Topic: RHS Level 2 Certificate in Horticulture

[Sparkly]

Has anyone completed this course? I was thinking about doing a general interest type college course in the evening at a local college. I am a biology teacher, but my gardening knowledge is not really very good. We have had our allotment for 1 year and I have certainly learnt alot. I am not really bothered about gaining the qualification as such, but I would like an interesting gardening course that may help with the theory. I would also like to learn about different (non-edible) plants as I know nothing!

[Thegoodlife]

The best college course to do is experience from your fellow allotment holders ;), no college course could teach you knowledge of veg growing its just trial & error, when i started at the age of 12 i had a book & wrote every thing in, even had my granddad to help & over the years I've built up a what i think is a good knowledge.
save your money & as many people say don't run before you can walk! ;D

[springbok]

I have enrolled for the above course, find out wednesday if I have the funding to do it :)  I want do to the course to actually work within gardens and nurserys though :)

However, I have to admit, as a first time gardener I have learnt more from this forum in a few months than all the books. 
Other peoples experience is invaluable and have always had my questions answered.

[Sparkly]

I am not expecting it to actually make me a better gardener, as I too have learnt far more from fellow allotmenteers than any book  ;D I was thinking about doing a college course in something anyway and, as I like learning and this is a new hobby, I thought I might find the course interesting. I would actually like to be able to name some non-edible plants and be able to go around the nursery with an idea of what sort of varieties are suitable. I was wondering whether anyone else had done the course and found it interesting?  :)

[mostlybegrowing]

Hi I started the RHS Level 2 horticulture course last April by distance learning as I was interested to learn more about horticulture for my garden and veggy plot. I have 2 years to complete it so I can dip in and out of it, doing the assignments when I feel like it so theres no pressure, so it suits me fine.

The topics I have covered already are Intro to horticulture, plant structure and form, how plants function, plant propagation, outdoor food production and garden design. Theres 12 modules in all and i'm up to 6. How plants function, Plant propogation and outdoor food production have been very interesting and I have learnt the most from these modules.
Plant structure and form was a bit heavy going on the biology jargon and I think I will have to read over it again to fully take all the info in.
I'm glad I am doing the course as its another tool in the bag to help gain more info on the topic and of course its nice to have a qualification to your name as well, its a good achievement. :)

[Baaaaaaaa]

A vocational course (ie one with a recognised qualification) like an RHS course has little to do with gardening as such. It is unlikely to teach you how to grow, say, chillies.

I did an HNC a while back and thoroughly enjoyed it. It didn't teach me how to garden or particularly how to grow plants, but more on how/why plants grow, why certain pests/diseases are attracted to particular plants & how to get rid of them, the science of soil, nutrition  (ie pH , why an acid lover hates lime), propagation, pruning, how to manage/organize a garden, horticulture vs. agriculture, and of course the obligatory plant identification.

Its certainly an eye opener to the world of horticulture, rather than the limited life of a gardener.

A formal course is an academic exercise, not a practical one.

It may not have taught me directly how to grow things, but now I have a much better understanding of what I need to do to make things grow and why. It has removed a lot of the trial and error guesswork I used to have and has given me the confidence/ability to talk intelligently about the subject.

Sparkly, I suggest you get a copy of the syllabus, and see if its the kind of thing your looking for.