Diploma in Professional Horticulture
Niagara Parks Diploma in Professional Horticulture
The three-year Niagara Parks Diploma in Professional Horticulture program offers a unique alternative to post-secondary education and a credential that is highly regarded within the horticultural industry. By the end of the program, students meet the requirements to earn their Horticultural Technician Red Seal through Skilled Trades Ontario. Click here to go the Skilled Trades Ontario website for more information.
The academic courses in this program build on the knowledge you will gain through hands-on experience as an apprentice. You will be learning to maintain the plant collections, gardens, and landscape features at Niagara Parks’ renowned Botanical Gardens.
Credential: Niagara Parks Diploma · Duration: 3 Years
Excellence
in Horticulture
Students in the Niagara Parks Diploma in Professional Horticulture program study courses in business management, landscape design, computer-assisted design, plant identification, commercial greenhouse production, plant pathology and much more.
Course Calendar
Apprenticeship Training
Our on-campus practical horticulture education on the grounds of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens forms the foundation of the Professional Horticulture diploma program. As part of your apprenticeship training, you’ll work alongside your peers to provide maintenance to the gardens and accumulate paid hours of apprenticeship. Learn more about apprenticeship training.
Learning Outcomes
Graduates of the Professional Horticultural diploma program are able to:
- Apply the principles of plant and soil sciences to successfully plan, implement and maintain various types of horticultural environments.
- Identify over 2000 plants in over 100 genera, assess and prescribe their uses.
- Apply the principles of design, aesthetics, function and/or sustainability in a variety of horticultural settings, including public garden plantings and displays.
- Apply the principles and practical skills of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to indoor and outdoor plants in a variety of horticultural settings.
- Successfully use business and management practices appropriate within the horticulture industry.
- Develop and apply strategies for ongoing personal and professional development to enhance work performance and career opportunities.
- Much more!
Career Opportunities
Graduates explore careers in exciting fields like landscape design and maintenance, greenhouse and nursery production, garden centre management, arborist, golf course installation and maintenance, horticulture consultant, pest management specialist, and more.
Niagara Parks Diploma in Professional Horticulture
The Niagara Parks Diploma in Professional Horticulture Program is a 3-year program with 3 semesters per year: Fall, Winter, and Summer. The program consists of a combination of academic classes, along with the practical component when students work as paid employees on site at the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens earning hours towards their Horticultural Technician apprenticeship. This program requires a commitment of 40 hours per week, Monday-Friday for 12 months a year.
First Year
BUS410 Business Foundations
LDS510 Computer Assisted Design
LDS511 Fundamentals of Landscape and Planting Design
LDS513 Landscape Surveying
HRT110 Soil and Hydrology in Horticulture
HRT111 Biology of Insects
HRT112 Commercial Greenhouse Production
HRT113 Fruit and Vegetable Culture
HRT114 Theory of Arboriculture Practice
PSC212 Introduction Plant Pathology
PSC210 Botany and Principles of Taxonomy
APH611 Equipment Operations
APH613 Tree Climbing and Operations
APH614 Workplace Health and Safety
PID310 Plant Identification Level 1
Second Year
BUS420 Business Level 2
HRT120 Urban Arboriculture
LDS520 Advanced Landscape Design
PSC220 Plant Propagation
BUS421 Oral Communications
PSC222 Plant Health Care
PSC223 Tropical Plants
SPR721 Leadership Development
PID321 Coniferous Tree/Shrub Identification
PID330 Plant Identification Level 2
LDS513 Landscape Construction
PSC221 Principles of Turfgrass Management
Third Year
HRT130 Emerging Trends in Horticulture
HRT131 Public Garden Management
PSC230 Practical Research Methodology
LDS530 Landscape Master Planning
PID330 Plant Identification Level 3
APH 631 Internship
SPR731 Mentorship
BUS430 Business Level 3
SPR730 Study Tour
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