Horticulture (Kildalton College) South East Technological University

Overview

The Horticulture (Kildalton College) programme from South East Technological University  places great importance on experiencing the industry and making contacts; our students learn about their industry throughout the whole 3 years by taking frequent field trips to the best horticulture businesses. We recognise that Horticulture students especially enjoy the hands-on work involved in horticulture therefore we ensure that classroom and lab work is balanced with plenty of practical work to practise the skills learned during the course.

Horticulture plays a central role in creating, maintaining, and enhancing the landscapes we live in. Pretty, pollinator-friendly floral displays are the backdrop in our thriving tourist towns. The pristine golf courses and pitches we compete on, and the beautiful parks, gardens, and urban landscapes we relax in would not be possible without the skills and knowledge of Ireland’s trained horticulturists. 

Equally, a year-round sustainable supply of fruit, vegetables and flowers is only achieved because Hort scientists and producers make it so. There’s a role for our hort graduates along every step of the way.  Horticulture is a diverse industry and career opportunities are wide-ranging from producing plants for garden centres, working on golf courses, or landscaping, right through to fruit and vegetable production.

Career opportunities

The Horticulture industry is diverse and vibrant and demands a constant supply of trained, skilled, and knowledgeable Horticulturists. In a 2016 survey of our graduates of the previous 5 years, 88% of respondents secured full-time employment within 3 months of finishing the BSc. in Horticulture. Having graduated with more than two major streams of study, many of our graduates have multi-stream businesses of their own. For instance, some of our graduate entrepreneurs run businesses which have a nursery and garden centre on site, while they also provide landscape design and floristry services providing income streams in all seasons, and true variety in their working life.

The following are just a few positions in which our graduates are currently employed:

• Greenkeeper - maintaining and building golf courses, sports fields, and stadia

• Stadium Playing Pitch Maintenance Supervisor

• Nursery Stock Producer - producing trees, bedding plants, shrubs, and perennials for the horticulture industry

• Craft Gardener in public parks, private or heritage gardens

• Self-Employed Landscape Building Contractor

• Independent Landscape Designer

• Garden Maintenance Contractor

• Food Producers (from smallholders producing high value speciality crops to graduates who manage multiacre glasshouse complexes producing fruit and vegetables for national and international supermarket chains)

• Garden Centre Assistant, Owner or Manager

• Florist / Interior Landscaper

• Horticulture Teacher/Lecturer

• Horticulture Therapist

• Mushroom Growers

• Horticulture Writers and Journalists

• Horticulture/Plant Science Researcher working on problems in plant science, pathology, or plant/insect interactions
• Tree Surgeon
• Vegetable Farmer
• Kitchen Garden Gardener
• Plant Hunter
• Horticulture Technician
• Landscape Contractor
• Head Gardener