling, spiking,slicing, drilling, etc
    • Watering lawns
    • Review of 16 different plants

    Indoor Gardening

    • Why some indoor plants do not perform
    • Caring for plants -growth rates, dormancy
    • General rules to follow
    • Choosing the right pot or container
    • Hydroponics
    • Bonsai
    • Greenhouses
    • Shadehouses
    • Heaters
    • Other ways to grow plants – epiphytes, terrariums, water gardens
    • Selecting indoor plants for different light and other conditions
    • Hardy indoor plants
    • How to maintain indoor plants in pots
    • Problems with potted plants and solutions
    • Groups or types of indoor plants -foliage, flowering etc
    • Review of 16 different plants

    The Kitchen Garden

    • Getting started
    • Choosing what to grow
    • Planning a cropping program
    • Getting the best from a Vegetable plot
    • Crop rotation
    • Use disease resistant varieties
    • Timing
    • Special techniques -green manures, no dig beds, raised beds
    • Minimising water use
    • Making compost
    • Varieties and seeds
    • Raising and transplanting seedlings
    • Directory/review of how to grow most common vegetables (this is an extensive study)
    • Harvesting
    • Establishing a home orchard
    • Deciduous Fruit trees
    • Pollination needs
    • Review of common temperate and sub tropical fruits from grapes to mangoes and apples to citrus
    • Nuts -review of most common types
    • Berry Fruits -review of most common types
    • Using excess harvest -preserves etc
    • Herb cultivation
    • Review of most common herbs
    • Harvesting herbs
    • Designing a culinary herb garden
    • Companion planting
    • Using herbs -garnishes, soups, potpourri, etc
    • Poisonous plants
    • Cultivating annual flowers
    • Review of 16 different plants

    When you have completed the lessons of your Certificate course, you will be given the option of taking the optional exam. It's okay if you don't want the exam, we still issue your Careerline Certificate. For Advanced Certificates however, the exam is compulsory (per module) and are included in the course fee.

    Course Tutor(s)

    Barbara Tremain BSc. (Hons) Horticulture, RHS Adv. Cert,. RHS General, City & Guilds Garden Design, Permaculture Level 3 (UK)

    Barbara brings to Careerline a wide range of horticultural experience and knowledge Barbara has a keen interest in herbalism, edible wild plants and has lead into studies of many plant based complementary medicinal systems, qualification as a Bach Flower remedy practitioner and studying Ethnobotany. Barbara has practiced and studied horticulture as well as combining it with her love of travel in many countries including the UK, US and Australia and has also studied Permaculture and runs her own horticulture business. Within the past two years she have also worked for Groundwork SW with 18-24 year old unemployed people, this work and the mentoring scheme has allowed me to teach informally. It has been a delight to nurture the interests of keen learners in horticulture and garden design. Meanwhile the business has covered a variety of Garden Design projects, from wildflower gardens to seaside situations, and has included some work with Chelsea Gold multi-winner John Moreland.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can I pay in installments?

    Yes! We offer great payment plans, however full payment up front is the cheapest. You can choose the best payment plan for you from the course page, or call us on 07 55368782 to talk to one of our course consultants for a custom plan.

    Can I study from anywhere in the world?

    We have many international students. Careerline's range of courses are suitable for any one, anywhere in the world.

    Do I get a discount if I enroll in a second course?

    Yes. You may claim a 5% fee discount when you enroll in a second course, and a further 10% off a three-course package.

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    Do I have to sit an Exam?

    No. If you are enrolled in a Certificate course (100hrs), the exam is optional. You will be issued with a certificate which proves that you are competent in all units, if you choose not to sit the exam.

    Do you have set start dates?

    There are no set start dates, you may start at any time. Our courses are all self-paced. As our home page says, ‘Courses for Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime’. ‘Anytime’ includes the start time of your choice. However, we do encourage our students to submit assignments on a regular basis. Wherever possible, we suggest developing a study routine.