KINGSTON, R.I. – Dec. 19, 2025 – Working in a field related to gardening and want to learn more about the science behind it? Starting to think about warmer days in your spring garden? Interested in expanding your gardening knowledge to apply it to your own projects? For individuals near or far hoping to accomplish these aims in an online-focused program, URI’s Cooperative Extension is offering its convenient Home Horticulture Certificate course, starting in January 2026, with applications for the course due by Thursday, Jan. 1.
The three-month virtual program covers everything from basic botany to vegetable gardening.
All lectures are held Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m., Jan. 29 through April 30, on Zoom. An optional orientation will be held virtually on Jan. 22.
The Home Horticulture Certificate is a comprehensive 14-week environmental horticulture education. The class allows students to tap into the depth of knowledge and expertise of URI from home.
Weekly lectures are taught by URI Cooperative Extension faculty and staff, with weekly “Try This” assignments and a culminating hands-on, practical course project that brings concepts learned in class together.
The Home Horticulture Certificate offers similar in-depth, science-based content as URI’s well-known Master Gardener Program core training and is designed for those who want less of a time commitment or who work in green-related industries and want to increase their knowledge and service to clients. Attendees graduate with a Home Horticulture Certificate from URI Cooperative Extension.
The Home Horticulture Certificate course is offered completely online, with synchronous class meetings on Zoom. Course materials are accessible to students on the URI website and “drop-in office hours” are offered by instructors each week via Zoom. The course fee is $550 (payment plans are available). In-person “pruning practicums” are an optional add-on for local attendees, held Fridays in late spring in the URI Botanical Gardens for $75 per session.
“Anyone interested in expanding their science-based horticultural knowledge for personal application in their gardens and yards is encouraged to register,” says instructor Kate Hardesty in URI’s Cooperative Extension, “as well as those interested in enhancing their knowledge as green-related industry professionals, seeking a career change, or just a fun educational experience.”
Hardesty is joined by several URI community members in teaching the course, including URI faculty Andrew Cary, Rebecca Brown, Bridget Ruemmele, Camilo Villouta, and Lisa Tewksbury, with Keiddy Urrea-Morawicki, David Weisberger, Nathan Lambstrom, Sejal Lanterman, and Renee Stoops M.S. ’99, offering instruction on topics ranging from basic botany to vegetable gardening.
The course is capped with a practical course project, requiring participants to conduct a creative, practical assessment of a site of their choosing. Concepts covered in class come together in the project as participants use their senses to assess a landscape, create a plan and make recommendations for its future.
“All are welcome!” says Hardesty, who once designed a garden for the PBS series This Old House. “I have taught beginning gardeners, expert gardeners, landscape business owners, arborists, landscape designers, teachers, college students and more. This is a supportive, enriching class for plant lovers from anywhere and all backgrounds.”
To learn more, visit the Cooperative Extension website or contact Kate Hardesty at 401-874-4096, keventurini@uri.edu. To get on the Cooperative Extension email list for other programs, email coopext@uri.edu or call (401) 874 -2900. Learn more at https://web.uri.edu/coopext/.
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