Gardening for Beginners Course

Learn how to cultivate a great garden with our home & garden short courses in Sydney!

Discover the joy and satisfaction of creating your own green space with our Gardening for Beginners course. Starting with essential fundamentals such as soil preparation and understanding plant needs, this course is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge necessary to embark on your gardening journey with confidence.

Through engaging and easy-to-follow topics, you’ll learn how to establish a thriving garden environment from the ground up. We simplify complex concepts into actionable steps, ensuring that every new gardener can achieve healthy, flourishing results.

Our course also includes expert tips, valuable insights and troubleshooting advice to help you overcome common gardening challenges and ensure your garden's success. 

Embark on your gardening adventure today and transform your space into a vibrant sanctuary of growth and beauty. Join us to take the first steps towards cultivating a garden that brings you joy, relaxation, and a sense of accomplishment. With our expert guidance, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a confident and successful gardener. 

Learning outcomes

By the end of this Gardening for Beginners course, you should be able to:

• Grow healthy indoor and outdoor plants
• Select suitable composts and garden mixes for your garden areas
• Establish and nurture new plants with confidence
• Grow plants that will fit your space, look good, and perform well
• Apply practical horticultural skills to other plants and gardens

Course content

What will be covered in this Gardening for Beginners course?

This is a beginner course in Gardening that covers the fundamental basics of good gardening - indoor or outdoors. It will cover:

Light

• Sunlight and shade tolerance
• Plant energy supply

Soil structure

• Garden soils and garden mixes
• Potting mixes and composts
• Soil texture and tests

Watering

• How much and how frequently — when to re-water
• Infiltration – how quickly water gets into the soil & garden mix
• Aeration – the need for oxygen as well as water
• Drainage – how quickly water drains away

Irrigation

• Manual vs. automatic
• Ground support

Garden operations

• Care and maintenance
• Mulching vs. weeding
• Fertilising

Plant types

• Indoor–outdoor
• Sunshine–shade
• Dry–wet
• Flowers—ground covers—shrubs—trees

Intended audience

Who is this Gardening for Beginners course for?

This course is for beginner gardeners who wish to start growing plants. 

Practical sessions vary with the time of year, the weather, the availability of gardens, and may take place in a classroom environment.

Please note - this course does not contain horticultural advice on: 

• Pest or disease identification
• Pest or disease management
• Use of chemical treatment for plants.

Specific plant selection advice is also available from your local horticulturist to help with plant requirements for your specific situation.  Your specific local area plant species are not covered in this course.

Course venue

Rozelle Campus

2A Gordon Street, Rozelle NSW 2039 (corner of Gordon St & Victoria Rd in the grounds of St. Joseph's Church)

Course materials

What to bring to class:

• A notepad and pen, or tablet/phone, to take notes
• Gardening gloves
• A face mask (to protect against potential potting mix/garden soil bacteria such as Legionella)

Optional - students may also wish to bring:

• One or two of your own plants to pot up or re-pot, or propagate or prune. If you are potting or re-potting your plant(s), please also bring a small bag of potting mix (the College can supply pots)

And/or

• One or two of your own plants for discussion on watering, feeding or growing issues