FOUNDATION CERTIFICATE IN HORTICULTURE

Prepare for a Career in Horticulture

Understanding horticulture involves many different topics. These are the focus of this course. From learning about how plants are named and classified into different families, genera, and species, through to plant propagation and culture, all the key topics are examined in-depth. The course has been specifically designed by professional horticulturists to introduce students to all aspects of horticulture in a way which aids learning.    

This is an exceptional foundation course in horticulture. It covers everything any budding horticulturist needs to know, and then some.   

Students use this prestigious qualification to step up the horticultural ladder.

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. The Plant Kingdom (part a)
   • The classification and taxonomic hierarchy of seed-bearing plants
   • The use of botanical keys to identify plants
   • Stages of plant growth and life cycles
   • The structure and function of plant cells and tissues
   • The processes of meiosis and mitosis
   • The differences in the external and internal structure of monocotyledons and dicotyledons.
2. The Plant Kingdom (part b)
   • The identification and function of the external vegetative parts of higher plants: roots, leaves, stems and buds
   • The identification and function of flowers
   • The identification and function of fruits and seed.
3. The Plant Kingdom (part c)
   • The importance of photosynthesis and respiration
   • Transpiration and translocation of water throughout the plant
   • Pollination and fertilisation
   • Seed formation and germination
   • Growth regulation including phototropism and photoperiodism.
4. Plant Propagation
   • How to differentiate between plants produced by seed (sexual) and plants produced by vegetative propagation methods (asexual)
   • Seed propagation
   • Cutting propagation
   • Propagation aftercare
   • Layering
   • Propagation tools
   • Grafting
   • Propagating plants in a greenhouse
5. Outdoor Food Production
   • Growing outdoor food crops
   • Timing crops
   • Making gardens more productive
   • Sustainable land management
   • Composting
   • Companion planting
   • Vegetable crowing
   • Fruit crops
   • Pests and diseases of crops
   • Windbreaks
   • Crop harvesting
6. Garden Planning
   • Collecting pre-planning information
   • Preparing landscape plans
   • The principles, elements and procedures of landscape design
   • Creating landscape effects
   • Using hard and soft landscaping materials.
7. The Root Environment and Plant Nutrition
   • The physical properties of soil
   • Techniques for improving soil
   • The importance of organic matter in the soil
   • Soil water
   • Watering systems
   • Drainage systems
   • Soil pH
   • Carbon and nitrogen cycles
   • Soil nutrients and their effect on plant growth
   • Fertilisers
   • Properties of growing media
8. Protected Cultivation
   • Greenhouse types and shade houses
   • Environmental controls in protected environments
   • Irrigation and nutrition control
   • Containers and growing media in protected environments
   • Care and display of indoor plants
   • Production of selected crops in protected cultivation (tomato, lettuce, begonia, rose).
9. Horticultural Plant Selection, Establishment and Maintenance
   • The selection of plants for different purposes
   • Guidelines for selecting plants
   • Environmental factors affecting plant selection
   • Selecting particular plants (which ones to buy)
   • Planting techniques
   • Selection, establishment and maintenance of turf, annuals, herbaceous plants, shrubs, trees, hedging plants and climbing plants
   • Pruning in the home garden
   • Mulching
10. Horticultural Plant Health Problems
    • Plant problems and their identification
    • Pests
    • Diseases
    • Environmental problems
    • Chemicals and their use
    • Non-chemical controls
    • Weed problems and their identification control

Aims

• Demonstrate a broad range of horticultural knowledge; communicate clearly and coherently in writing on horticultural matters; and relate horticultural science to its practical application.
• Understand the classification of higher plants and appreciate the internal structure of higher plants.
• Understand the external structure of higher plants
• Develop an understanding of the principles and main practices of plant propagation in horticulture.
• Understand the fundamental physiological processes within the plant including photosynthesis, respiration, water movement, pollination, fertilisation, seed formation and germination.
• Develop an understanding of the principles and main practices of plant propagation in horticulture.
• Understand basic cultural operations and production methods necessary to obtain outdoor food crops.
• Understand basic surveying and design principles and apply them to basic garden design and planning requirements.
• Develop an understanding of the constituents, properties and management of soils and growing media.
• Develop an understanding of environmental control and plant cultivation in greenhouses and other protected environments.
• Develop an understanding of plant selection, establishment and maintenance of a range of ornamental plants.
• Develop an understanding of pest, diseases and weeds that affect horticultural plants, and the cultural, biological, chemical and integrated systems used to control those problems.

EXAMS     One Exam

This vocationally-oriented course comprises core studies in general horticulture plus specialised elective studies. The course is designed to lay a foundation for a long-term career in horticulture by developing the ability to identify a large range of plants, knowledge of essential horticultural principles and practices and practical skills in plant propagation, growth and care. 

THE ACS TEAM APPROACH

ACS was founded by John Mason in 1979 as Australian Horticultural Correspondence School.

Right from these very early times, we've always believed that the best education only comes when the student is learning from the experience of a whole range of industry experts (rather than just a single teacher).

Every ACS course is a work in progress, continually evolving, with new information being added and old information being updated by our team of internationally renowned professional horticulturists.

Over the decades more than 100 horticulture experts from across the world have contributed to these courses, bringing their individual knowledge and experiences from as wide afield as England and Spain to Australia and America. While may colleges and universities focus on providing courses that relate only to the country where they are based, ACS has always strived to make it's courses relevant to all parts of the world; any climate, economic or cultural situation. This has been achieved by involving a large number of professionals in the course development.

When it comes to tutoring, marking papers and mentoring students, the team approach is just as strong as with our writing. ACS students have the ability to obtain advice and support from staff across the world, with horticulture tutors located in the UK, Australia (both the north and south) and New Zealand.  The ACS team approach and global focus to both course content and student support, ensures our graduates have a unique and "real world" skills set. This unique approach is highly regarded by our colleagues in horticulture.

Contributors to ACS Courses over the years have included: