Short Course Starting a Backyard Nursery

Sneak Peek

Short Course Starting a Backyard Nursery

This short course is a guide for the person attempting to start or run a small nursery, herb or flower growing
enterprise as a backyard operation on their larger property. It endeavours covers the most important topics you need to get you started. 
Use this course as a starting point: 
Study the nursery industry and its sectors in your region – see what is and isn’t feasible. Look at what plants and related products are currently in demand. 
Consider opportunities open to you - for example:
You may start small, propagating, growing potted plants and selling at a local market
You may start by propagating herbs for sale, but also growing some, harvesting and producing some herbal products
You may propagate flowers, selling potted flowering plants; or growing in the ground, then harvesting and selling bunches of flowers to a florist or at a market stall.

Nurseries, herb or flower farms that have humble beginnings on just a few dozen square metres of land; can eventually develop into a large, full time business.

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Lesson 1 Introduction and possiblities
   • Introduction
   • Form of product
   • Growth stage
   • Quantity
   • Selling
2. Lesson 2 Management and organisation
   • Management and organisation
   • Selecting the site
   • Choosing what to grow
   • Layout
   • Managing manpower, equipment and materials
   • Developing a nursery stock list – an example
   • Nursery stocklist worksheet
3. Lesson 3 Propagating techniques and equipment
   • An overview
   • Sexual propagation
   • Treatments
   • Asexual propagation
   • Propagating structures and equipment
   • Nursery irrigation techniques
   • Propagating beds
   • Shade houses
4. Lesson 4 Propagating materials
   • Containers
   • Containers
   • Potting mixtures
   • Labels
5. Lesson 5 Plant health problems
   • Diagnosing problems
   • Minimising the likelihood of problems
   • Treating a problem
   • Chemical controls
   • Minimising chemical use
   • Biological controls
6. Lesson 6 Propagation - seeds and cuttings
   • Where to plant
   • Pre-germination treatments
   • Handling seedlings
   • Pricking out seedlings
   • Propagating ferns
   • Cuttings
   • Practical exercise
   • Budding and grafting
   • Layering
   • Propagation of specific plants
   • Ornamentals
   • Annuals, bulbs and perennials
   • Fruit and nut plants
   • Herbs
   • Growing on
   • Potting up plants
7. Lesson 7 Starting a small herb or flower farm
   • Herb growing
   • Herbal products
   • Growing flowers for profit in your backyard
8. Lesson 8 Management
   • Starting a nursery
   • Market research
   • Planning
   • Work scheduling
   • Operational flow charts
   • Nursery profile
   • Costing your production
   • Practical exercise
   • Hypothetical case study