Home Gardening Courses

Study Gardening with Tropical Plants

Learn about gardening with tropical plants, in greenhouses, protected garden spaces, indoors or in warmer climates. An entry level course suitable for anyone new to horticultural study.

Grow fresh fruit, berries and nuts efficiently and economically.

Produce lots of surplus fruit to preserve, trade or give away - your fruit garden will become the envy of  your friends and neighbours. Learn how to raise soil fertility, choose the best fruits for your situation, and grow them in a way which controls pests and diseases without using dangerous chemicals. Both cool and warm climate fruits are covered, and throughout the course you are given the option to concentrate your study on the types of fruits which are of more interest to you.

Become the local garden guru, impress your friends and family with your gardening knowledge or just become quietly confident.

This course covers everything a home gardener needs to know to become a gardening expert. With almost 100,000 words (the size of three average books), plus expert tutor support, this course provides a unique and well-structured opportunity to develop a very sound understanding of gardening.

Hydroponics is the process used to grow plants without soil and literally means 'working water'. The grower is taking 'control' of the plant's root environment, and losing the benefit of 'mother nature's' finely-tuned mechanisms which normally control that part of the plant's environment. So therefore when you remove the soil from a plant and take control of its roots, it is essential that you have a good understanding of how it grows.

Hydroponics is not an easier way to grow plants! It is a more controlled way of growing plants! However it is not a magical way to grow plants either. Anybody can grow plants in soil with reasonable success, but to grow plants in hydroponics, you must understand how the plant grows, so that you can control the light and the temperature, water, oxygen and nutrients in the root zone. These elements are all vital elements in the health and growth of the plants growing in the system.  

This course aims to develop a solid grounding in the principles of soilless cultivation of plants in a HOME hydroponics situation.

Learn to Propagate Plants

• A great hobby
• Get a real buzz from doing it yourself
• Save more money than you might realise when you don't have to buy your plants
• Produce great gifts for friends and relatives
• Sell your excess

Learn how to grow vegetables at home!

Watching plants grow from seed to harvest and knowing that the armful of vegetables you have just gathered for the evening meal will be on the table within an hour or two of harvest can be an exciting and satisfying experience.

You will also know that you and your family are eating the freshest, healthiest chemical free produce.

ACS student comments:
"Great course, tutor was really good with explaining and marking. [She] gave me new ideas for my garden and hints for it too. Learning so many new things about growing different vegetables, how to grow them and what to do. All about soils and garden plots." - Kathryn Crossfield, Australia - Home Vegetable Growing

How Do I Grow Better Vegetables?

Knowing how to grow your own vegetables can save you money as well as help you to become self-sufficient.  And on top of that is is fun too! This course will help you to achieve these ideals - you will learn such things as:

• How to build a veggie garden.
• Cultivation and planting.
• The main types of vegetables.
• How to make great compost.
• Pest, disease and weed control.
• Hydroponic and greenhouse growing.
• Herbs and uncommon vegetable varieties.
• Watering and irrigation systems.
• Harvesting, storing and using vegetables.

Turn your dream garden into reality, be the envy of your friends and neighbours, become the local garden guru or just enjoy your efforts. This comprehensive yet very achievable course helps you to attain your garden dream goals. Learn how to plan, lay out and construct your own home garden and how to identify and chose plants most suited to your situation. Topics covered include: designing gardens, styles of gardens, drawing plans, understanding soils, basic landscape construction, weeds and pests, planting and pruning, lawns and other surfacings, garden features, plus a special project to help you develop your own garden.