Level I Horticulture Certificate Program

2024/25 Enrollment Opens July 1, 2024

• Classes meet on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. (except The Science of Plant Propagation).
• Each class is 12 hours of classroom time, plus a final project (except Landscape Design which is 16 hours)
• Level I courses cover material essential for a foundation in good gardening practices
• Classes are designed sequentially beginning in September and running through April
• The Level I Certificate requires the completion of all seven Level I core curriculum classes, assignments, and at least 15 Garden Practicum hours
• The Garden Practicum reinforces classroom work with hands-on experience in the garden. Many BBG adult education classes count towards practicum hours. Students will be given a list of qualifying classes upon enrollment and work with their advisor to register
• The Level I Certificate serves as a foundation for all advanced courses

Download the Level 1 Class Tracking Worksheet

Program Costs

Pay for the full program all at once and save 10% | Overall program cost if choosing to pay for the full year 

• Member: $1,550.00
• Non-member: $1,700.00

Register Class by Class | Overall program cost if choosing to pay by the class

• Member: $1,705.00
• Non-member: $1,870.00

Full and partial scholarships are available

There is no more funding left for scholarships; on behalf of BBG we are so sorry for the limitations. For more information please contact Director of Education, Jennifer Patton: jpatton@berkshirebotanical.org

Level I Core Curriculum 

Fall 2024 Level I 

• Herbaceous Plants | Tuesdays, Sept. 3 through 24, 2024, 5:30-8:30 pm
  

  This intensive four-session class led by Lee Buttala explores the world of herbaceous plants, from their identification, selection and use in the garden through their basic botany, life cycle, and propagation. Participants are asked to create a final project highlighting a genus or plant family related to the curriculum. A part of the Level 1 horticulture core curriculum, this class is essential for the committed gardener and includes lectures, hands-on activities, field study, and group discussion. The class aspires to give participants a deeper understanding of annuals, perennials, and ornamental vegetables and their role in the garden. Students should dress for outdoor field study. All students participating in this class as part of the Horticulture Certificate Program are required to complete a final project. Lee Buttala has explored the world of gardening from many angles. He is the former Executive Director of Seed Savers Exchange, a seed bank dedicated to the sharing and saving of seeds that define America's food and garden heritage. He is a former Director of Marketing Communications for BBG and the Preservation Manager for the Garden Conservancy, and is the Chair of the Historic Landscapes Committee of the APGA. He studied garden design at the Chelsea Physic Garden, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Kyoto School of Art and Design. He lives in Brooklyn and Ashley Falls, MA.

• Understanding Woody Plants | Tuesdays, Oct. 1 through 22, 2024, 5:30-8:30 pm
  

  This four-session course will focus on the bones of the garden with a survey of ornamental woody plants for residential landscape design. Jenna O’Brien will cover ornamental shrubs, small flowering trees, shade trees and broadleaf and needle evergreens. Students will become familiar with the many garden-worthy woody plants that thrive in Zone 5. The course covers plant ID, selection, siting, cultivation and possible design uses. Students should dress for outdoor field study. All students participating in this class as part of the Horticulture Certificate Program are required to complete a final project. Jenna O’Brien is a lifetime resident of the Berkshires and owner/founder of Viridissima Horticulture & Design and the blog Berkshire Garden Style. She has been working in Berkshire gardens for 25 years. She specializes in container gardening, perennial garden design and care, and country estate garden management.

• Soil and Soil Amendments | Tuesdays, Oct. 31 through Nov. 19, 2024, 5:30-8:30 pm
  

  This four-session course will explain how plant growth is affected by soils, from drainage to pH and nutrients. Learn how to evaluate soils, improve those that are less than ideal and amend soils for specific garden uses. Fertilizers, soil amendments, making and using compost, moisture management and the pros and cons of mulching will be covered. Students need to get a soil sample before class and bring the results to the first class.

  Dan Kittredge, founder of the Bionutrient Food Association, will explore principles in biological systems. John Howell is the former extension vegetable specialist for the University of Massachusetts and lectures on vegetables, fruits and soil management. Author of numerous newsletters for growers, he is the editor for New England Vegetable Management Guide, published biennially by the University of Massachusetts.

• Plant Health Care | Tuesdays, Nov. 26 through Dec. 17, 2024, 5:30-8:30 pm

  This program focuses on factors that affect plant health care, including insects, diseases, pathogens, and abiotic influences. Basic diagnostic techniques will be taught. Learn to minimize potential problems through proper site preparation, plant selection and placement. Managing problems using biological, chemical and cultural techniques will be discussed with a focus on integrated pest management.

• Garden Practicum

Spring 2025 Level I 

• The Science of Plant Propagation January 4-5, 2025, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. 
  

  Learn about the art and science of plant propagation with Broken Arrow Nurseries grafting guru, Adam Wheeler. Focus on the basic botany needed to understand and successfully propagate plants. Sexual and asexual propagation methods including sowing seeds, cuttings, grafting, layering, and division will be covered. Students will learn the fascinating science behind propagation along with the various techniques used to create new plants.

• Sustainable Garden Care & Maintenance Tuesday, January 14 through Feb. 18, 2025, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. ONLINE
  

  Learn about the maintenance considerations that should be integrated into the design process. Students’ horticultural knowledge will expand to factor sustainable maintenance concerns with cost-effectiveness into plant selection. Learn procedures for perennials, woody plants, and lawns, including transplanting, staking, fertilizing, winterizing, mulching, plant pathology, and pest control with an emphasis on deer control. Taught by Daryl Beyers.
  Daryl Beyers is the author of The New Gardener’s Handbook: Everything you need to know to grow a beautiful and bountiful garden, available from Timber Press. As gardening certificate program coordinator at the New York Botanical Garden, he helps guide the program’s curriculum, teaches the popular Fundamentals of Gardening course, and courses on container gardening and garden design. He has more than twenty-five years of professional landscaping experience, specializing in residential garden design and development. As a staff writer, photographer, and editor for Fine Gardening magazine, he authored two special issues on garden design, and he served as a contributing garden editor for Martha Stewart Living. His articles on gardening and garden design have also appeared in Horticulture and HGTV Magazine.     

• Landscape Design I Tuesday, March 4 through April 8, 2025 - 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
  

  This design course, taught by Tyler Horsley, will introduce students to the design process—the systematic way designers approach a site and client. The course will include a series of simple projects that will end with a garden designed by the students. Learn design principles such as form, balance, repetition, line, texture, color, and spatial relationships. Additionally, students will be introduced to landscape history and how it helps the designer resolve and inspire garden design. 

  In New York City for 30 years, Tyler Horsley was a member of the Green Guerillas and 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden in the East Village. In the city he gardened on balconies, backyards and rooftops. Tyler holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Virginia and a Certificate in Horticulture from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. He created Tyler Horsley Garden Design, LLC in 2005 and has since moved to Hudson, NY and joined Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture.

• Optional Additional Garden Practicum