Irrigation Management 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 8 lessons:

1. Water management
2. Irrigation scheduling
3. Drainage
4. Irrigation controllers
5. Irrigation maintenance
6. Fertigation
7. Design evaluation
8. Irrigation design

• Explain different factors which cause water to be wasted including:
  • Evaporation
  • Run off
  • Over spray
  • Scheduling
• Determine where water is wasted, in both the operation and management of a specified irrigation system
• Determine changes to achieve more efficient water usage, in a specified system.
• Develop guidelines for determining when to irrigate in a particular situation.
• Determine through an analysis, when to irrigate on a studied site, by evaluating soil moisture and other characteristics of a site, periodically over two months, and referencing annual rainfall statistics over a period of years.
• Record in a log book, plant growth and soil moisture for an existing irrigation system operated using two different watering patterns, each for one month, and over two consecutive months.
• Compare differences in varying the scheduling of a watering system over two months
• Prepare an irrigation schedule for a specific garden or crop.
• Develop criteria for designing a specified drainage system.
• Explain the design criteria for a specified drainage requirement.
• Devise strategies for dealing with drainage requirements in emergencies, including:
  • extreme weather (eg. hail, storm)
  • burst pipe
  • blocked drains

• Determine appropriate drainage requirements for a specified situation, and over a specified area, including:
  • Type of drainage required
  • Specifications of drainage required

• Evaluate the operation of a drainage system, installed under irrigation on a site studied by the learner.
• Compare four different irrigation controllers with reference to different criteria including:
  • Labour costs
  • Maintenance
  • Reliability

• Determine appropriate applications for four different types of irrigation controllers
• Explain the operation of a specific brand of time clock, studied by the learner.
• Explain the operation of a specified computerised irrigation controller.
• Develop three different procedures to operate a specific irrigation controller, in order to satisfy three different specified purposes.
• Determine routine site maintenance requirements for different types of irrigation systems including:
  • spray irrigation
  • micro irrigation
  • surface irrigation
  • flood irrigation

• Explain routine site maintenance requirements for different types of irrigation systems including:
  • spray irrigation
  • micro irrigation
  • surface irrigation
  • flood irrigation

• Develop a procedure for maintaining water quality, in a specified irrigation system, at a workplace visited by the learner.
• Explain water quality maintenance activities required for efficient irrigation practices in a specific situation.
• Compare the service supplied by different irrigation suppliers, in terms of scope and quality.
• Develop an irrigation monitoring program, for a specific irrigation system, studied by the learner.
• Write a maintenance schedule for a specified irrigation system.
• Explain the use of fertigation, in a specific horticultural workplace.
• Determine appropriate applications for fertigation in one specific industry sector.
• Determine inappropriate fertigation applications in different specific industry sector.
• Explain why certain applications for fertigation are inappropriate.
• Compare the suitability of six different specified fertilisers for fertigation.
• Determine resources required to undertake fertigation in a specified situation, including:
  • equipment
  • materials
  • manpower

• Collate available data on a specified irrigation system, including:
  • system performance data
  • water supply
  • water consumption
  • crop production or plant growth data
  • climatic trends
  • soil characteristics
  • monitor irrigation performance

• Analyse collated data against different criteria including:
  • benchmarks
  • specifications
  • predictions

• Compile a comprehensive report evaluating a system, which includes:
  • data evaluation
  • performance indicators
  • conclusions
  • recommendations

• Prepare design specifications for storage and distribution of water.
• Explain appropriate methods for recycling, re-use or disposal of water, for three different specified irrigation systems.
• Are there any legal or health considerations?
• Design a drainage system for a specified irrigation system, including:
  • sketch plans
  • materials lists
  • cost estimates

• Determine costing for a specified drainage system.
• Prepare a report recommending design modifications to an existing irrigation system in a specified situation.
• Prepare a design for a micro irrigation system for an area of forty square metres, to a standard which is adequate for a contractor to install the system; and including:
  • plans
  • calculations
  • materials specifications

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.