School of Horticulture

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Testimonials

INFORMATION SESSION & TOUR
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25

Join us for a tour of our facilities. Meet students, faculty, and alumni. Discover School of Horticulture's programs, facilities, and resources. Chart your career starting with our programs.

For more details, please view flyer: February Information Session

Herbarium Exhibition in the Library

There is an exhibition of beautiful herbarium plant cards at the Langley library during February and March. They were made by Horticulture students in the Fall term of 2009. The assignment involved collecting 10 plants and pressing them in a plant press. When the plants were dry they were glued onto a card and a label was attached. Such dried plants can last for 100 years or more if stored in a cool dry location. Herbariums are used by botanists to study the taxonomy of plants and to preserve plants that may be endangered.

Saying Goodbye to our Apprentices

Apprentice Graduates 2009
You've reached your graduation day
It's time to put your books away
Your life now takes another course
As you join the work force
We are sending wishes by the score
And hope that life has in store
All that you are wishing for
No, not just that, but lots lots more

To download your class photo click here (3Mb .zip file)

Kwantlen Winter Farmers Market a great hit!

Farmer's Market Following the successes of the summer season, Langley Community Farmers Market held its first ever ‘Winter Market’ in the greenhouse complex at Kwantlen’s School of Horticulture on Saturday 12th December. Despite bitterly cold weather and snow looming, hundreds of visitors turned out to enjoy freshly brewed coffee, warm, freshly baked bread products and all sorts of locally made delicious food goodies. Nearly 20 vendors offered great ideas for Christmas gifts – cheeses, dips and sauces, pickles, pottery, jewellery, honey, bags, and many other delights and treasures. Visitors were even treated to a special visit from Santa Clause (we were told it was the real one!) who handed out goodies and wanted his picture taken with all the young kids who had brought their parents along. Set against a backdrop of this year’s crop of poinsettias, cut flowers and the start of this year’s tomato plants, with Kwantlen music student playing seasonal carols in the background, it was just a great day!

For more information visit http://www.langleycommunityfarmersmarket.com/ and bookmark the page for information about the new summer season starting at the end of May 2010.

More funds for Institute for Sustainable Horticulture

Kwantlen Polytechnic University recently received a $75,000 grant from the Real Estate Foundation of B.C. to support the research, public and professional education programming of the Institute for Sustainable Horticulture (ISH).

“Our board of governors was impressed with the Institute’s level of performance and community engagement to date,” said Real Estate Foundation of B.C. chair Stephen Mullock." (by Dave Harrison, Greenhouse Canada)
Read the full article.

Horticulture Students Installing Green Rooftop

School of Horticulture Green Roof Project Students gained valuable industry experience and shared much appreciated community service at the Salvation Army’s new ‘Gateway of Hope’ building in Langley City. Installing a new 260 square metre green roof introduced students to this leading edge green building technology. Students were enthusiastic about the opportunity to participate in all the stages of the installation of this green roof from roof preparation to placement of the green roof plant material. The green roof will provide a number of benefits most notably extending the life of the roofing membrane, moderating storm-water runoff, increasing building energy efficiency, and improving the rooftop view for residents. The students have also planted native species in the adjacent riparian zone to re-establish biodiversity and suppress invasive plants. This unique opportunity is the result of collaboration between Kwantlen’s School of Horticulture, Bill Evans (building architect), the Salvation Army, Matt Degan (Dominion Contracting), and Rod Nataros and Michael Campbell (N.A.T.S. Nursery).

Horticulture students get veggie powered!

Veggie power Students in HORT 2375 (Greenhouse Structures and Equipment) recently looked over a motor vehicle that had been converted to run on 'SVO' (Straight Vegetable Oil) as well as its original diesel fuel supply. The conversion had been done by Geoff Hill, a green energy consultant, using a 4x4 Mitsubishi Delica and recently imported into Canada. Students were taught how the system works, its requirements, costs and trouble-shooting, before investigating the 'mechanics' of the system. Geoff, a UBC graduate and PhD candidate, currently operates a company specialising in such conversions, ( www.Switchover.ca ). The relevance to the students is that this demonstrates practical potential uses of 'waste' fuels for operating machinery, so reducing dependancy on fossil fuels. Apart from road vehicles such as vans and trucks, this can include powering generators, lawn-mowers and greenhouse heating equipment for example.

For more information, contact Gary Jones at the School of Horticulture, or Geoff Hill at www.Switchover.ca

Introducing - First Year Apprentices

Sometimes it is overwhelming to learn all the new names and faces in the new semester. To help you out we have included their name and photo together on a PDF document.
...follow the link

PD funds for students

We are trying something innovative at Horticulture. We are offering PD funds for students. The idea is to assist students to attend industry events, conferences and other academic events. Anybody who is enrolled in the Horticulture Diploma program could apply.
Why don’t you try it?
Here are the details…
Here is the application form.