BSc in Horticulture (National Botanic Gardens)

Lectures and course delivery takes place in Dublin (National Botanic Gardens)

Video: Why study horticulture at WIT

What is Horticulture

Horticulture plays a central role in creating, maintaining, and enhancing the landscapes we live in. Trained Horticulturists play a key role in creating beautiful places for recreation and relaxation. Parks, golf courses, public and private gardens would not be possible without skilled people to design, build and care for them. Even fresh fruit and vegetables, key to a healthy lifestyle, are produced by horticulturists. Horticulture is a diverse industry with wide-ranging career opportunities, from producing plants for garden centres, working on golf courses, or landscaping, right through to fruit and vegetable production.

What is the BSc in Horticulture course?

The WIT BSc in Horticulture course is a full-time, 3-year course designed to train you as a professional horticulturists. You will study horticulture modules, undertake work placement, gain business skills, and graduate from the course having specialised in two major streams of hort study. You will learn about the horticulture industry throughout the whole 3 years by taking frequent field trips to the best horticulture businesses. We recognise that Horticulture students enjoy the hands-on work involved in horticulture so classroom and lab work is balanced with plenty of practical work to practise the skills learned during the course.

The Hort course is run in conjunction with Teagasc. Students can choose to study in one of two locations. Please note, that separate CAO codes are used for the two locations.

• Location 1: Study in Dublin, at the Teagasc College in the National Botanic Gardens. Course code for the Botanics course is WD097.   

• Location 2: Study in Waterford, at Waterford IT and in Teagasc, Kildalton College. Course code for the Kildalton course is WD096.

National Botanic Gardens - WD097

Students on the BSc in Horticulture (National Botanic Gardens) WD097 study both at Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin Dublin and at Teagasc facilities in Ashtown. Our collaboration with Teagasc, allows you to benefit from the skills and expertise of Teagasc staff who have trained horticulturists for over 30 years. With unrivalled access to the Botanic Gardens plant collection, opportunities to work on the grounds, and skilled staff to teach you, if you want to learn about plants from experts then this course is for you.

BSc in Horticulture Placement

One of the unique features of the BSc. in Horticulture in WIT is that a semester in year 2 is spent on paid work experience with a registered employer in Ireland, or abroad. This 15-week work placement is an opportunity for you to practise the key horticultural skills learned in college and also to work as part of a team in a busy horticultural business. Teagasc has links with Ohio State University’s, Horticulture Internship Programme and every year some of WIT’s Hort students travel abroad on placements in the UK, Europe, the USA and even further afield.

Many students who complete their work placements abroad are employed beyond the 15-week minimum period therefore spend the summer working with their hosts and usually earn the standard industry wage for that position. 

What is it like to Study in the National Botanic Gardens?

If you would like to find out more the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture in the National Botanic Gardens visit their dedicated facebook page or visit our Teagasc partners website:

• Botanic Gardens website

• Botanic Gardens facebook

Horticulture for Small Holders, the ‘Green Cert’, and Spraying Certification with DAFM.

As well as horticultural knowledge, graduates of the course are deemed to have achieved the equivalent of the ‘Green Cert’ for Stamp Duty exemption for land transfer for young farmers. It also meets the criteria required for schemes and grants made available from time to time. If you have a small holding and think farming isn’t a viable option you should consider a Horticultural enterprise as an alternative land use. Horticultural enterprises can produce higher returns per acre. Graduates of the course are eligible to apply for the ‘Professional User/Sprayer Operators’ Certification (with the DAFM).

Do you take mature students?

Yes, many of our students are mature and love the course. With small class sizes there is plenty of support from lecturers and fellow class mates.

Upskilling or want to improve your old horticultural qualification.

If you would like to improve an older Hort. qualification, or upskill in a specific area of horticulture, it may be possible to study certain modules. Please contact  Cara Daly at cdaly@wit.ie to discuss entry requirements, and the opportunities open to you