Certificate in Practical Horticulture

Learn gardening with our enthusiastic and experienced experts, and work towards the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Eden Project Certificate in Practical Horticulture.

Gardener man holding crate of vegetable produce from the gardens at the Eden Project

Our gardening courses are ideal for anyone who wants to develop their practical gardening skills and knowledge, whether you're:

  • a keen amateur
  • beginning a career in horticulture
  • thinking of changing your career and going into horticulture.

The programme of eight one-day practical gardening sessions, now in its fifth year, is taught by the experts in the Eden Horticultural Team. The eight sessions can be enjoyed one by one or taken as a complete course.

More reasons to sign up

  • Our courses are ideal for people who are working and can't attend full-time college courses.
  • They are practical courses where you will get your hands dirty, unlike many other short gardening courses, which are purely theoretical.
  • You will learn key skills to start you off in gardening, so that you can
    build on them, with confidence, yourself.
  • The course structure allows you to practise each set of skills over a growing season, in between each Saturday of delivery.
  • Book all eight days together and get a 10% discount and an Eden Project Annual Pass, giving you free entry for a year.

Venues

The courses are taught at the main Eden Project site in Bodelva, Cornwall, and Eden’s Watering Lane Nursery nearby.

Book a place 

To book a place on one of the courses call our box office team on +44 (0)1726 811911.

Offered with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

The Eden Project is pleased to collaborate on this course with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), which has been training students and professionals in horticulture for over a century. The RBGE Certificate in Practical Horticulture is a modern qualification that draws on this wealth of experience.

The assessment and verification guidelines are administered by both Eden and RBGE, which ensures that the qualification is standardised worldwide. This international qualification has been taught in Oman, Turkey, Laos and Thailand.

Course dates and costs: 2013/14

You can book a course as an individual day or book all eight to receive a 10% discount.

Course name Date Venue Cost
Understanding plants Saturday 7 Sept 2013 Eden £50
Feeding and watering Saturday 28 Sept 2013 Nursery £50
Soils and composting Saturday 19 Oct 2013 Nursery £50
Planting and establishment Saturday 9 Nov 2013 Nursery £50
Pruning and training Saturday 30 Nov 2013 Eden £50
Seed propogation Saturday 15 Feb 2014 Nursery £50
Growing media and potting Saturday 8 Mar 2014 Nursery £50
Vegetative propagation Saturday 29 Mar 2014 Nursery £50
Review day Friday 6 June 2014 Nursery £50
Assessment day Saturday 7 June 2014 Nursery £50

 

More information

Programme overview (PDF)

The way the staff pass on their passion is contagious.

Megan Lodge, 2011-12 participant

Some courses are too theoretical, but this was a perfect mix of theory and practice.

Steve Pearson, 2010-11 participant

Green fingers

David Rowe, Eden staff member and participant on Eden's practical gardening course

David Rowe tells us how the course has transformed his love for gardening.

Read his blog

Growing a career

Megan Lodge, Certificate in Practical Horticulture student, in the gardens at the Eden Project, Cornwall

Hear how students on the course have built up professional gardening skills.

Read their stories