Managing a Nursery

Every nursery is unique. A plant nursery can occupy any form of growing space be it a greenhouse, field or even a backyard. No matter what size though, to be financially viable a nursery always needs good management that involves many skills and attention to detail. Organisation and planning is the key to run a profitable plant nursey.

This 20-hour course will help you understand how to set and adhere certain quality, size and cost efficiency standards to manage nurseries that can offer both wholesale and/or retail plants. It also covers market research, promotions, distribution and how to sell the product for maximum return.

Lesson Structure

There are 7 lessons in this course:

1. What do you learn? Take a look inside:
   • INTRODUCTION TO THE NURSERY INDUSTRY
   • The industry
   • Professional organisations
   • Nursery accreditation
   • Types of nurseries
   • What to grow
   • How to grow
   • Nursery standards
   • Starting out as a nursery producer
   • Assessing opportunities
   • Trends in the retail nursery/garden centre industry
   • Review what you have been learning
2. THE NURSERY SITE
   • Area of the nursery site
   • Nursery site and location
   • Nursery design
   • Designing for effective environmental management
   • Review what you have been learning
3. NURSERY MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT
   • Containers
   • Labels
   • Stakes, trellises and trainers
   • Mulches
   • Nursery tools and equipment
   • Using tools
   • Hand tools
   • Hand saws
   • Machinery
   • Stages in each stroke of an engine
   • Drones
   • Robotics
   • Review what you have been learning
4. IRRIGATION
   • Water supply
   • Water quality
   • Water treatment
   • Recycling water
   • Irrigation systems
   • Pumps
   • Scheduling irrigation
   • Maintenance of watering systems
   • Review what you have been learning
5. GLASSHOUSES, SHADE HOUSES AND OTHER NURSERY STRUCTURES
   • Greenhouses
   • Other structures for growing plants
   • Environmental control in greenhouses
   • Sheds and workrooms
   • Review what you have been learning
6. MANAGEMENT
   • Operational flow charts
   • Human resource management
   • Examples of nursery job descriptions and advertisements
   • Work scheduling
   • Motivating employees
   • Training staff
   • Horticultural education
   • Styles of supervision
   • Safety and illness at work
   • Managing facilities
   • Productivity
   • Managing money
   • Practical exercise
   • Cash flow
   • Financial statements
   • Record keeping
   • Computers in the nursery
   • Business planning
   • Review what you have been learning
7. MARKETING
   • Marketing nurseries
   • The marketing mix
   • Choosing a plant variety to sell
   • Product case study: marketing cut flowers
   • Promotions and advertising
   • Packaging
   • Transport and distribution
   • Sales
   • After sales service
   • Market research
   • Marketing budget
   • Legal implications of marketing
   • Glossary
   • Metric/imperial conversion table
   • Review what you have been learning
   • Final assessment

How Your Course Works

1. Enrol any time. Your enrolment will be processed usually within a day or two; and during business hours, often within an hour.
2. You will then receive an email explaining the course and how to access to a study guide, and our help desk. The guide contains both an audio and written explanation of how the course can be undertaken in a way where you can choose to emphasise or de-emphasise aspects of your learning, according to where your greatest interest or needs may lay.
3. You then follow the study guide, reading and undertaking varied learning tasks, designed by professional educators to broaden and deepen your understanding of the subject. These tasks can vary from practicals to research and more.
4. If and when you need to, you can contact our academic staff via a help desk. Emails are answered every working day.
5. On concluding each lesson, you are presented with a series of automated self assessment questions, to review and reinforce your learning experience.
6. On conclusion of all lessons, you are presented with a major online exam comprising numerous questions reflecting the scope of all lessons.
7. The exam is assessed in our online training system immediately as it is submitted; and if you achieve a result of 60% or more, you are given access to download a “Certificate of Completion”. This certificate carries your name (extracted from the original enrolment order); together with a current date, and carrying endorsements from this school and the ACS Global Partners Network.

Everything is automatic; but if you do need help at any point along your journey of discovery; but there is a help desk, with real people who have real expertise – only an email away!