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Upon successful completion of this course the student will be able to:
1. Describe landscape maintenance careers and employment opportunities.
2. Demonstrate safety consciousness in dress/apparel, tool use, job site
demeanor, and use of personal safety equipment.
3. Identify, maintain, and describe the use of various hand tools.
4. Select and safely use appropriate hand tools for a variety of landscape
operations.
5. Describe basic pruning systems applied to shade trees, shrubs, vines,
perennials, and roses.
6. Demonstrate pruning techniques on a variety of landscape plants.
7. Maintain and improve soil conditions with amendments and fertilizers.
8. Identify common turf grasses for the region and recommend proper care.
9. Describe the steps required in the renovation and repair of a lawn.
10. Describe proper planting techniques for container, balled and
burlapped, and bare root plants, ground covers, and bedding plants.
11. Recommend appropriate staking/guying methods.
12. Create an annual maintenance calendar for a selected landscape.
13. Prepare and present a contract proposal for landscape maintenance
service.
14. Compare and contrast the three common techniques for developing a
maintenance cost estimate.
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I. Landscape maintenance industry in California
A. Scope of work of the maintenance industry
B. Career and employment opportunities
C. Licenses and permits
D. Local ordinances
1. Weed abatement
2. Noise control
3. Waste disposal
II. Safety
A. Importance of safe work habits
B. Clothing and shoes
C. Job site behavior
D. Safety training and record keeping
III. Tool identification, care, and safe use
A. Hand tool cleaning, sharpening, repair
1. Shovels, spades, hoes, trowels, weeders
2. Garden and lawn rakes
3. Pruning shears, loppers, saws
4. Wheelbarrows, carts, and miscellaneous implements
IV. Principles of plant growth
A. Plant structures and their function
B. Life cycles and seasonal changes
C. Light, air, water, and mineral requirements
V. Pruning
A. Objectives
1. Plant health
2. Landscape function
3. Flowers and fruit
4. Aesthetics and special forms
B. Plant types and pruning needs
1. Deciduous trees and shrubs
2. Evergreen trees and shrubs
3. Conifers
4. Flowering trees
5. Fruit trees
6. Roses
7. Rhododendrons, azaleas, and camellias
8. Perennials
C. Pruning methods and systems
1. Heading back
2. Thinning
3. Pinching
4. Shearing
5. Pollarding
D. Plant responses to placement and timing of pruning cuts
1. Identification of stem structures
a. Terminal and lateral buds
b. Vegetative and flower buds
c. Bud scale scars and age of wood
2. Importance of the branch collar and branch bark ridge
3. 3-cut method of removing large diameter branches
4. Shaping and directing growth with pruning cuts
VI. Soil amendments and fertilizers
A. Aeration and drainage characteristics of different soil types
B. Amendments
1. Organic
2. Inorganic
C. Mulches
1. Organic
2. Inorganic
D. Fertilizers
1. Selection of organic and inorganic fertilizers
2. Nutrient needs of various plant types
3. Fertilizer label
4. Calculation of amounts required
5. Spreader types and calibration
E. Soil sampling and testing
VII. Irrigation systems
A. Identification of system components
B. Operation, adjustments, and basic repairs
1. Controllers
2. Valves
3. Heads and emitters
4. PVC pipe, risers, and plastic tubing
C. Plant water needs and water-efficient irrigation scheduling
VIII. Planting methods
A. Container grown plants
1. Nursery cans and boxes
2. Flats and cell packs
B. Bare root
C. Balled and burlapped
D. Root barriers
E. Tree staking and guying methods
IX. Lawn care
A. Warm and cool season turf grass varieties
B. Mowing, edging, watering, fertilizing
C. Aerating and dethatching
D. Repair of damaged and degraded turf
1. Spot seeding and sodding
2. Renovation and overseeding
E. Lawn insect, disease, and weed problems
X. Professionalism in the landscape maintenance industry
A. Importance of proper business practices and licenses
B. Public image and personal appearance
C. Scheduling seasonal maintenance tasks annually
D. Cost estimating and maintenance contracts
E. Client relations and communications
F. Certified Landscape Technician or Maintenance exam
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Biondo, Ronald J. and Schroeder, Charles B. (1998). Introduction to
Landscaping: Design, Construction, and Maintenance. Interstate, IL (ISBN:
0-8134-3121-2).
Ingels, Jack E. (1997). Landscaping Principles and Practices. NY: Del Mar
(ISBN: 0-8273-6735-X).
Instructor prepared syllabus.