Short Course Starting a Backyard Nursery

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Short Course Starting a Backyard Nursery

 Self Paced 20-hour course to help you understand more about  growing plants.

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 Possibilities 
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?