Sneak Peek
Short Course Starting a Backyard Nursery
Self Paced 20-hour course to help you understand more about backyard nursery.
This short course is a guide for the person attempting to start or run a small nursery, herb or flower growing
enterprise as a backyard operation on their larger property. It endeavours covers the most important topics you need to get you started.
Use this course as a starting point:
Study the nursery industry and its sectors in your region – see what is and isn’t feasible. Look at what plants and related products are currently in demand.
Consider opportunities open to you - for example:
You may start small, propagating, growing potted plants and selling at a local market
You may start by propagating herbs for sale, but also growing some, harvesting and producing some herbal products
You may propagate flowers, selling potted flowering plants; or growing in the ground, then harvesting and selling bunches of flowers to a florist or at a market stall.
Nurseries, herb or flower farms that have humble beginnings on just a few dozen square metres of land; can eventually develop into a large, full time business.
Our 20 hour courses are self paced and will help you understand a topic in a short amount of time. You can work through the course when you like- test yourself with mini-tests along the way. There are extra case studies or research you can undertake if you would really like to get into the topic. Once you have completed the lessons and self assessment tasks, there is a final exam undertaken online- you can then download your personalised certificate.
CONTENTS
This short course covers eight lessons:
Lesson 1 Introduction and possiblities
Introduction
Form of product
Growth stage
Quantity
Selling
Lesson 2 Management and organisation
Management and organisation
Selecting the site
Choosing what to grow
Layout
Managing manpower, equipment and materials
Developing a nursery stock list – an example
Nursery stocklist worksheet
Lesson 3 Propagating techniques and equipment
An overview
Sexual propagation
Treatments
Asexual propagation
Propagating structures and equipment
Nursery irrigation techniques
Propagating beds
Shade houses
Lesson 4 Propagating materials
Containers
Containers
Potting mixtures
Labels
Lesson 5 Plant health problems
Diagnosing problems
Minimising the likelihood of problems
Treating a problem
Chemical controls
Minimising chemical use
Biological controls
Lesson 6 Propagation - seeds and cuttings
Where to plant
Pre-germination treatments
Handling seedlings
Pricking out seedlings
Propagating ferns
Cuttings
Practical exercise
Budding and grafting
Layering
Propagation of specific plants
Ornamentals
Annuals, bulbs and perennials
Fruit and nut plants
Herbs
Growing on
Potting up plants
Lesson 7 Starting a small herb or flower farm
Herb growing
Herbal products
Growing flowers for profit in your backyard
Lesson 8 Management
Starting a nursery
Market research
Planning
Work scheduling
Operational flow charts
Nursery profile
Costing your production
Practical exercise
Hypothetical case study
How does this course work?
You can enrol at any time.
Once you have paid for the course, you will be able to start straight away.
Study when and where you like. Work through at your own pace.
You can download your study-guide to your smart phone, tablet or laptop to read offline.
There are automated self-assessment tests you can complete at the end of each lesson. You can attempt these as many times as you wish and each time, upon completion, you can see your results. You will need internet access to complete the self assessment tests.
At the end of the course, you are presented with a large assessment which can be attempted online, anywhere, anytime. If you achieve a 60% pass in the exam; you immediately receive a downloadable certificate of completion with your name on it. If you do not achieve a 60% pass rate, you can contact us to re-sit your exam. ( email- admin@acs.edu.au )
Contact us at anytime if you have any issues with the course. admin@acs.edu.au