Diploma in Sustainable Horticulture

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON

THE COURSE

The aim of Unitec's Diploma in Sustainable Horticulture is to give students a strong knowledge of practical systems in a broad range of horticulture.

The underlying emphasis of the two-year, full-time course is on the development of sustainable horticultural practices. It can also be studied part-time.

Students can expect to study 22 hours a week on the Auckland campus with a similar amount of time spent in individual study.

They carry out planting, and observe and measure plant growth. There are weekly field trips to horticultural properties to look at management options, and the course involves hands-on skills such as pruning, soil testing and plant propagation. Students get a thorough grounding in up-to-date plant science and horticultural theory.

First year papers include botany, horticultural plant and pest management, plant protection, ecology, soil conservation, ecophysiology, rootzone and the horticultural industry.

In their second year, students continue to study plant science and may specialise in one of four themes - production, amenity, conservation or organics. Each student devises, develops and evaluates a workable horticultural enterprise.

Practical industry experience is an important part of the course and students have six weeks of work placements in commercial properties.

Assessment is by assignments, exams and practical work. The unit standards gained through the course amount to 75 per cent of a National Diploma in Horticulture, and students can go on to study for a Bachelor of Resource Management.

Course entrants - who can start the course in July or February for part-timers or February for full timers- need to have successfully completed year 12 (6th form) or its equivalent or be over 20. They must be proficient in English.

Applications from part-timers need to be in by July 1 for the next course, and December for the full-time course.

The course costs $3500 a year, plus textbooks, and is limited to 45 places.

Graduates can expect employment in trainee and junior management positions on a starting salary of around $30,000 by local authorities, MAF Quarantine, AgriQuality, commercial horticultural enterprises, and support industries such as exporting.

WHAT STUDENTS THINK


Angela McCarten, 36

Greenhouse manager

Taupaki

Graduate 2001

I wanted to get into horticulture but I had done none apart from home gardening. I did the course because I wanted to start at a higher level - not shovelling dirt or potting on forever, more at the management level.

I loved the course. It was exactly what I was looking for. I specialised in amenity horticulture and it is perfect for this job.

A lot of horticulture is outside in the elements all the time and I quickly decided that wasn't for me. I like it in the greenhouse.

There are a huge variety of jobs people can do after the course. I know people working for MAF and in the botanical gardens. The course gives a real general coverage of everything.

The tutors had good knowledge, the amount of coursework was fine and we had work experience, and field trips once a week. You saw different businesses so you got a good idea what you wanted to do. I've been here two years and I'm settled in.

WHAT EMPLOYERS THINK


Nancy Beck

Director

West Coast Orchids

We encourage students to come here. It is nice to have someone who has already exhibited an interest in production horticulture and has the right attitude.

It also means we can pick and choose our employees. That is how we got Angela. She came here one day a week while she studied.

We are also putting something back into horticulture by helping with the training. The only gap in the course would be the physical requirements of dealing with particular crops but we can teach that. It is very good on botany, plant physiology, pest and diseases, agrichemicals and safety.

And some of the students come in with ideas they have seen elsewhere. We can get stuck on our property and it is good to get ideas from them. We've had about 10 students. Some come for a day or a week, some work over summer. I try to give them a flavour of what we do, not just have them potting up.



Diploma in Sustainable Horticulture

Unitec

Auckland

Phone: 0800 10 95 10

Graduate starting salary: $30,000 pa