Course Summary
Course Category: PLC (Further Education - FET) - Apply directly to College
This award is designed to introduce learners to general horticulture practices with a strong emphasis on organic, sustainable methods. This hands-on course focuses on the importance of the environment and respecting the balance of nature. The core modules look at understanding the relationship between plants and soils and how to best provide the correct conditions for healthy growth and prevent future horticultural problems.
The course centres around a professional maintenance program along with propagation methods providing our learners with the perfect ingredients for employability. This course is a mixture of practical activities and theory that takes place in outdoor settings such as within our college grounds, our allotment along with other private estates that have become our gardening partners for many years.
Course Details
This course prepares you for working in the following Career Sectors:
What will you study?
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Core Modules
Communications
Work Practice
Plant Science
Soil Science and Growing Media
Plant Protection
Elective Modules
Plant Identification and Use
Garden Design
Ornamental Horticulture
Landscape Construction & Maintenance
Modules offered may be subject to change due to resource demands.
Important
- Colleges may add/remove modules to keep the course updated and to meet demands.
- Almost all PLC courses have a Work Experience module, which requires students to find their own placement in an area directly related to their course.
Progression to CAO Courses
Higher Education Links Scheme (HELS)
This course leads to a QQI Major Award, and provides progression opportunities to a number of Higher Education courses, including those in the CAO.
To view CAO courses to which this award provides a possible progression route, click below:
| QQI Code |
| 5M2586 |
To calculate Points based on your QQI award results, use the PLC Points Calculator.
The Student - Career Interests
This course is typically suited for people with the following Career Interests:
Naturalist
Not surprisingly, some aspect of the natural sciences will run through the Naturalist's interests - from ecological awareness to nutrition and health. People with an interest in horticulture, land usage and farming (including fish) are Naturalists.
Some Naturalists focus on animals rather than plants, and may enjoy working with, training, caring for, or simply herding them. Other Naturalists will prefer working with the end result of nature's produce - the food produced from plants and animals. Naturalists like solving problems with solutions that show some sensitivity to the environmental impact of what they do. They like to see practical results and prefer action to talking and discussing.
Creative
Creative people are drawn to careers and activities that enable them to take responsibility for the design, layout or sensory impact of something (visual, auditory etc). They may be atrracted to the traditional artistic pursuits such as painting, sculpture, singing, or music. Or they may show more interest in design activities, such as architecture, animation, or craft areas, such as pottery and ceramics.
Creative people use their personal understanding of people and the world they live in to guide their work. Creative people like to work in unstructured workplaces, enjoy taking risks and prefer a minimum of routine.
Further Research
National Statistics for this Award (All Ireland)
The following data provides general information about this Award from colleges across Ireland.
Disclaimer: These links are to web sites outside of CareersPortal and we accept no responsibility for the information on them.
Career Progression
A wide variety of employment opportunities exist in Domestic Landscaping, Private Gardens, Public Parks and Nurseries, market gardens, managing your allotment and Garden Centers. The Design elective allows students to look after large gardens while the market gardening elective prepares learners to cultivate a site suitable to food crop production, have acquired skills in propagation, cultivation and harvesting of food crops.