Learn to diagnose plant problems, build thriving soil, and grow food successfully with OSU's research-backed online Home Horticulture Certificate Course.
Whether you're a complete beginner or deepening your gardening knowledge, you'll gain practical skills from Oregon State University horticulture experts.
Next Session Starts: January 9, 2026 | 100% Online
Master both the art and science of sustainable gardening through 13 weeks of expert instruction, hands-on assignments, and personalized feedback.
By the end of this course, you'll be able to:
Upon completion, you'll earn a Digital Certificate of Home Horticulture from Oregon State University.
Unlike generic gardening videos and conflicting blog advice, this course provides personalized feedback and science-backed methods developed by Oregon State University researchers.
Updated regularly with the latest findings from OSU's horticulture research labs. You'll learn the same foundational knowledge taught in Oregon's respected Master Gardener Volunteer Program.
Ask questions and receive tailored advice for your specific climate, soil type, and gardening goals — whether you're focused on landscape design, vegetable production, or ornamental plants.
Weekly activities help you immediately apply concepts in your own garden. Watch your skills grow alongside your plants throughout the 13-week course.
Study on your schedule with engaging video lectures, interactive quizzes, discussion forums, and optional bonus modules. Access course materials 24/7 from any device.
Plan for 3-5 hours per week including video lectures, readings, and hands-on garden activities.
"This course taught me more than I expected — my garden has never looked better, and the instructor's advice was incredibly personal and relevant to my zone." — Cara A., Home Horticulture Graduate
Students report:
This course is perfect for:
No prior experience required — just curiosity and a willingness to learn.
Weeks 1-3: Foundation
Weeks 4-6: Plant Selection & Design
Weeks 7-9: Plant Care
Weeks 10-12: Problem Solving
Week 13: Putting It All Together
Bonus Modules: Advanced topics in organic gardening, native plant landscaping, and permaculture principles
Duration: 13 weeks, self-paced within weekly modules
Includes:
Technical Requirements:
Prerequisites: None — open to all skill levels
This course is especially valuable for Oregon and Washington gardeners, with climate-specific advice for:
Gardeners from other regions are welcome — instructors provide guidance for various climates and growing zones.
Course Price: $560
What's Included:
Payment Plans Available: Here's our funding page.
Satisfaction Guarantee: Here's our risk-free refund policy
How much time will I need each week? Plan for 3-5 hours per week, including video lectures (approximately 1 hour), readings, and hands-on garden activities. The course is designed to fit into busy schedules.
Do I need any gardening experience? No! This course welcomes complete beginners. We start with fundamentals and build your knowledge progressively.
What if I miss a week or fall behind? The course is self-paced within weekly modules. While we encourage keeping up with the cohort for discussion benefits, you can access materials on your schedule throughout the 13 weeks.
Is this course right for my climate zone? While based in Oregon, this course is valuable for gardeners nationwide. Instructors provide climate-specific guidance, and principles of soil health, pest management, and plant care apply across regions.
How is this different from the Master Gardener Volunteer Program? This course provides the same foundational horticultural knowledge as the Master Gardener program but doesn't require the volunteer commitment. Many students complete this course before applying to become Master Gardener Volunteers.
Will I get college credit? This is a professional certificate course and does not offer college credit. You will earn a Digital Certificate of Home Horticulture from OSU Professional and Continuing Education.
Can I interact with the instructor and other students? Yes! The course includes an active discussion forum where you can ask questions, share photos, and connect with fellow gardeners. Instructors participate regularly and provide personalized feedback on assignments.
What if gardening season is over when the course starts? The course is designed to be taken any time of year. You can apply concepts to indoor plants, plan for next season, or work on off-season tasks like soil improvement and landscape design.
For over 100 years, OSU Extension has been the trusted source for research-based gardening information in Oregon and beyond. This course draws on that legacy of scientific excellence and practical application.
Course Connections:
Join thousands of learners nationwide who've discovered how to grow smarter, healthier, and more sustainably with Oregon State University.
Next Session Starts: January 9, 2026
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Join Our Gardening Community:
Questions? Contact us at pace@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-4197 | Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm PT
Enjoy peace of mind with our risk-free guarantee on online instructor-led courses.I learned a lot about the PNW flora, conifers and how to better amend my soil. The instructor was great, very responsive. I enjoyed the practical requirements. If you’re interested in learning about the diversity of this region, and how to better take care of plants, then absolutely I would recommend the program.
I now have a new network and I've helped people learn how to garden without chemicals. After the course, I've helped grade school kids to like worms by teaching a class in 5th and 6th grade. I loved it all.
The convenience of taking the class online was priceless. I was concerned I'd have enough time to put into the course given my busy schedule, but I was able to successfully complete the course working two jobs, plus the support of my full-time employer who let me change my lunch schedule to allow time to study. It was a great accomplishment for me and proved to me I can do whatever I put my mind to doing. I learned new skills and concepts and have a ton of resource material to refer back to as needed. I can't speak highly enough about the experience overall.
I love gardening and wanted to meet more people that share my passion. Through this program, I met some wonderful people - actually, I met more of my neighbors through this program! The people I worked with were so interesting! Learning online was wonderful for someone working full time. I hope to see more young people and will encourage others to try this program.
I learned a ton and yields are up. I now have a scientific approach to organic food production. I enjoyed learning botany, soils, entomology and herbicides & pesticides. It was rigorous, but fun.
This program enhances gardening knowledge, which is important because so many people have gardens/yards and feel frustrated about how to take care of it. My favorite part were the discussions and learning how to approach specific problems and hearing from others on what NOT to do, or from others’ bad experiences.
I incorporated what I learned in teaching the general public about gardening and it greatly enhanced my classes. I enjoyed the online flexibility, quality instructors, and the ability to revisit lectures via weblink. I would recommend this program due to the benefits mentioned above, plus the quality, research-based information. OSU made online learning easy and I highly value the quality content and instructors.
This was something I always wanted to do. The daytime class didn’t work for me because of work. After taking the class, I was able to step into the Plant Clinic and stay with it. I loved the diagnostic section and the online flexibility for a working person. I had a great experience and would do it again.
I wanted to be a better gardener. The course was a great education on all aspects of gardening. This summer I helped a work-colleague turn her front yard into a meadow of wildflowers with knowledge I learned. I visited it recently and it's beautiful!
I learned a lot and met great people and got involved in the community. The time involved compared to the amount I learned was well worth it. A lot of what I learned involved practices that everyone should know, IPM, when and how to use a pesticide if necessary, safe practices that help Mother Earth, etc. It was a great and thorough program.
I am still having a great time reviewing all the lectures as this is all new to me and a great challenge to learn. I especially want to thank Signe Dangler for her lectures that I loved. They are so easy to listen to. Her comments to all of us on our assignments are so informative. I am amazed that she is so good and that she is so thorough to read through all the assignments and provide specific feedback. All the knowledge that she has repeated to her in the small assignment efforts that we present to her could be so boring and frustrating. The way she corrects them in such a friendly personalized way makes us feel as if a dear friend guided and corrected us in a positive discussion.
“Great class. You get out of it what you put into it. My garden is thriving. Practical information that lasts a lifetime.”
Signe Danler is a veteran Master Gardener and landscape designer with a Masters of Ag degree in Horticulture. In the Master Gardener Online program, she uses her experience and training in gardening, urban forestry and ecological landscaping to communicate about and promote sustainable gardening and landscaping practices.
Gail Langellotto, OSU Professor and Guest Home Horticulture Instructor. Gail has a M.S. and Ph.D. in entomology, and has published research on topics as diverse as the costs of starting and maintaining a vegetable garden, pollinator-friendly gardens, and the benefits of gardening to healthy eating. Her OSU Extension Service and outreach efforts are focused on communicating research-backed management practices to home gardeners. For the online Master Gardener and urban agriculture PACE courses, she supervises overall course development, and reviews and contributes to course content.
Jay Pscheidt, OSU Professor and Guest Home Horticulture Instructor. Jay received his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985. Since 1988 he has been a professor at Oregon State University as an Extension Plant Pathology Specialist. His principal duties are to lead a statewide extension program related to the diagnosis and management of diseases of all fruit, nut, and ornamental/nursery crops. He is also co-editor of regional publication The Pacific Northwest Plant Disease Management Handbook.
Mykl grew up in a military family and has traveled around the globe. He started down his agricultural path after picking the makings of a salad directly into a bowl while standing within a greenhouse in his backyard in Colorado.
Mykl came to the Pacific Northwest to enter the agricultural sector and really immerse himself in an environment of plant growth. . He spent a handful of years at Oregon State University to retrain in a new undergraduate degree so he could finish with a Master’s of Horticulture. He's worked on a handful of farms and tended ever-larger gardens, often on someone else's land. He is now creating and teaching courses at OSU as the Instructor of Urban Agriculture.
In addition to his work for OSU's certificate program in urban agriculture, he is experimenting with a system to convert food waste into insect protein. Outside the university, Mykl gardens when he can and runs a number of nutrient cycling experiments.