Horticulture

Students

Graduates of the horticulture program are well prepared for green industry careers. Our students find work as horticulturalists at botanical gardens, zoos, golf courses, conservation areas, and garden centers. Others are employed by St. Louis area municipal park districts, research institutions, start-up companies, landscape design-build firms, and not-for-profit organizations. Our horticulture graduates propagate and care for ornamental plants, food crops, green roofs, athletic fields, nursery stock, and native plants across the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Faculty and Staff

STLCC draws its faculty members from the professional ranks. Students learn from and develop relationships with leaders of the green industry who are setting trends and achieving recognition on a national basis.

Members of the horticulture staff have years of experience working in the industry. They are passionate about horticulture and are always available to help students on their path to landing a great job in the industry.

Hands on Learning

The STLCC Meramec campus features ten acres of living laboratories and outdoor classrooms where horticulture students gain hands-on experience in plant identification, landscape management, irrigation, turf management, and landscape design. Students utilize the tools of the trade to grow and improve their horticultural talents. Program facilities also include a state-of-the-art greenhouse, pot-in-pot nursery, and urban farm.

Learn more about the Garden Classroom.

Business Networking

The horticulture program enjoys close working relationships with the region’s top green industry businesses, municipalities, and public sector organizations. Through guest lectures from leaders of the industry - arborists, growers, company founders, ecologists, garden center owners, soil scientists, and landscape designers - students learn best management practices, trends, and leading-edge strategies that impact the market place. Field trips to retail garden centers, growers, plant laboratories, arboretums, ornamental gardens, turf farms, nurseries, community gardens, and nature reserves provide students with an understanding of “real world” horticulture and its many opportunities.