Crops (Horticulture) 400 Hours Advanced Certificate Course

Compulsory Modules:

1 Outdoor Plant Production (Crops I) BHT112

1. Crop Production Systems
2. Organic Crop Production
3. Soils and Nutrition
4. Nursery Stock Production
5. Tree Fruit Production
6. Soft Fruits Production
7. Vegetable Production
8. Cut Flower Production
9. Herbs, Nuts and Miscellaneous Crops
10. Crop Production Risk Assessment

2 Protected Plant Production BHT223

1. Structures for Protected Cropping
2. Environmental Control
3. Cladding Materials and their Properties
4. Irrigation and Nutrition
5. Relationship between Production techniques and Horticultural practices
6. Harvest and Post Harvest Technology
7. Risk Assessment

Elective Modules: Choose any 2 modules from the courses listed below:

1 Cut Flower Production BHT221

1. Introduction to Cut Flower Production
2. Soils & Nutrition
3. Cultural Practices
4. Flower Initiation & Development
5. Pest & Disease Control
6. Australian Natives & Related Plants
7. Greenhouse Culture
8. Harvest & Post Harvest
9. Developing A Production Plan
10. Export Marketing

2 Fruit Production: Temperate Climate BHT218

1. Introduction to Temperate Fruit Growing
2. Establishing an Orchard
3. General Cultural Practices
4. Tree Fruits
5. Vines, Nuts & Berries
6. Citrus
7. Cultural Management of a Fruit Plantation or Orchard
8. Marketing Your Produce

3 Commercial Vegetable Production BHT222

1. Introduction to Vegetable Growing
2. Cultural Practices for Vegetables
3. Pest, Disease & Weed Control
4. Hydroponic & Greenhouse Growing
5. Growing Selected Vegetable Varirties
6. Irrigation
7. Harvest & Post-Harvest
8. Marketing Vegetables

4 Nut Production BHT219

1. Introduction
2. The Most Commonly Grown Varieties
3. Culture of Nuts
4. Less Common Nuts
5. Propagation
6. Harvest and Post-harvest of Nuts
7. Marketing Nuts
8. Workplace Health, Safety and Risk Management
9. Special Assignment

5 Mushroom Cultivation BHT310

1. Introduction
2. Mushroom Culture
3. Spawn Production & Spawning
4. Making & Casing Beds
5. Growing Conditions for Mushrooms
6. Growing Mushrooms Outside (Pest and Disease Management)
7. Harvesting, Storing & Using Mushrooms
8. Special Assignment - Marketing of Mushrooms

6 Berry Production BHT309

1. Introduction
2. Which Varieties to Grow
3. Lesser Grown Varieties of Berry Plants
4. Culture
5. Propagation
6. Weed Control & Irrigation
7. Harvesting & Marketing Berries
8. Commercial Berry Growing

7 Viticulture BHT220

1. Introduction
2. Climate & Soils
3. Selecting Grape Varieties
4. Vineyard Establishment
5. Grapevine Culture Part A (Training & Pruning)
6. Grapevine Culture Part B (Weeds, Pests & Diseases)
7. Grapevine Culture Part C (Irrigation & Feeding)
8. Improving Grape Quality
9. Harvesting & Selling
10. Wine

Note: each module in this Advanced Certificate is a certificate in its own right, and may be studied separately. Click on the course links to see a breakdown of what each lesson in a module will teach you.

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.