At Sparsholt College, our Horticulture students work in industry-standard facilities, giving them the edge when stepping out into the industry. The college has invested heavily in the facilities of the department, and alongside five hectares of dedicated College ground, Horticulture students work across our countryside campus.


Explore our Horticulture facilities below:

  • With six large glasshouses, all housing different plants in different environments, our students have the space to succeed in their studies and career paths.

    Our tropical glasshouse is maintained at 18 degrees Celsius all year round, and houses over 100 different plant types from across the world. This gives our students the chance to work with a variety of different plants requiring different environments to grow, and the equipment and housing needed to grow them across different climates. The glasshouse also features a tropical pond with fish.

    In our propagation glasshouse, students are able to work with plants from seedlings to sproutlings. Heated benches allow for plant germination all year round, and automatic watering and misting systems are used, allowing students to get comfortable with industry-standard equipment. Our fogging unit has recently been upgraded with a brand new state-of-the-art computer system.

    Our glass houses also hold vegetable plots, used by the RHS, and range of indoor house plants, ready to prepare students for whatever Horticultural sector they choose to move onto.

  • A number of polytunnels make up a large section of our Horticulture department. Surrounded by the nursery garden and planting beds, these polyethene tunnels help to keep plants protected from the wind and bad weather, whilst not reducing their heat intake.

    Students learn about plants with different needs using these tunnels. From our shaded tunnel, which houses plants that thrive in darker conditions, to our four-bay tunnel where outdoor plants are grown that need to be kept sheltered.

    Our Chelsea tunnel houses the work of our second year Level 3 Horticulture students working on the College’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden. Our 9x gold medal winning lecturers help students to design, create and work on the annual garden entry, and the tunnel is set out to the show’s garden measurements exactly. You can find out more about our Chelsea Flower Show entries here.

    Our construction and carpentry tunnels house the space for our students interested in developing their landscaping and woodworking skills. Students have the opportunity to practice building patios, block pavings, walls, and fences with state-of-the-art equipment.

  • The Horticultuture department at Sparsholt College boasts a state-of-the-art drawing studio and garden design studio.

    Fitted with A1 size drawing boards and a suite of computers, these facilities meet the needs of garden design students, and those studying design and surveying as part of their programme.

    The studio’s are also utilised by our staff and students as part of Sparsholt College’s annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden entry. Students and staff work together to design the garden each year based on a chosen theme, and using the equipment available can sketch proportionate designs and create vectors used as part of the judging process.

  • Horticulture students at Sparsholt College have the advantage of studying in a 450 acre countryside campus, meaning that they are heavily involved in the maintenance of the landscape and grounds.

    Ornamental grounds providing a wide variety of plants for identification and analysis, such as the English Rose wall in our Horticulture department and herbaceous flowering beds.

    Our apple and pear orchard gives students the opportunity to learn about this sector of the industry, and are involved with the pruning and picking of the trees and fruit produced. In 2016, Sparsholt College’s apple cultivars, Malus domestica, was added to the National Plant Collection by Plant Heritage.