Certificate III in Horticulture

People who are successful in this course:

• Love spending their working days outdoors
• Have a fascination with plants, the natural environment and science
• Enjoy getting their hands dirty in practical work with the land
• Are able to work independently and as part of a team

Assessments give you the opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned so far and identify what area may need further development. In this course you will undertake:

• Knowledge assessments: short answer and multiple choice
• Practical projects: these may include tree protection or transplant programs, a paving or retaining wall project, or an aquatic maintenance program

The Certificate II is an entry level qualification that provides no exposure to simulated or real-world experiences. It does cover some foundational skills that will sets you up for success in the Certificate III.

The Certificate III in Horticulture is where you'll gain all your underpinning horticulture experience. You will apply what youre learning in the classroom to real-world and simulated environments. Study at this level will give you employability skills that meet industry needs.

The Certificate IV course doesn't cover the underpinning experience gained in the Certificate III. This course focuses on supervisory skills to oversee a team of horticulturalists.

The Diploma level course provides a pathway to a degree qualification. Managing a commercial business, teams, retail process and production systems.

Depending on your campus location and local relationships in the area, you may visit wholesale and retail nurseries, parks or gardens. These excursions provide exposure to different types of practices, machinery and equipment, plants, pests, and weeds.

You will gain hands-on experience in:

• Establishing and maintaining grassed areas
• Recognising common and rare plants species
• Implementing a pest control solution
• Implementing a plant nutrition program
• Improving soil in gardens and turfed areas
• Specialist amenity pruning techniques

TAFE NSW is known for delivering theory along with practical, hands-on learning.
During your study you will establish and lead real-world projects, such as:

• Soil nutrition and improvement
• Plant propagation
• Pruning a series of plants, hedges or trees

TAFE NSW offers you a range of study environments to enhance your learning and employability, such as:

• Campus classrooms
• Glasshouse
• Shadehouse
• Machinery and tool shed with industry standard equipment

Demand for horticulturalists and gardeners is growing, including allied skills associated with food production and tree production.

Growth is expected to stem from population growth, rising household incomes, expansion in the number of households and an increasing trend of outsourcing garden and vegetation management services, particularly by the health and education sector, the hospitality sector, government departments, and large corporations.

The NSW Government has a strategy to increase access to quality green, open and public spaces across the state. These developments will drive demand for horticultural workers and create opportunities for TAFE NSW to partner with local councils to support related skill needs.

Horticulture specialists are an essential support to society so the world can continue to produce food, fibre and green living environments.

Specialists work to support increasing demands in re-vegetation and ease the urban heat and the resulting impacts to people's health.

This qualification prepares you to work in biodiversity conservation to adapt your approach to best meet then environments changing conditions now and into the future.