Dr Noel Kingsbury

RHS: Vegetables & Fruits (7)

  • Recommended

    $220

    Includes personal feedback and tuition. More

  • $75

    Learn in an online classroom with no more than 20 classmates. More

Course Description

In this module candidates are shown how to select and grow vegetables and fruits, and subsequently how to optimise their fruit and vegetable crops.

Candidates will explore the different factors that affect growth right through from planting to storage. The module covers the fundamentals needed to successfully harvest food produce while minimising the impact of weeds, pests and diseases without causing harm to the environment.

Please note: The RHS has now updated their syllabus for RHS Level 2, this course is still available to start, but you will need to take exams by Feb 2024.

View the new RHS Level 2 online course

Course outline

  • Production of Outdoor Vegetables and Fruits

    This lesson beings with emphasis on how food plant demands differ from those of ornamental plants, and later you will study the growing requirements of specific fruits and vegetables. You will then be shown how various factors (such as pH, wind, and sloping) affect food plant growth. Additionally, you will learn the advantages and disadvantages of various bed systems, including the possible impact different bed types have on weed control.

  • Managing vegetables: planning, sowing, storing and pests and diseases

    You will be guided through the best methods to control pests and diseases without resorting to chemical control. This will include an in-depth breakdown of the pests and diseases that most threaten specific vegetables. You will also explore the correct methods of storing different vegetables, and begin to understand the benefits and limitations of crop rotation.

  • Production of Top and Soft Fruit for Gardens and Allotments

    In this final lesson you will learn the distinctions between ‘top fruits’ and ‘soft fruits’. For each classification, you will learn how to select, plant, prune, harvest and store the fruits. In addition to this you will learn how best to prevent weeds threatening your crops, and how to spots the signs of the most common pests and diseases that can jeopardise fruit crops.

Choose how you want to learn

  • The Expert option

    Recommended

    Develop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition from Dr Noel Kingsbury

    • Start course whenever you like
    • 3 weeks tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
    • 3 assignments marked by Dr Noel Kingsbury
    • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
    • 3 lessons with expert videos & notes
    • Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
    • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
    Learn more
    $220
  • The Peer option

    Discover the benefits of group learning in an online interactive classroom of no more than 20 people. Get the most from shared knowledge and community study

    • Start course whenever you like
    • Practise what you learn with your peers
    • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
    • 3 lessons with expert videos & notes
    • 3 course assignments
    • Group chat & direct message classmates
    • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
    Learn more
    $75

New
Buy this course for a business or group

You can now buy this course through your business or organisation for individuals and groups up to 20

Gardening classroom - how it works

  • Start anytime

    Watch video tutorials led by expert tutors

    Watch video tutorials led by expert tutors
  • Test yourself

    Practice what you learn with inspiring assignments

    Practice what you learn with inspiring assignments
  • Personal tuition

    Get assignment feedback from expert tutors

    Get assignment feedback from expert tutors
  • Share ideas

    Collaborate and chat directly to classmates

    Collaborate and chat directly to classmates

Meet Dr Noel Kingsbury

Dr Noel Kingsbury - Gardening

Kingsbury's garden writing is among the best you will find in the English language.

From the blog View from Federal Twist, James R. Golden
Dr Noel Kingsbury is an acclaimed garden designer, best-selling author of numerous books and long-time collaborator of the renowned designer Piet Oudolf. With a doctorate from the University of Sheffield he is a leading figure in naturalistic planting design and the New Perennial Movement.

Noel Kingsbury is an international garden designer and writer on gardening, plant sciences and related topics. He is best known for his promotion of naturalistic planting design in gardens and designed landscapes (e.g. the 1996 publication of 'The New Perennial Garden', pub. Frances Lincoln, London), and his 25 year collaboration with Dutch garden and landscape designer Piet Oudolf on books on planting design. He writes sometimes for The Daily Telegraph, Gardens Illustrated magazine and The Garden - the membership magazine of the Royal Horticultural Society. He has worked with Prof. Nigel Dunnett, of the University of Sheffield on the first book in English on green roof and related 'green architecture' technologies. In collaboration with Tim Richardson Kingsbury has edited Vista, the Culture and Politics of Gardens and co-chairs events at the Garden Museum in London under the title 'Vista'. He has worked with several notable garden photographers, such as Marianne Majerus and Andrea Jones.

Kingsbury earned a doctorate from the University of Sheffield in 2009, for a thesis on the Long term performance of ornamental herbaceous vegetation. He continues to research in this area.

Kingsbury has also written a history of plant breeding, Hybrid, The History and Science of Plant Breeding (2009).

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Awards & Accreditations

  • CPD Accredited (provider 50276)
  • Good Web Guide
  • Red Herring Winner
  • Education Investor Awards 2021 - Finalist
  • Royal Horticultural Society
  • Digital Education Awards 2023 Winner for Digital Health and Wellbeing Learning Product of the Year
  • Digital Education Awards 2023 Winner for Adult Home Learning Product of the Year