Meet UCD’s Horticulture Landscape and Sportsturf Management Honours degree

An Honours Level 8 degree in Horticulture from UCD is the premier foundation to a professional career in horticulture and a gateway to a fulfilling life working with plants and people.

The UCD programme enables students to acquire the knowledge necessary for professional decision-making and to advocate for horticulture in a global context.

Careers

25 October 2018

The Horticulture, Landscape and Sportsturf Management (HLSM) Honours Bachelors Level 8 degree at University College Dublin (UCD) provides students with the education and skills to enable them to attain leadership roles, and to set and maintain professional standards of excellence within horticulture in Ireland and globally.

UCD’s stand during day 2 at Bloom 2016. Photo: Nick Bradshaw.

The programme facilitates the progression of students from other horticulture courses and welcomes mature applicants.

Graduates can become professional horticulturists and horticultural scientists who utilise their scientific education to provide sustainable management of horticulture enterprises, services, and organisations.

They have the capacity to influence and direct policy and governance at corporate, local, national, and international level for the betterment of their enterprise or services and the wider community.

Dissemination of knowledge by engagement with the various industry sectors and horticultural services is a key activity for staff and students. Student education is informed by active internationally recognised research where engagement in learning is through formal lectures, practical classes, scenario based learning, and group and individual research project work.

Teaching and learning activities are conducted in an atmosphere of fairness, quality, and excellence, which is supported by an assessment process designed to provide students with a record of their academic progress.

A strong physics, chemistry, and mathematics element to the horticulture course provides students with the necessary skills needed for a career in professional horticulture. Photo: UCD.

Their educational experience is enriched by intensive interaction with staff as part of our community of scholars and by their participation in study abroad opportunities, professional work placement, and within-module industry/site visits.

This programme enables students to develop critical thinking capabilities, to be confident and competent individuals who have the ability to acquire the knowledge necessary for professional decision-making and to advocate for horticulture in a global context.

Learning Outcomes

Students upon graduation will have:

An appreciation of the importance of plants for human health and well-being.
Comprehensive knowledge of horticultural systems including an understanding of the art, science, business, technology, and sustainability of intensive plant cultivation for human use. This includes in depth knowledge of the growth, development, and protection of plants for food, leisure, sports, and environmental use.
Knowledge of Irish, European and global horticulture, landscape and sportsturf industries.
A comprehension of the principles underpinning sound practice and have acquired a body of knowledge in the following key areas: biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, plant biology, plant physiology, microbiology, soil science, plant pathology, entomology, statistics, agribusiness, plant identification and appropriate use of plant material, horticulture food production, landscape design, sportsturf construction and management, nursery stock production and sales, and information and communication technology.
Practical horticultural skills and techniques such as plant selection, propagation, and cultivation and plant protection required in food, environmental, or social horticulture
The ability to identify relevant accurate information and synthesise knowledge to generate effective solutions to problems within the horticulture industry.
The capacity to combine and apply the interpretation and application of new scientific, technological, and business knowledge to their horticultural practice.
The capability to plan and realise sustainable management of biological, human, financial, and social resources, to ensure the success of commercial and non-commercial horticulture enterprises.

An honours Level 8 degree in Horticulture from UCD is the premier foundation to a professional career in horticulture and a gateway to a fulfilling life working with plants and people.

Check out UCD’s Horticulture Landscape and Sportsturf Management Honours degree for more information on requirements and a module breakdown.