Register by Dec. 1 to earn Home Horticulture Certificate
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| Register by Dec. 1 to earn a Home Horticulture Certificate at URI. The 14-week virtual program is open to anyone interested in learning more about plants and landscaping. |
Starting to think about your spring garden? Working in a field related to gardening and want to learn more about the science behind it? Interested in expanding your gardening knowledge to apply it to your own projects? For individuals near or far hoping to accomplish these aims in an online-focused program — without a volunteer requirement or need to drive to the University of Rhode Island campus — URI’s Cooperative Extension is offering its convenient Home Horticulture Certificate course, starting in January 2025, with applications for the course due by Dec. 1. The course will be held on Thursday evenings.
This year’s online Home Horticulture Certificate course
starts in January 2025, covering everything from basic botany and composting to
soil science and vegetable gardening.
All lectures are held Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m., Jan. 23
through May 1, 2025 on Zoom, covering everything from basic botany and
composting to soil science and vegetable gardening.
The Home Horticulture Certificate is a comprehensive environmental horticultural education program that takes participants on an educational journey through 14 weeks of virtual classroom instruction. While the class taps into the expertise offered at the University, proximity to campus is no barrier to attendance as the core of the class is offered virtually.
Class lectures are taught by URI Cooperative Extension
faculty and staff experts, with weekly “Try This” assignments and a culminating
hands-on, practical course project which brings concepts learned in class
together. See the 2025 course schedule for weekly
lecture topics and sessions.
While attendees of the course dial in from various areas,
and even plant hardiness zones, they are all united by a love of plants and
curiosity for nature. Some are interested in gardening but don’t have extra
time for volunteering. Others work in green-related industries and seek to
increase their knowledge and enhance service to clients. Course participants
leave with a deeper understanding of how soil, plants, climate, landform, the
built environment and humans interact and impact each other.
The Home Horticulture Certificate offers the same in-depth,
science-based content as URI’s well-known Master
Gardener Program core training, but does not require hands-on
volunteer service for completion. Attendees graduate with a Home Horticulture
Certificate from URI Cooperative Extension.
The Home Horticulture Certificate course is offered
completely online, with synchronous class meetings on Zoom. Course materials
are accessible to students on the URI website, and drop-in office hours are
offered each week on Zoom by instructors to answer any student questions.
In-person field practicum sessions are an optional add-on for local attendees,
for an additional cost, on Fridays in April in the URI Botanical Gardens, $50
per session.
“Anyone interested in expanding their science-based
horticultural knowledge for personal application in their gardens and yards is
encouraged to register,” says instructor Kate Venturini Hardesty in URI’s
Cooperative Extension, “as well as those interested in enhancing their
knowledge as green-related industry professionals, seeking a career change, or
an immersive educational experience.”
Although the course will be taught from USDA Plant Hardiness
Zone 6/7, the concepts taught are transferable to any plant zone.
The course is capped with a practical course project,
requiring participants to conduct a site assessment of a site of their
choosing, such as a yard or community garden, analyzing its characteristics,
climate, and social uses. This assignment is both fun and practical. Concepts
covered in class come together in the project as participants use their senses
to assess a landscape, create a plan and create recommendations for its future,
which they may even then put into action.
Registration for the Home Horticulture Certificate closes on
Sunday, Dec. 1. The course fee is $525. Payment plans are available during the
checkout process.
“All are welcome. I have taught beginning gardeners, expert
gardeners, landscape business owners, arborists, landscape designers, teachers,
college students and more,” says Hardesty, who once designed a garden for
another on-screen show, the popular PBS series, This Old House.
“You can learn as much as your heart desires. It’s a supportive, enriching
environment for plant lovers from all backgrounds!”
To learn more, visit here or contact Kate Venturini
Hardesty at 401-874-4096 or keventurini@uri.edu.