Horticulture City & Guilds course

Train to Become an Environmental Gardener

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- Start a sustainable career with our accredited courses
- Free for local people

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Accredited by City & Guilds, and available up to Diploma level, our part-time Environmental Gardening courses are a great starting point for a career in the industry. Delivering a recognised, industry-standard Level 2 qualification with an environmental edge, we support students into work across the industry, from landscaping and maintenance, to community gardening and environmental work. You’ll join us at our award-winning, biodiverse site to dig into the practicals of environmental gardening to begin your journey.

What the course covers

The course runs on a rolling cycle through the seasons, so what you study first will depend on when you start the course. If staying for 3 terms and earning a Diploma, you will discover:  

• How to assess soil texture and condition to prepare for planting in the garden, as well as providing care for planted areas so that the plants have the best chance of survival.
• Identifying diseases and disorders within plants, and organic approaches to preventing these.
• Dealing with requests and providing advice to other gardeners and customers in a horticultural workplace.
• How to propagate plant material by taking stem cuttings, as well as propagating from seeds. Tree planting, and how to plant seasonal containers
• Laying out plants for planting, and providing ongoing care, including applying (organic) fertilisers and identifying damage done by pests.
• Identifying plants by their botanical names.

Course Structure

Our Environmental Gardening course teaches the City & Guilds Practical Horticulture Skills qualification with an environmental edge. The course is broken down into three 14 week terms, and you can study with us for one, two or three terms in total. The qualification you achieve will depend on the number of terms you complete:

1 Term - City & Guilds Level 2 Award in Practical Horticulture Skills

2 Terms - City & Guilds Level 2 Certificate Practical Horticulture Skills

3 Terms - City & Guilds Level 2 Diploma in Practical Horticulture Skills

We will need to know how long you intend to study for when you start the course.

Start Dates

If you are interested in joining us please complete the relevant form below. We enrol new students every term throughout the year (January, April, and September), so welcome submissions on a rolling basis and will hold details for future intakes until you tell us not to.

The course runs part-time, with the option to attend 1 day per week (9am-3:30pm on either Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays) or 2 evenings per week (Mon and Thurs 5-7:45pm.)

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