Level I Horticulture Certificate Program

2025/26 Enrollment Opens July 1, 2025

Classes meet on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. (except the Science of Plant Propagation, Intro to Natives and Invasives and Soil Zooms).

Each class is 12 hours of classroom time, plus a final project (except Landscape Design, which is 21 hours).

Level I courses cover material essential for a foundation in good gardening practices.

Classes are designed sequentially beginning in September and running through April.

The Level I Certificate requires the completion of all seven Level I core curriculum classes, assignments, and at least 15 Garden Practicum hours.

The Garden Practicum reinforces classroom work with hands-on experience in the garden. Many BBG adult education classes count towards practicum hours. Students will be given a list of qualifying classes upon enrollment and work with their advisor to register.

The Level I Certificate serves as a foundation for all advanced courses.

Download the Level 1 Class Tracking Worksheet

Program Costs

Pay for the full program all at once and save 5% | Overall program cost if choosing to pay for the full year: 

Member: $1,500.00

Non-Member: $1,710.00

Register Class by Class | Overall program cost if choosing to pay by the class:

Member: $1,580.00

Non-Member: $1,800.00

Full and partial scholarships are available.

There is no more funding left for scholarships; on behalf of BBG, we are so sorry for the limitations.

For more information please contact Director of Education, Jennifer Patton: jpatton@berkshirebotanical.org

Level I Core Curriculum 

Fall 2025 Level I 

Herbaceous Plants | Tuesdays, Sept. 2 through 23, 2025, 5:30-8:30 pm

This intensive four-session class led by Lee Buttala explores the world of herbaceous plants, from their identification, selection and use in the garden through their basic botany, life cycle, and propagation. Participants are asked to create a final project highlighting a genus or plant family related to the curriculum. A part of the Level 1 horticulture core curriculum, this class is essential for the committed gardener and includes lectures, hands-on activities, field study, and group discussion. The class aspires to give participants a deeper understanding of annuals, perennials, and ornamental vegetables and their role in the garden. Students should dress for outdoor field study. All students participating in this class as part of the Horticulture Certificate Program are required to complete a final project. 

Lee Buttala has explored the world of gardening from many angles. He is the former Executive Director of Seed Savers Exchange, a seed bank dedicated to the sharing and saving of seeds that define America's food and garden heritage. He is a former Director of Marketing Communications for BBG and the Preservation Manager for the Garden Conservancy and is the Chair of the Historic Landscapes Committee of the APGA. He studied garden design at the Chelsea Physic Garden, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Kyoto School of Art and Design. He lives in Brooklyn and Ashley Falls.

Understanding Woody Plants | Tuesdays, Sept. 30 through Oct. 21, 2025, 5:30-8:30 pm

This four-session course will focus on the bones of the garden with a survey of ornamental woody plants for residential landscape design. Jenna O’Brien will cover ornamental shrubs, small flowering trees, shade trees, and broadleaf and needle evergreens. Students will become familiar with the many garden-worthy woody plants that thrive in Zone 5. The course covers plant ID, selection, siting, cultivation, and possible design uses. Students should dress for outdoor field study. All students participating in this class as part of the Horticulture Certificate Program are required to complete a final project. 

Jenna O’Brien is a lifetime resident of the Berkshires and owner/founder of Viridissima Horticulture & Design and the blog Berkshire Garden Style. She has been working in Berkshire gardens for 25 years. She specializes in container gardening, perennial garden design and care, and country estate garden management.

Soil and Soil Amendments | Tuesdays, Oct. 28, Nov. 11, 18, and 25 on Zoom from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 4 in person, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

This five-session course, led by Monique Bosch, will take place on Zoom and in person, and will explain how plant growth is affected by soils, from drainage to pH and nutrients. Learn how to evaluate soils, improve those that are less than ideal, and amend soils for specific garden uses. Fertilizers, soil amendments, making and using compost, moisture management, and the pros and cons of mulching will be covered.  Students are asked to get a soil sample before class and bring the results to the first session.

Trained in landscape design, horticulture and soil biology, Monique Bosch is a community leader focused on healthy soil/healthy food. For the last 15 years, she has worked with volunteers and students to build over 40 edible school and community gardens, and a two-acre urban farm in Bridgeport, Conn. She is the Soil Health Program Manager for CT NOFA: The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut (@ctnofa), and runs a worm composting business with her son Justin. She also teaches Soil Management for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. In 2023 Monique worked with staff and students at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, to launch a Food and Resilience center. She studied ‘The Soil Food Web’ under Dr. Elaine Ingham, and teaches microscopy, soil health and composting to farmers and organizations.

Plant Health Care | Tuesdays, Dec. 2 through Jan. 6, 2025, 5:30-8:30 pm

This four-session program, taught by Jen Werner, focuses on factors that affect plant health care, including insects, diseases, pathogens, and abiotic influences. Basic diagnostic techniques will be taught. Learn to minimize potential problems through proper site management, plant selection, and placement. Managing problems using biological, chemical and cultural techniques will be discussed with a focus on integrated pest management.

Jen Werner has taught at the vocational high school level and at Springfield Technical Community College, as well as leading trainings for Master Gardeners and classes for garden clubs and garden centers. Her hands-on experience ranges from landscape maintenance, construction and design, greenhouse management and production, nursery work, horticulture therapy, and entrepreneurship. Jen is a NOFA Certified Organic Landcare Professional and recently earned a UMASS Invasive Plant Management Certificate.

Spring 2025 Level I 

The Science of Plant Propagation | January 3 and 4, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Learn about the art and science of plant propagation with Broken Arrow Nurseries grafting guru, Adam Wheeler. Focus on the basic botany needed to understand and successfully propagate plants. Sexual and asexual propagation methods including sowing seeds, cuttings, grafting, layering, and division will be covered. Students will learn the fascinating science behind propagation along with the various techniques used to create new plants.

Adam Wheeler started working at Broken Arrow Nursery in 2004 after earning his bachelor's degree in urban forestry and landscape horticulture at the University of Vermont. Adam manages plant propagation, container and field production, and the acquisition and development of new plants. He is a past recipient of the Young Nursery Professional Award from the New England Nursery Association and is also an adjunct lecturer at Naugatuck Valley Community College.

Introduction to Native and Invasive Plants | Tuesdays, Jan. 13 through Jan. 27 on Zoom, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Thursdays, Feb, 5 through 19 on Zoom, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. 

Join Duncan Himmelman and Jen Werner for an introduction to Native and Invasive Plants, and the relationship between both plant species over ZOOM.

Landscape Design I | Tuesday, March 3 through April 14, 2026 - 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

This design course, taught by Tyler Horsley, will introduce students to the design process—the systematic way designers approach a site and client. The course will include a series of simple projects that will end with a garden designed by the students. Learn design principles such as form, balance, repetition, line, texture, color, and spatial relationships. Additionally, students will be introduced to landscape history and how it helps the designer resolve and inspire garden design. 

A New York City resident for 30 years, Tyler Horsley was a member of the Green Guerillas and 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden in the East Village. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Virginia and a Certificate in Horticulture from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. He created Tyler Horsley Garden Design LLC in 2005 and has since moved to Hudson, NY, and joined Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture.