Program Overview

Program Overview

The Master Gardener Training Program is an online, independent study course offered by the Faculty of Agriculture, Extended Learning. The program is designed for individuals who are passionate about gardening and wish to expand their knowledge in this area.

Course Description

The Maintaining the Garden course is a web-based distance education course that is part of the Master Gardener Training Program. This course focuses on garden maintenance, including common gardening practices, environmentally sound strategies for managing weeds, insects, and diseases, and techniques for pruning.

Course Outline

The course covers the following topics:

• Gardening Techniques and Tools
• Weeds and Weed Control
• Plant Health
• Pests
• Pruning

Marking Scheme

The course assessment includes:

• Quiz 1 - Techniques & tools | 10
• Assignment 1 - Garden techniques | 10
• Quiz 2 - Weeds | 15
• ID Quiz 1 - Weed identification | 5
• Assignment 2 - Weed seedlings | 10
• Quiz 3 - Plant health | 15
• ID Quiz 2 - Insect identification | 5
• Assignment 3 - Plant health | 10
• Quiz 4- Pruning | 10
• Assignment 4 - Pruning | 10
• Total |100

Technical Requirements

To participate in the course, students require:

• Internet (High Speed preferred)
• Reliable computer/laptop device
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft Word for submitting assignments

Course Dates

All courses open on October 1st and close July 31st.

Refunds

Course refunds are eligible up to two weeks after registering for the course. The refund amount will be adjusted to include a non-refundable administrative fee of $50.00. After the two-week period, there are no course refunds.

Prerequisites

It is recommended that the Master Gardener Program Courses be taken in the following order:

1. The Science of Gardening
2. Maintaining the Garden
3. Plant ID and Use
4. The Art of Gardening

Recommended For

This course is suitable for:

• Anyone with a passion or interest in gardening
• Individuals interested in working towards becoming a Master Gardener within the Atlantic Master Gardener Association
• Those looking to expand their gardening knowledge

Instructors

The course instructor is Carol Goodwin, faculty advisor for the Master Gardener program and retired Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science at Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture.

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

The Maintaining the Garden course is a required component of the Master Gardener Training Program - Atlantic.

Tuition

The course fee is $488.00 for tuition (non-credit).