je71 wrote:

well to be honest, I work full time as a computer engineer and I've
hitthat stage in my life that I want to do spmething more
constructive,rewarding, and generally more outside! The problem is I
have a mortgageso I need to earn an income whilst I gain experience,
hence I thought adistance learing cousre would at least give me the
credibility to applyfor jobs with local councils, NT etc. Once employed
I guess thats wheremy REAL training would begin.

Possibly, buyt they are more likly to give a junior position to an HND
Student than with someone who has just done a postal course..

Best bet.. Start gardening now;-) Start reading all the books on
Horticultural and Gardening in your local library!-) Read URG!-)

DO a course with some practical content..

Mebbe get a weekend job in Horticulture,.. there are various fields,
retail, amenity, crop production. those are the main 3.

Amenity is Local councils, etc.

Retail is garden centre and related.
Crop production is that, food crops, glasshouse work, cut flowers etc..
Of course there is some crossover between the 3.

There are also now specialist courses such as Organic Horticulture or
Biodynamic Growing at University level.
There is always voluntary work for experience.. OK it doesn't pay, but
you might be able to get a bit of paper to say you did it, and you might
actually help improve a community garden or something whilst learning
skills.

Whcih course you do is up to you, the basic levels include City &
Guilds, RHS, and NC's.. I don't think theres a NVQ or GNVQ for
Horticulture.. Differnt courses run different syllabus's (syllabi??) so
check these out before you sign up.. Eg some specify at a low level (eg
NC in Amenity Horticulture) Some don't.. If you know WHAT exactly you
wish to do do a specific course, if not get one that covers a broader
spectrum

Most of the above can be done at one of the Land based industries
colleges around the UK, part time or full time.

www.ucas.ac.uk is useful.. see under Horticulture.. Most of the courses
are undergrad level upwards but if you check out the individual course
details you will wsee that most of the institutions concerned also run
shorter lower level courses??

Where in the UK are you anyway?

Jim (HND Hort. UCLANC, FWIW!-))