Academics
Horticulture Technology Program
If you love to work with your hands, and you’ve ever wondered how a perfectly manicured golf-course or a well-landscaped backyard was created and maintained, a career in horticulture might be right for you.
Piedmont Technical College's Horticulture Technology program will give you the tools you need to succeed in one of South Carolina’s largest industries. With the support of a diverse group of instructors, you’ll get hands-on experience through our campus greenhouse complex, the Landscapes for Learning project and an extensive co-op program.
The Horticulture Technology program has transfer agreements in place with Clemson University's College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences, so if you choose to pursue a bachelor's degree, you can be sure that your education here creates a foundation for success.
Career Tracks:
- The horticulture & nursery industry is the #2 cash crop in S.C.
- 100% placement for Landscape Management grads
Entry Level Positions:
- Grounds supervisors
- Nurserymen
- Landscape contractors
- Small Business Owners
- More...
A Variety of Career Paths
Horticulture is a diverse industry that offers careers for many different interests, including greenhouse management, growing and propagating ornamentals, landscape design, landscape maintenance, landscape installation, turf science, and even commercial and home fruit and vegetable production.
So whether you want to work in a greenhouse, manage athletic fields, own a landscaping business, diagnose peach tree diseases, or research treatment programs for turf diseases – it all falls under horticulture. There are even rewarding opportunities in sales for input suppliers (e.g. fertilizer, equipment, seed and plants).
Be Part of the Largest Industry in the State
According to the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, farming generates over two billion dollars a year at the farm level, but the impact on the state’s economy goes far beyond the farm gate. Agriculture has a direct and indirect economic impact of $33.9 billion a year, provides $7.5 billion in labor income and creates and supports almost 200,000 jobs across the state.
Horticulture is an important part of S.C.’s ag industry. In fact, the greenhouse, nursery, turf, and floriculture industry accounts for over 300 million dollars in annual receipts and ranks as South Carolina's second largest cash crop. This important industry continues to grow and prosper in our state. From lawn grass to landscape plants and flowers, ornamental horticulture and turf accounts for over a significant portion of agribusiness’s cash receipts in South Carolina.
Bridge to a Bachelor's Degree
If you’re headed toward a bachelor’s degree, you can start with our Horticulture program and earn credit toward a degree at Clemson University. Because Piedmont Technical College has articulation agreements with Clemson University’s Horticulture, Turfgrass and Agriculture Education programs, students may qualify for up to 62 hours of transfer credit.
Our smaller student-to-teacher ratio and locally accessible classes help students adjust to college life, and the real-world experience in horticulture you’ll get at PTC will give you an advantage when you’re ready to enter the work force.
Best of all, because of Piedmont Tech’s affordable tuition rates, you’ll save thousands in tuition and fees by completing your first two-years here.
Employers of Piedmont Technical College Alumni include:
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Cold Creek Nursery
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Davey Tree Company
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Evan's Landscaping
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Fuji Film
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Greenwood Nursery
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Lowe's Gardening Centers
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Megan's Lovely Landscapes
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Metroliner
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Michelin Tire Corporation
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Persimmon Hill Country Club
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Savannah Lakes Village
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Scott's Lawn Service
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Self Regional Healthcare
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Stoney Point Golf Course
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Walmart Gardening Centers
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Wyatt Farms