If you are currently studying a horticulture course with us, we’ve compiled a list of sites we think are a great help. In no particular order of preference:
The RHS
The RHS website is so full of information, you can spend countless hours on this site browsing plant advice, gardening advice and even purchasing seeds for your next project and still not have scratched the surface. Their very useful month by month guide is a valuable resource for both students and gardeners. Along with their general advice on gardening and plant guides, they also publish reports on subjects such as global warming.
Great for: Double checking plant information and gardening practices, gaining some inspiration if you’re feeling lacklustre in your studies
The National Garden Scheme
You might have come across the following in your course: “visit a garden and record what you see”. This is a set task example that can come up frequently in your studies. It may seem intimidating to try find a garden if you live in the middle of London, for example, but the National Garden Scheme is here to save the day! Over 3,000 gardens have signed up to the scheme and are opening their beautiful pockets of private peace to the general public for a small fee. The fee goes straight to charity. Simply type in your post code and find out where and when you can go in your local area. These garden trips make for great days out and we'd recommend students on any course to take advantage.
Great for: Seeing beautiful gardens and plant varieties that are not normally available to the public and utilising a great learning opportunity.
The Online Plant Guide
While this is a fairly old website, it still has thousands of plants to look up and find out about. Every single one of our Horticulture courses (and agriculture) will put the student through the steps of creating plant files. These become easier as you go through the course, but they can be intimidating if you've never had to deal with plant files before. If this is something you are struggling with, take a look at the Online Plant Guide for some help!
Great for: Making quick work of your plant sheets!
Opal
As you may have experienced, many of our Horticulture courses can be very focused on the practical aspect of your studies. OPAL (Open Air Laboratotries) Explore Nature are an initiative that is encouraging the public to get involved in nature. And then record the results! It's an excellent programme to become involved in, it is free and will complement your studies.
Great for: Using as part of practical set tasks.
Let us know in the comments what other sites you'd add to the list!
