Learn to manage gardens, parks and other forms of amenity horticulture
Horticulture can be divided into two sectors:
- Crop Production
- Amenity Horticulture, which is involved with growing plants for recreational or ornamental purposes. However, these should not be seen as clear-cut divisions.
Boundaries defining the two sectors tend to vary from country to country and between horticultural institutions and employers. For example, some horticulturists might view floriculture enterprises or wholesale nurseries as being in the production sector, while others would classify them as amenity industries. Major sectors within the amenity horticulture industry typically include the following:
- Arboriculture
- Landscape industry
- Parks and gardens
- Turf management
- Nurseries – retail and wholesale
- Interior landscaping
- Floriculture
Comment
“This is the place to start for anyone with an interest in amenity horticulture or who wishes to understand the industry. Graduates will develop knowledge of the industry at both a global and local level of the different sectors of the industry and become familiar with responsible environmental management strategies of natural and created landscapes.” - Gavin Cole B.Sc., Psych.Cert., Cert.Garden Design, MACA, ACS Tutor.
Lesson Structure
There are 7 lessons in this course:
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Nature and Scope of the Amenity Horticulture Industry
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What is amenity horticulture
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Arboriculture
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Landscape industries
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Parks and gardens
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Nurseries
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Turf management
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Interior plantscaping
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Floriculture
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Global Variations: Nature and Scope of the Amenity Horticulture Industry in Different Countries
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The changing nature of amenity horticulture
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PBL project to create and present a plan that identifies and compares global variations in the amenity horticulture industry.
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Benefits of Amenity Horticulture
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Amenity horticulture and society
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Aesthetic value
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Health benefits
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Benefits of gardening
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Horticultural therapy
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Kitchen garden programs
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Community gardens
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Recreational benefits of public open space
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Economic benefits
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Nature based tourism
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Private land use for recreation
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Environmental benefits
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Amenity Horticulture Management Options
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Management of amenity sites
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Management processes: planning, organising controlling, leading, etc
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The organisational structure
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Managing natural environments
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Good and bad management decisions
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Influences
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Legal concerns for amenity horticulture
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Legal and illegal plants
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Law and money
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Land ownership
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Land planning and planning processes
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Central place theory
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Psycho social considerations
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Environmental concerns
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Determining Best Practice
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Best practice management
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How is best practice determined
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Quality systems
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Managing finance
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User pays pricing
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Budgets
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Managing physical resources
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Staff management
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Teams based management
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Managing workplace safety
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Risk control
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Preparing for the Future
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Future of Amenity horticulture
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Ecologically sustainable development
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PBL project to identify the current impacts on the environment of amenity horticulture operations in your area and suggest ways that ESD will impact on those operations and on the community in the short and long term.
What You Will Do
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Describe the complexity of the amenity horticulture industry.
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Compare the changing complexity of the amenity industry in the UK, your own country (if different to the UK), and at least one other country.
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Discuss the diverse benefits that amenity horticulture offers to society.
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Explain processes underlying the natural and man made environments used to manipulate and control amenity sites effectively within economic and environmental parameters.
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Identify legal, social, economic and environmental conditions that impact on amenity industry.
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Demonstrate prudent use of financial and physical resources to manage amenity landscapes.
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Identify and review the changing complexity of the amenity industry
Amenity horticulture has a vital role to play in the future management of the environment. As custodians of both natural and developed landscapes, amenity horticulturists will be increasingly responsible for ensuring the Earth’s resources are used in a responsible and sustainable manner.
Benefits of Amenity Horticulture
The benefits of amenity horticulture can be broadly classified as social/personal, economic and environmental:
- Social/Personal, including:
o Aesthetic improvement to landscapes
o Health-related benefits – physical health, social health, mental health
- Economic
o Private land that is used for profit
o Public land recovered for public use
- Environmental
o Pollution reduction: noise, dust
o Habitat, plant and animal life conservation
o Genetic diversity conservation
o Land recovery
THE CHANGING NATURE OF AMENITY HORTICULTURE
Amenity horticulture was once a labour intensive industry, requiring relatively large numbers of people carrying out a multitude of physical tasks ranging from skilled work, such as tree surgery and pruning, to heavy labouring work such as digging or moving heavy loads of soil and rocks.
Engineering and scientific innovations, particularly since the mid 20th century, have changed the nature and scope of work in amenity horticulture. Innovations have not been the only factors in bringing about change though. Changing fashions, different lifestyles, economic pressures, and environmental changes have greatly impacted on the types of facilities and services used by the amenity horticulture industry, and also influenced what people want and expect from amenity horticulture.
