Muck and Magic on Show at Horticulture Open Day

South Eastern Regional College (SERC) is getting ready to welcome prospective students to their annual Horticulture Open Day at Holywood Campus, Old Holywood Road, on Friday 24 May from 1.00pm – 3.00pm. 

Horticulture Curriculum Manager Claire Dunwoody says, “This is the perfect opportunity to come along and find out about the range of horticulture programmes on offer at our Holywood Campus. Prospective students will have the opportunity to speak to our horticulture team and to ask questions about the full range of courses on offer, from Leisure Gardening and Leisure Floral Art to OCN accredited Level 2 Awards in Gardening Skills, Organic Fruit and Vegetable Growing, Botanical Art, Plant Knowledge, or the Extended Certificate in Garden Design. We also offer the Royal Horticultural Society Accredited Level 2 Certificate in the Principals of Plant Growth and Development. 

“The Open Day is also a lovely opportunity to see the work our students and volunteers do to maintain our garden, including the wildlife pond, the wellbeing garden and the greenhouses, and to view some projects they have been working on over the past year, including our new cottage garden.”  

Helen McAneney, from Bangor, is currently completing a Level 2 Award in Botanical Art and has been taking Horticulture courses at SERC since 2020. She says, "I initially took Garden Design and discovered a real passion, and I have kept coming back. The facilities are fantastic, with the beautiful outdoor space being as much a classroom as the indoors. Open days are great for exploring the courses available – I'm considering the fruit and vegetable growing one next. Everyone is made welcome, from the novice to the expert – we all get our boots muddy and our hands dirty together.”