The first crop of students from a new school of horticulture based in Co. Waterford have graduated and have been presented with their awards.

The Mount Congreve School of Horticulture was established in 2023 as an education initiative and collaboration between Mount Congreve Gardens and the Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB).

Yesterday (Thursday, October 17), the first crop of students of the school were presented with their awards by the deputy mayor of Waterford City and County Council, Cllr. Adam Wyse, at the inaugural awards ceremony.

The first cohort of 16 full-time adult learners at Mount Congreve Gardens were presented with their official award certificates achieved in conjunction with the WWETB, following the completion of their full-time one-year programme of study.

Over the last year, students attending the school have trained with school staff and a team of craft gardeners.

Speaking at the award event, course leader Ger Mullen said: “We are incredibly proud of all of our students here today.

“Beginning this school, our goal was to establish a new horticultural training facility focused on the teaching of hands-on practical gardening and key vocational horticultural skills here and I am very happy to say that this has been achieved,” Mullen added.

“We have this wonderful resource on the doorstep here in Waterford. [Mount Congreve Gardens] has everything from a vast tree collection – to encourage budding tree surgeons – to a vast walled kitchen garden for those looking at organic growing, not to mention the acres of landscaped gardens to inspire and educate a new generation of gardeners.

“These unique horticultural facilities and vast acres of plant collections provided the ideal training grounds for anyone looking to start on their career path in horticulture,” the course leader said.

Mullen acknowledged the contribution played by local horticultural employers, some of whom attended the award ceremony. These employers provided work placements for the students.

Also commenting on the course, Mount Congreve Gardens director Ray Sinnott said: “The school is focused on maximising the educational potential that the world-renowned gardens here at Mount Congreve have to offer and aims to nurture decades of gardening knowledge.

“We believe that this location will become a centre of excellence for horticultural training, producing graduates that are job-ready and linked with local employment opportunities, or a stepping stone for those students wishing to progress into further education or training.”

Enrollment is now open for the 2025 horticulture course. The full-time, one-year training programme, based at the School of Horticulture, is fully supported and funded by the WWETB.

Applications can now be made to join the second year of the Level 5 course, which begins in April 2025.