Cert in Applied Horticulture and Horticultural Business Services

Mercer's Ornamental Horticulture certificate suits people who want to work with plants in a design-minded way. It is a short credential that mixes creative planning with practical growing knowledge. Students cover several specialties: designing landscapes, arranging flowers, maintaining grounds, raising nursery and greenhouse stock, and keeping turf healthy. Much of the instruction happens outdoors and under glass, in the college's two greenhouses and surrounding gardens. By the end, a learner should be able to recognize and propagate hundreds of plant species, manage soil, water and nutrients with current techniques, use chemical treatments correctly, grow common greenhouse crops, and follow integrated pest management. Some graduates go directly into nurseries, garden centers, golf courses or florists, and others move on to a four-year school. Evening attendance is common among working students.