Growing Annuals Home Study Gardening Course
"Become an expert in growing and maintaining annual flowering plants" "This is the first correspondence course I have done and I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU. I appreciate everyone's effort in such a professionally-run organisation with seamless administration. The office staff's happy can-do attitude, their fast responses to all queries, tutor Shane Gould's quick turnaround in assignment marking and his supportive and motivational feedback and last but not least, the sound subject guides. Most importantly I hope my thanks and appreciation can be communicated to all the staff who have supported me long the way of my learning! I work full time and study on the weekend but really don't stop thinking about what gardening solution I need in order to answer my assignments every day of the week. Thank you for such a great learning experience and I cant wait to start the second half of my course!!"
- Skye
Annuals are a valuable horticultural crop grown commercially as cut flowers, as seedlings or as advanced pots of colour. With careful choice, versatile annuals can deliver year round colour in the home garden. They work to fill gaps between perennials, they can be used to disguise the messy foliage of bulbs as they seasonally die-off, and they can help to keep gardens or parks in the peak of perfection.
This eight lesson course reveals the secrets of how to identify annual species, what to grow and when to grow each variety. It covers soil improvement, pest control, irrigation, propagation, greenhouse growing, hydroponics and much more. It is equally as useful to the home gardener and to the professional gardener as to those intending to grow annuals commercially.
Course structure
This subject has 8 lessons as follows:
1. Introduction
- Scope and Nature
- Naming Plants
- Species, hybrids, cultivars.
- Plant Families
- Pronouncing plant names
- Flower structure and basic botany
- Information sources
- Caring for Cut Flowers
2. Culture
- selection of plants suited to the situation
- preparing a site (soils, cultivation etc)
- propagation
- planting
- mulching
protecting and caring for establishing plants- control of problems (eg. pests, diseases, weeds)
3. Propagation
- Methods of propagating annuals.
- Seed sowing
- Pricking out seedlings
- Propagation of selected varieties of annuals.
4. Hydroponics.
- Annuals in hydroponics
- How plants grow
- Diffeerent Hydroponic systems explained
- When and why to choose hydroponics
- Hydroponic techniques for selected annuals
- Snapdragon
- Aster
- Carnation
- Chrysanthemum
- Gerbera
- Stock
5. Pest and Disease
- Identifying problems (disease, pest, environmental, nutritional)
- Treating problems
6. Irrigation
- Irrigation objectives
- Soil Moisture
- Maintaining water levels
- Watering
- When to irrigate
- Identifying over or under watering
7. Greenhouse Management and Beeding
- Greenhouse design and construction
- Growing in a greenhouse
- Environmental factors that affect growth
- Controlling flower production
- Heating and coolling
- Flower Bed Layouts -pure and impure
- Types of plantings
- Bedding schemes
- Annuals with scent
- Annuals with colourful foliage
- Selecting annuals according to height
- Flower judging
8. Harvest, Post Harvest & Quality.
- Harvesting flowers
- Flower deterioration
- Post harvest
- Shelf life
- Factors affecting post harvest life
- Post harvest treatments
- Grading standards
- Conditioning for market
- Packaging
- Harvesting specific annuals (snapdragon, Bellis, Carnation, Calendula, Carnation, Chrysanthemum, Larkspur, Delphinium, Cosmos, Gypsophila, Iberis, Marigold, Poppy, Statice, Stock, Sweet Pea, Violet)
Course Duration: 100 hours
This is a course for amateurs and professionals; plant collectors and breeders, flower enthusiasts, nurserymen, landscapers, gardeners and horticulturists.
What qualification will I achieve for completing this course?
This is an individual module course. The individual module courses are 100 hour long usually and can be taken on their own or as part of a larger program of study.
If you wish to take an individual module course as a stand alone course, you can elect to sit an optional exam at the end of it.
If you successfully pass the exam and all assignments, you will receive a Statement of Attainment. You can take examinations at a time and location to suit you. If you enrol, you will be sent further information on how to arrange examinations at the end of the course.
If you do not wish to take the exam, you will receive a Course Completion letter when you have passed all assignments.
There is an assignment at the end of each lesson. So for example, if an individual module course contains ten lessons, you will need to complete ten assignments. Assignments can be sent to us via email, post or fax.
Other qualifications, such as certificates, diplomas etc may require examinations to be taken as part of the overall assessment process.
You can find further information on the examinations process by clicking on the “Enrolment” link above.
You can find further information on other courses by clicking on the “Courses” link above.
More Information on ACS Distance Education and our courses
Who are our tutors?
Our tutors are all highly experienced and professional, knowledgeable in their field of study. We have staff from around the world, enabling us to gain a wide variety of perspectives. We have a school in the UK and in Australia. If you would like to have a look at our tutors, then click on the “The School” in the boxes above and choose “The Staff” option.
Sample Course Notes
Our courses are all written by highly qualified tutors and writers, who also teach on the courses, so know them well. We strive to update our courses and improve them with new information, methods and knowledge on an ongoing basis. If you would like to see examples of some of our courses, then choose the “Enrolment” option above, and then click on “Sample Course Notes”.
What learning method should I choose?
We offer three learning methods – e-learning, correspondence and online. If you are not sure which is the right choose for you, then click on the “Enrolment” box above, then “Learning Methods.”
How Long will it take to complete the course?
This obviously varies from student to student. Some students will have more time for study than others. Some students may work quicker than others, so it is an individual thing. We estimate that most students will take, for example, 4 – 6 months to complete a 100 hour individual module, but we allow up to 12 months for you to complete it.
Longer courses will obviously take longer. You can find more information on the length of time required and so on the “Enrolment” box, then selecting “Terms and Conditions of Enrolment.”
What Do Our Students think of us?
If you would like to read comments from our previous students, then choose the “Enrolment” option above, then “Student Testimonials”.
I don’t think this is the right course for me.
If you’re not sure about this course, then why not look at our wide range of other courses. Click on the “Courses” box above.
You may also wish to design your own course to fit in with exactly what YOU want. To do so, click on the “Enrolment” box, then “Design your Own Course”.
If you would like more advice on a course, then you can contact us and ask a tutor about the courses. You can contact us by calling 0800 328 4723 or +44(0) 384 442752 or emailing info@acsedu.co.uk
Recognition and Accreditation
For more information on our recognition and accreditation, click on “The School”, then “Recognition”.
Who is ACS Distance Education?
If you want to know more about ACS and our history, then please click on “The School”, then “About us.”
Home Study Growing Annuals Course
"Become an expert in growing and maintaining annual flowering plants"
Become an expert with annual flowers. Learn to identify and grow them, to produce a continual blaze of colour through the seasons.
An annual is any plant which completes its full lifecycle in one year. Generally annuals are grown in the garden for a period of less than one year, with the expressed purpose of providing flowers and colour.
Annuals are grown both as commercial cut flower crops and as bedding plants (bedding plants are plants grown in a garden bed on a temporary basis). Annuals can be grown as a bedding plant; in a tub or pot; as a hanging basket, or even as a cut flower. They can be grown organically, through hydroponics or using standard horticultural practices. The what, when, where, how and why of growing annuals will vary from place to place and person to person.
This course will provide ideas and inspiration; but above all an opportunity to learn through interacting with tutors and using the various services of the school.
