Basic Amenity Horticulture 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 7 lessons:

1. Nature and Scope of the Amenity Horticulture Industry
2. Global Variations: Nature and Scope of the Amenity Industry in Different Countries
3. Benefits of Amenity Horticulture
4. Amenity Horticulture Management Options
5. Influences (Legal, Social etc)
6. Determining Best Practice
7. Preparing for the Future

• Describe the complexity of the amenity horticulture industry.
• Compare the changing complexity of the amenity industry in the UK, your own country (if different to the UK), and at least one other country.
• Discuss the diverse benefits that amenity horticulture offers to society.
• Explain processes underlying the natural and manmade environments used to manipulate and control amenity sites effectively within economic and environmental parameters.
• Identify legal, social, economic and environmental conditions that impact on amenity industry.
• Demonstrate prudent use of financial and physical resources to manage amenity landscapes.
• Identify and review the changing complexity of the amenity industry

The quality of this course is second to none, from the in-depth learning you will get to the expert individual mentoring you will receive throughout your studies. The mentors for this course are:

Susan Stephenson

BSc in Applied Plant Biology (Botany) Univ. London 1983.

City and guilds: Garden Centre Management, Management and Interior Decor (1984)

Management qualifications in training with retail store. Diploma in Hort level 2 (RHS General) Distinction.

Susan Stephenson is a passionate and experienced horticulturist and garden designer. She has authored three books, lectures at 2 Further and Higher Education Colleges, teaching people of all ages and backgrounds about the wonders of plants and garden design, and tutors many students by correspondence from all over the world.

Susan studied botany at Royal Holloway College (Univ of London) and worked in the trading industry before returning to her first love plants and garden design. She is therefore, well placed to combine business knowledge with horticulture and design skills. Her experience is wide and varied and she has designed gardens for families and individuals. Susan is a mentor for garden designers who are just starting out, offering her support and advice and she also writes, delivers and assesses courses for colleges, introducing and encouraging people into horticulture and garden design.

In 2010, Susan authored a complete module for a Foundation degree (FDSC) in Arboriculture.

Susan holds the RHS General with Distinction. She continues to actively learn about horticulture and plants and (as her students will tell you) remains passionate and interested in design and horticulture.

Steven Whitaker

Diploma in Garden Design (Distinction) – The Blackford Centre, Gold Certificate of Achievement in Horticulture, Level 2 NVQ in Amenity Horticulture, Level 1 NOCN Introduction to Gardening, – Joseph Priestly College, BTEC Diploma in Hotel, Catering and Institutional Operations (Merit), Trainer Skills 1, & 2, Group trainer, Interview and Selection Skills – Kirby College of Further Education

Steven has a wealth of Horticultural knowledge, having ran his own Design and Build service, Landscaping company, and been a Head Gardener. His awards include five Gold awards at Leeds in Bloom, two Gold awards at Yorkshire in Bloom and The Yorkshire Rose Award for Permanent Landscaping. Steven has worked with TV’s Phil Spencer as his garden advisor on the Channel 4 TV Programme, “Secret Agent”.

He is qualified to Level 2 NVQ in Amenity Horticulture and has a Diploma in Garden Design which he passed with Distinction. Steven’s Tutor and Mentor was the Chelsea Flower Show Gold Award-winning Garden Designer, Tracy Foster. He also works for a major Horticultural Commercial Grower in the field of Propagation and Craft Gardening. Steven lives in Leeds where he is a Freelance Garden Designer and Garden Advice Consultant.

Amenity horticulture has a vital role to play in the future management of the environment. As custodians of both natural and developed landscapes, amenity horticulturists will be increasingly responsible for ensuring the Earths resources are used in a responsible and sustainable manner.

This is a module from the RHS M.Hort (based on curriculum developed by the Royal Horticultural Society); this can be taken either as part of the M.Hort Program, as a module in one of our other qualifications or as a stand alone course (Ideal for use as a Professional Development program for persons working in the horticulture industry anywhere in the world).