Certified Gardener Program From CSU Extension

Grow your abilities with the Certified Gardener program

Do you have a green thumb? Happiest while knee-deep in dirt? Enjoy planting and watching things grow? The online Certified Gardener program is your opportunity to learn basic gardening techniques for home and community gardeners.

This program offers courses in soils, pruning, weed management, lawn care, insects, herbaceous plants, vegetables, water wise landscaping and more! Classes are 100% self-paced with no assignments and no live classes. Information is relevant no matter where you live.

This program is not Colorado-specific.

If you are interested in Colorado-specific gardening information, please consider Green School.

Need help keeping your indoor plants healthy and happy?

If you’re interested in year-round gardening, consider our online houseplants course and learn how to successfully grow plants indoors, including light, temperature, humidity, water, and fertilizer. This course also provides an overview of common houseplants to help you better choose plants based on indoor conditions and required maintenance. This class is not part of the Certified Gardener program. It is an optional add-on class.

Take online gardening classes anytime, anywhere

Online courses have a tremendous advantage over in-person instruction. They give you more flexibility to learn only what you want to learn and on your own schedule. You have the option to take courses individually, register for a “bundle” of courses on related topics, or complete the full program and earn a mastery badge. Whether you are a backyard gardener, interested in learning more about landscaping, pruning, and home composting, or are a green industry professional, these online gardening classes can be tailored to help you meet your goals.

By taking this program, you will be able to:

• Understand science-based information to help protect and enhance your home landscape.
• Learn how plants grow and management techniques to encourage thriving plants and tackle common plant problems.
• Build a foundation of basic horticulture knowledge including botany, plant identification and selection, and the diagnostic process.
• Examine proven strategies to grow annual and perennial food crops including vegetables, fruit trees and small fruits.
• Consider water wise practices for home landscapes including irrigation management.
• Illustrate your expertise and competencies through digital badges.

Digital badges illustrate expertise

The Certified Gardener Program was the first program at Colorado State University to award digital badges upon completion of non-credit courses. Once you earn them, you can share badges on your resume, website, e-portfolio, and on social media to illustrate for others the skills you have learned.

Learn more about digital badges, how they work, and what programs CSU currently offers.