UBC to offer Horticulture Training Program

UBC Botanical Garden is pleased to announce our new provincially-accredited Horticulture Training Program with the endorsement of Industry Training Authority of BC (ITA) and the Industry Training Organization, HortEducationBC (HEBC).

Running from September to May, this full¬time program is designed to give students the skills and experience necessary for entering the field of horticulture. Completion of 1100 hours of classroom and hands-on practical instruction and supervised practical work will lead to Levels I & II Apprenticeship technical training credit.

“The UBC Horticulture Training Program is special because of its emphasis on fundamentals and practical aspects of horticulture,” states Douglas Justice, Associate Director and Curator of Collections, UBC Botanical Garden. “The gardens and facilities here are beautiful environments for practical learning, and the program will provide excellent opportunities for students to train alongside our industry-leading horticulturists.”

Students will be introduced to principles and techniques of landscape construction and design, garden ecology, plant biology and plant health, the nature and role of soil in natural and constructed landscapes, aspects of ornamental and food crop management, as well as practical, hands-on landscape and garden management.

“The increasing demands to solve the environmental concerns with urban forestry, agriculture and many other ‘greening’ initiatives of the future are becoming more difficult, especially when the choices for education and training are limited,” states Brian Scott, Superintendent of Operations, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation. “I feel that the new UBC Horticulture Training Program will benefit our field tremendously by providing graduates who are well prepared to step into these evolving horticultural positions.” Horticulture instruction will be undertaken using the facilities of the Botanical Garden, Botanical Garden Nursery, Nitobe Memorial Garden, Totem Research Fields, and the UBC landscape at large. Instruction will include a variety of off-site fieldtrips to various horticultural organizations and operations.