Academic Catalogs

Horticulture

This is an archived copy of the 2023-2024 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit https://catalog.cccd.edu.

The Horticulture program prepares students for many attractively paying positions in the landscape and nursery industries, which include production and sales, interior plantscaping, landscape design, and construction and maintenance.

Students may take one or more courses from the program to learn about horticulture for its own sake and their own, or they may take the courses required for the Certificate of Achievement in Horticulture. Either option is an introduction to natural beauty. The courses have been designed both for full-time students planning to enter the horticulture field and for those people working in one of the many interesting areas of horticulture who wish to expand their horticultural knowledge. Most classes are conducted during convenient evening hours to allow working students to study for a new career and those with jobs in the field of horticulture to upgrade their skills.

The Horticulture Department boasts excellent facilities, including a well-equipped classroom building set in beautifully landscaped grounds. The grounds themselves have been planted with a large collection of trees, shrubs, ground covers, and vines, and they serve as a living laboratory for many of the classes. A nursery with over 10,000 square feet of greenhouse space and 2,500 square feet of shade structures round out this marvelous facility on the Orange Coast College campus.

Department Contact

Lori Pullman
lpullman@occ.cccd.edu

Rick Harlow
rharlow@occ.cccd.edu

Horticulture Department Website

Credit Courses

HORT A1003 Units (54 lecture hours)  
Horticulture Science  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

The science and culture of plants upon which man's very existence depends. The principles and practices used to grow plants for food and environmental enhancement will be emphasized. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A100

HORT A1011-4 Units (18-72 lecture hours)  
Current Topics in Horticulture  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

Current issues in the field of Ornamental Horticulture. Graded or Pass/No Pass option. Formerly OH A101.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A101

HORT A1153 Units (18 lecture hours; 108 lab hours)  
Landscape Graphics  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

This course begins exploring drawing techniques necessary to perform tasks related to communicating design concepts in landscape design. The emphasis is on easy, time-saving techniques that build from understanding perspective to rapid sketching skills. Field sketching is also a vital communication skill in environmental design, as it enables designers to quickly record ideas whether simply for their own use, or to share with a client to gather early feedback on usability, form, and aesthetic. Using both indoor and outdoor venues around the campus, students will learn to communicate their thoughts visually and integrate their sketching into the design process. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A115

HORT A1163 Units (18 lecture hours; 108 lab hours)  
Digital Design  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

This course provides an introduction to digital techniques while explaining the processes associated with describing and designing the landscape. In addition, this course guides the student through from their first impression of a site, through concept and schematic design and presentation to construction and site drawings, concluding with a case study that shows the final result. The designer needs to know about digital tools and use them at the various stages of a concept development. In the journey from concept to realization, it is important to have the right tools and methods of representation and use them in an intelligent and skillful way. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A116

HORT A1503 Units (54 lecture hours)  
Landscape Maintenance  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

Maintenance of residential and small commercial landscapes to include: small tree and shrub trimming, all aspects of lawn care, soil amending, fertilizing, sprinkler adjustments, watering, pest inspections, and scheduling. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A150

HORT A1512 Units (36 lecture hours)  
Introduction to Tree Care  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

An introduction to the many aspects of tree care. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A151

HORT A1701 Unit (18 lecture hours)  
Pest Control Applicators and Gardeners P.C.O. Certification  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

Preparation for California Certification Exam as Pesticide Applicator and Gardeners Maintenance Pest Control Operators. Emphasis on safe use of pesticides, alternative pest management. Ornamental, turf grass, industrial, right-of-way and seed treatment control. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A170

HORT A1813 Units (36 lecture hours; 54 lab hours)  
Ornamental Trees  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU; UC: Credit Limitation: HORT A181 and HORT A182 combined: maximum credit, 1 course.

Identification, habits of growth, culture, propagation, and use of ornamental trees in landscape design for Southern California. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A181

HORT A1823 Units (36 lecture hours; 54 lab hours)  
Ornamental Shrubs  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU; UC: Credit Limitation: HORT A181 and HORT A182 combined: maximum credit, 1 course.

Habits of growth, culture, propagation, and use in landscape design for Southern California. Identification will be emphasized. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A182

HORT A1833 Units (36 lecture hours; 54 lab hours)  
Plant Propagation  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.

Principles and practice of propagation of horticultural plants. Propagation from seed, cuttings, layering, and grafting. May be taken for grades or on a pass-no pass basis.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A183

HORT A1843 Units (36 lecture hours; 54 lab hours)  
Greenhouse and Nursery Science  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

A survey of the nursery industry. Nursery structures and equipment, construction, operation and use in the production of commercial crops. Cultural aspects of crop production. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A184

HORT A1851.5 Units (27 lecture hours)  
Plant Diseases  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

Common diseases of plants, emphasis on ornamentals grown in Southern California. Their symptoms and control of salinity, air pollutants, fungi, bacteria, virus, nematodes and other causal agents of plant diseases. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A185

HORT A1861.5 Units (18 lecture hours; 27 lab hours)  
Pests of Ornamentals  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

Common mite, insect, and other animal pests of ornamental plants and common weeds of Southern California are described and identified and ways to prevent and treat infestations are discussed. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A186

HORT A1872 Units (36 lecture hours)  
Interior Plantscaping  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

Identification, selection, installation, care and maintenance of plants for interior situations. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A187

HORT A1891.5 Units (18 lecture hours; 27 lab hours)  
Weeds and Their Control  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

Recognition of landscape control of weeds in the landscape and in nurseries with emphasis on practical applications. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A189

HORT A1911.5 Units (27 lecture hours)  
Cacti and Succulents  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

How to use the plants from the deserts of the world in the Southern California landscape. Identification, growth habits, culture, propagation, design considerations, and conservation. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A191

HORT A2003 Units (54 lecture hours)  
Chronicles of Garden Design through the Ages  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

This introduction course is a historical survey of the development of designed landscapes from ancient times through the 21st century. The course will emphasize the cultural, social, and economic contexts that have shaped and informed historic landscapes, broadly defined, and the influence of environmental concerns, horticultural techniques, and technological innovations. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A200

HORT A2302 Units (36 lecture hours)  
Calculations for Horticulture and Landscape Professionals  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

An applied calculations course geared for Landscape, Horticulture and Construction students. This course is necessary to effectively, safely, and economically manage a Landscape Construction operation. Examples of what a student will learn: determining area and volume, application of fertilizers, pesticides, and growth regulators, preparing design and installation cost estimates. Students will develop confidence when they perform the common mathematical tasks required of green industry professionals. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A230

HORT A2312 Units (36 lecture hours)  
Business of Landscape Design and Construction  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU

This course examines aspects of landscape design and construction practice for professional services, the legal and financial contexts in which it operates, and the documentation and delivery of projects. This course introduces students to the legal and contractual issues, technical specification, financial, project management, starting and managing a business and preparing for the C-27 licensing. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A231

HORT A2832 Units (36 lecture hours)  
Therapeutic Gardens: Design for Healing Spaces  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter

Transfer Credit: CSU.

This course will introduce and broadly explore how Therapeutic Gardens and the field of Horticultural Therapy incorporates the use of plants and gardening activities to promote health and wellness for people of many ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Topics will include people/plant relationship theories, horticultural therapy as a specialized field, Therapeutic Gardens and their use, and the societal impacts of Horticultural Therapy and research that supports it.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A283

HORT A2872 Units (36 lecture hours)  
Planting Design  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

Design and preparation of landscape planting plans. Emphasis on ecological and aesthetic considerations. May be taken for grades or on a pass-no pass basis.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A287

HORT A2891 Unit (9 lecture hours; 18 lab hours)  
Installation of Residental Irrigation Systems  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

A hands-on experience with the installation of a residential irrigation system to include: materials lists, layout, trenching, gluing and fitting lines, sprinklers and nozzles, valve manifolds, and clocks. Emphasis on planning, layout, and time saving practical methods. To include one Saturday installation. May be taken for grades or on a pass-no pass basis.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A289

HORT A2901.5 Units (27 lecture hours)  
Low-Voltage Landscape Lighting  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

An interactive, hands-on LED landscape lighting course for those seeking to increase their knowledge and installation of low-voltage (12 volt) LED landscape lighting. This course provides detailed instruction and hands-on training across a range of topics to sharpen your skills and become proficient in this field. The design and installation of an actual LED lighting system including best practices for how to layout the lighting design and an explanation of fixture placement.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A290

HORT A2963 Units (54 lecture hours)  
Grading and Drainage for Landscape Design  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

This course covers the basic grading and drainage techniques used in every landscape architecture project. Students learn the skills necessary to grade a site of moderate complexity while considering public health, safety, and welfare. Includes the design and installation of drainage elements per site requirements. Introduces tools and methods for grading landscape sites based on design documents and field measurements. Basic grading formulas and cut and fill calculations are presented. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A296

HORT A2972 Units (36 lecture hours)  
Garden Pools, Fountains and Waterfalls in the Landscape  

Grading Mode: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Transfer Credit: CSU.

Design and installation of landscape water features including ponds, garden streams, fountains and container water gardens. Students learn current construction techniques through an on-site installation. Graded or Pass/No Pass option.

Catalog Program Pages Referencing HORT A297