Australian Native Plants Courses

Become an expert on the genus Acacia. This is a unique course ideally suited to anyone with a passion for wattles, from the amateur gardener or naturalist to the nurseryman, farmer or professional horticulturist.

• Learn about the identification and botany, and culture (planting, watering, feeding, propagation) of wattles.
• Study around 50 species are studied in detail.
• Learn about the commercial uses of Acacia as building materials, food plants, for tanning, craft, and more.

Are you passionate about ferns?  Learn which ferns occur naturally in Australia along with:

• how to identify ferns,
• where to obtain relevant accurate information,
• how to propagate ferns, and
• growing and using ferns in baskets, terrariums, and landscapes.

Are you interested in learning more about Australia's native trees?

This course first teaches you about different types of Australian flora, plant identification, information sources, planting, feeding, soils, pests & diseases, watering, propagation and transplanting.

The remaining lessons then deal with selected varieties of trees, windbreak planting, agroforestry, tree maintenance and tree selection.

Learn to identify, select, cultivate and plan a management program, for appropriate varieties of Australian native plants, in a wide variety of situations, from home gardens to commercial landscapes, parks, roadsides and revegetation projects. Focus on a range of particularly significant genera, including:

Australia has one of the oldest and most diverse varieties of plants of an country. Australian natives come from tropical areas to cold temperate snow covered mountains, and from inland deserts to fertile wet rainforests. This is relevant to not only Australia, but most parts of the world.

Are You Passionate about Wildflowers?

Learn to identify and grow a wide variety of small shrubs, ground covers and bulbs that are native to Australia.

This course deals with both woody (hard wooded) and herbaceous (soft wooded), low growing Australian Native Plants, which bear showy flowers.
The focus is on small shrubs and ground covers.

Comment from one of our Australian Natives II students:
"The plant recognition assignments were challenging and a great help for the future" D. Sydenham

Learn about identifying, growing and using Australian Indigenous Plants for Food
There are many Australian plants that are edible, and even some that are in very high demand as foods throughout the world. The Aborigines lived off the land before white civilization came to Australia. Plants contributed significantly to their diet. Many of these native plants are worthwhile growing. There are many different types of bush tucker foods:

• Nuts and seeds (eg. Acacia, Macadamia, bunya nuts)
• Drinks (eg. hot teas, infusions of nectar laden flowers, fruit juices)
• Flavourings (eg. lemon scented myrtle)
• Berries (eg. Astroloma, some Solanum species)
• Fruits (eg. quandong, Ficus macrophylla, Syzygium)
• Vegetables
• Wattle seeds ground to produce 'flour'
• Plant roots ground to produce a paste or flour.

An excellent introduction to the genus Eucalyptus, covering identification, culture (propagation, soils, landscape uses, feeding), and uses. Throughout the course you build both a knowledge of the group as a whole, and of the range of species you can identify.

A course for both amateurs and professionals: plant collectors, nurserymen, gardeners, farmers, land managers and more.

Become an expert on Grevilleas, developing a thorough grounding in identifying, selecting varieties, growing and using grevilleas. Study many of the major species and hybrid groups, including Clearview hybrids, banksii hybrids, Poorinda hybrids, rosmarinifolia varieties, juniperina varieties, groundcopvers, shrubs and trees.