Qualification -ADVANCED DIPLOMA IN HORTICULTURE - LANDSCAPING (C12CN004)

Carve out a Career as a Landscape Designer or Contractor

Be a true professional in the field of landscaping and/or garden design.

 
Who Should Do this Course?
  • Gardeners, Artists, Landscapers who want to reach the top of their profession
  • Anyone with a passion for Garden Design
  • Anyone aiming for employment as a garden designer, landscape technician, contractor or manager
  • Anyone with a desire to enter the landscaping profession, who has the time to undertake the best and most comprehensive training

This course will take longer than other options; but at the end of the day; more training allows most people a greater chance of advancement and success in this exciting profession.

Why Study Landscaping with ACS

  • Exceptional access to tutors
  • The Quality of our Tutors (Guided by principal John Mason, former editor of Landscape & Garden magazines, author of over 40 books, designer of over 500 gardens and parks)

This course is internationally accredited through I.A.R.C.

Train to be a Professional Landscaper

Take this course to become a Professional Garden Designer, Landscape Contractor or Landscape Technician

This is an exceptional training program, with a quantity of study that is comparable to the best degrees and diplomas on the subject. It differs however to many of the offerings by other colleges, in two ways:

  • First it offers you greater flexibility, with more choices of electives; allowing you to specialize, and in doing so, differentiate your skills so that you may more readily carve a niche career for yourself in the industry
  • Secondly, this course allows more focused studies on landscaping. Other courses today will often incorporate modules that are taught by non landscape professionals, covering generalised subjects such as business, science or health and safety. This course keeps those peripheral studies to a minimum; thus allowing you more time for focus on landscaping.


DURATION
Normally 3 years full time or 5-7 years part time; but may be completed in 1-2 years with extra effort.

COURSE STRUCTURE

Core Modules
These modules provide foundation knowledge
for the Advanced Diploma In Horticulture - Landscaping.

  Biochemistry I (Animal and Human) BSC103
  Botany I (Plant Physiology And Taxonomy) BSC104
  Carpentry BSS100
  Horticulture and Research I BHT118
  Horticulture I BHT101
  Landscaping I BHT109
  Machinery and Equipment BSC105
  Horticultural Resource Management BHT203
  Horticulture And Research II BHT241
  Permaculture Systems BHT201
  Project Management BBS201
  Amenity Horticulture I BHT324
  Horticultural Marketing BHT304
 
Elective Modules
In addition to the core modules,
students study any 12 of the following 28 modules.

  Australian Natives I BHT113
  Cottage Garden Design BHT110
  Growing Annuals BHT115
  Herb Culture BHT114
  Horticulture II (Plant Knowledge) BHT102
  Landscape Construction BHT111
  Mud Brick Construction ASS103
  Plant Selection And Establishment BHT107
  Soil Management (Horticulture) BHT105
  Turf Care BHT104
  Australian Natives II BHT225
  Green Walls and Roofs BHT256
  Irrigation (Gardens) BHT210
  Landscaping II BHT214
  Landscaping III (Landscaping Styles) BHT235
  Natural Garden Design BHT215
  Planning Layout And Construction Of Ornamental Gardens BHT242
  Playground Design BHT216
  Restoring Established Ornamental Gardens BHT243
  Scented Plants BHT229
  Sports Turf Management BHT202
  Trees For Rehabilitation (Landcare Reafforestation) BHT205
  Tropical Plants BHT234
  Amenity Horticulture II BHT325
  Garden History BHT329
  Managing Notable Gardens BHT340
  Organic Plant Culture BHT302
  Water Gardening BHT307


Note: Fees cover all tuition and "essential" texts. This does not include fees for any Industry conferences or seminars which are attended).
Enrolment fees do not include exam and workshop fees


Opportunities
Horticulture involves “growing plants for an intended purpose”.  Landscaping involves creating and managing outdoor land environments.
This purpose might be very obvious, such as providing a functional space to use for sport, or to improve the aesthetics. It could also be less obvious though, such as filtering pollutants from air, reducing the negative effects of storms or creating an environment that is friendly to people or animals.

Landscape Horticulture offers diverse employment opportunities. Some landscape professionals might do it all: designing, building and maintaining any type of landscape; but more often than not, landscape professionals specialize to a greater or lesser degree; for example:

Home Garden Designers
Commercial Landscapers
Public Park Designers
Landscape Architects
Landscape Construction Contractors
Interior Plantscapers
Tree Plantation Contractors
Playground Designers
Permaculture Designers
Farm Planners
Town Planners


Horticulture industries have changed a great deal in recent decades. Mechanisation and computers have changed the way in which jobs are done; and globalisation has created new dynamics in trade that have impacted what we grow where and how.

For a sustainable career or business in horticulture, you need to recognise the inevitability of these changes. To have a long and sustainable career, you need to be able to adapt to change, and to excel you need to embrace and take advantage of change. To achieve this, your knowledge and skills in horticulture must be broad based. If you understand the fundamentals skills needed - across all sectors of horticulture - you will be able to see opportunities as they arise and confidently move from one sector to another, throughout your career. As an example,  anyone with underpinning knowledge of plant science and plant cultural practices:  plant growth and identification, soil management, pruning and pest control and the associated technologies,  will be able to work in landscaping for a few years, then move to turf management or nursery production and later work in crop production.  

Sound, broad based training in the fundamentals of horticulture is a good starting point for entering this industry. However not all courses on offer will be broad enough or in-depth enough to set you up for a sustainable, lifelong career – so you need to understand the fundamentals required in horticulture (in general) and then choose a diverse course, that enables you to achieve these aims.