ENROL NOW

Deciduous Trees

Course CodeBHT224
Fee CodeS2
Duration (approx)100 hours
QualificationTo obtain formal documentation the optional exam(s) must be completed which will incur an additional fee of £30. Alternatively, a letter of completion may be requested.

How to Grow Deciduous Trees: for Forest, Farm, Parks or Gardens

 

Deciduous trees are a particularly important source of hardwood timber in many parts of the world; as well as being used for windbreaks on farms, as shade trees in parks, as street trees and major landscape specimens in gardens.

  • Learn about the major deciduous tree groups
  • Become an expert on deciduous trees
  • Choose plants that are right

If you work in horticulture, particularly in a temperate or cold climate; a good knowledge of deciduous trees becomes a very important thing for competent performance of your work on a day to day basis. Without knowing and understanding deciduous trees you cannot select the appropriate variety for a particular location or know how safe a tree is (eg. Whether it is susceptible to wood rot, if it is safe to climb, whether branches are likely to fall in a storm, etc). Foresters need to know how useful the timber is for construction, and even whether it burns easily or not (ie. Whether it is good firewood).

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

  1. Introduction
    • Taxonomy
    • Planting
    • Plant Selection
    • Soils
    • Nutrition and Fertilisers
    • Pruning
    • Propagation
  2. Maple (Acer)
    • Introduction
    • Propagation
    • Culture
    • Pest and Diseas
    • Species and Cultivars
    • Growing Acers in Pots
    • What affects foliage Colour Changes
  3. Birch (Betula)
    • Characteristics of the Betulaceae Family
    • Betula genus overview
    • Commonly Cultivated Betula species and cultivars
    • Betula species not commonly grown
    • Birch Propagation; cuttings, layering, seed, grafting
  4. Ash (Fraxinus)
    • Introduction
    • Fraxinus sub groups; sub genus Ornus, sub genus Fraxinaster
    • Variations in leaf colour
    • Selected cultivars
    • Less commonly cultivated species
    • Culture; pests, disease, propagation, etc
  5. Oak (Quercus)
    • Overview of genus Quercus
    • Species and Cultivars
    • Culture
  6. Prunus
    • Overview of the genus Prunus
    • Culture
    • Cultivars and Species
    • Plums
    • Apricot
    • Prunus persicae (Peach and Nectarine)
    • Cherry
    • Prunus Propagation
  7. Other Deciduous Trees
    • Alnus
    • Cedrella
    • Lagerstroemia
    • Liriodendron
    • Liquidambar
    • Magnolia
    • Malus
    • Platanus
    • Populus
    • Pyrus (Pear)
    • Salix
    • Sambacus
    • Syringia
    • Ulmus (Elm)
  8. Special Project
    • Plan the establishment of a collection of different cultivars of deciduous trees suited to growing in a specified locality.

Aims

  • Review foundation knowledge in plant identification and culture as needed to properly build expertise specific to deciduous trees.
  • Explain classification, identification and culture of plants, from the genus Acer.
  • Explain classification, identification and culture of plants, from the genus Betula.
  • Explain classification, identification and culture of plants, from the genus Fraxinus.
  • Explain classification, identification and culture of plants, from the genus Quercus.
  • Explain classification, identification and culture of plants, from the genus Prunus.
  • Review a range of other significant deciduous tree genera not covered previously in this course.
  • Plan the selection and establishment of a collection of different cultivars of deciduous trees suited to growing in a specified locality.

Why Grow Deciduous Trees?

  • Deciduous Trees include many commercially important trees. They provide us with everything from apples and maple syrup to timber.
  • They include many popular and important ornamental and amenity plants
  • They allow us to develop gardens that are shaded in hot weather (when leaves are on the plant) and exposed to more light in cold weather, when the leaves are off the plant
  • They are used on farms, roadsides, parks and elsewhere as screens, windbreaks, filters to pollution, generators of oxygen, and many other things.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS COURSE?

  • Arborists, Tree Surgeons
  • Landscapers
  • Garden Designers
  • Gardeners, Garden Consultants, Teachers, Writers
  • Wholesale and Retail Nursery Staff
  • Managers of parks and gardens
  • Farmers
  • Foresters
  • Environmental Assessors, Land Managers
  • Urban planners, Developers, Architects, Engineers

 

HOW WE CAN HELP YOU?

We have been teaching people about trees, researching an writing books and articles on trees, and developing courses on trees since 1979.

Our resources are extensive, and unlike other colleges where you are fed information from a single person. We work as an international team, with many experts supporting you.

  • Others teach using texts written by someone else. We research the information, combine our collective experience with trees, then write texts and use what we write to teach you
  • We are continually revising our course notes and text books (keeping the information in our eBooks more current than what you might find elsewhere).
  • This course treats you as an individual. Everyone has different learning needs, and this course is designed with plenty of flexibility, so you can set your own pace, shift emphasis to where you need it and interact with different tree experts for specific guidance and learning support as needed.
  • We are happy to help our students even after you complete your course; advising you how to move forward developing your career or business, furthering your education or developing a network of contacts with others who work with trees. Just ask.

The tree industry is important to all mankind - to our economic, physical and psychological well being. Trees are critical to our environment. 

  • Contact us and we can explain how.
  • Study this course and learn how
  • Study this course and understand how
  • Study this course and learn to identify, select and manage deciduous trees in any situation.

 

 

 

 

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