A new idea has taken root in California gardening. The movement towards native landscaping is already widespread and growing every year, opening new opportunities for professional landscapers.
The California Native Plant Landscaper Certificate Program (CNPLC) is a free job-training program for landscape professionals developed and taught by highly respected native plant experts.
This program, as hosted at Chino Basin Water Conservation District, is currently only open to those providing landscape services or working for agencies within the cities of Chino, Chino Hills, Ontario, Montclair, Rancho Cucamonga, and / or Upland or students currently enrolled in academic programs that feed into the landscape field.
If you do not work in the areas listed above, you can learn more about the larger program, offered by Theodore Payne Foundation in other areas, at education.theororepayne.org
Participants will learn best practices in maintenance, selection, planting, pruning, irrigation, and pest management for California native plants and landscapes that contain them.
California naitve plants are quickly gaining popularity in landscape projects, and we are providing this program to help ensure our region has a well-trained workforce ready help these landscapes thrive.
Although focused on California native plant material, many of the concepts presented will also apply to other low-water demanding or waterwise landscapes.
We will cover the unique challenges, and solutions to those challenges presented by both large-scale commercial / municipal sites and residential landscapes, including maintenance timing and irrigation scheduling.
Please fill out the form below to submit your application for joining an upcoming California Native Plant Landscaper Certificate Program taking place at Chino Basin Water Conservation District's Waterwise Community Center (located in Montclair).
Participants must attend the full session all three days and complete two homework assignments to receive their certificates. Qualified applicants will be emailed for enrollment confirmation and accepted into the course on a first-come-first-enrolled basis.
For participants new to working with native plants, this course will provide all the fundamentals for success.
For those already working with native plants but looking to better understand plant performance and increase plant survival rates in native plant landscapes, this course will explore the differences in landscape management for natives vs. more typical landscapes. By the end of the course you will know how to set your company up for success with California native plants.
For those experienced with native plants already, we will provide detailed reference materials on species-specific pruning and timing recommendations to help refine your techniques.
Highlights of the curriculum include:
Day 1: Understanding California native plants and what to expect from a native landscape. Identification and landscape uses of the most popular landscape species and cultivars of California natives. The identification and use section will be outdoors with the plants in our demonstration garden.
Day 2: Irrigation and water management for native landscapes. Understand how often and how long to water for health and performance of native landscapes. We will do an irrigation-focused tour of various areas of our demonstration garden to examine recommended setups for spray, drip, and rotors to best support native plantings. We’ll also do a deep dive into the very different water management needs for this plant palette.
Day 3: Integrated pest management, maintenance, and pruning for California native plantings with an emphasis on the most common shrubs and perennials found in native landscapes in our region. This will feature both indoor portions and a plant-care / pruning-focused tour of our demonstration garden. A hands-on group pruning exercise will follow in which participants can practice their skills in the garden. Day 3 will conclude with a wrap up that pulls together everything covered in the course.
Completion of two simple homework assignments will also be required for participants to receive their certificates.
This program is being offered though a collaboration between Chino Basin Water Conservation District, the Theodore Payne Foundation, and the California Native Plant Society.
Chino Basin Water Conservation District is sponsoring this certificate training, so it is FREE to all who participate. The program is open to career landscapers / gardeners, garden designers, landscape architects, other professionals involved in the landscape industry, as well as students pursuing careers in the landscape field.
