Complete Skills and Education Group Awards QCF Horticulture & Land Management specification revision resources. Tailored syllabus coverage with topic breakdowns, quizzes, and practice questions.
Specification Topics
- Select and Prepare interior plant displays
- Introduction to keeping the work area clean, tidy and safe in a retail environment
- Place and fix fence posts
- Levelling and preparing sites for landscaping
- Fill plant containers
- Recognise materials used in floristry
- Establish interior plant displays
- Construct water features
- Installing drainage systems
- Discovering the retail workplace
- Water plant material by hand
- Construct and maintain paths
- Gift wrap a single flower
- Maintain the health and appearance of interior plant displays
- Recognise use and care for hand tools used in floristry
- Monitor and maintain watering systems
- Establish decorative amenity areas
- Assist with potting up rooted cuttings, large seedlings or plugs by hand
- Maintain the safety of self and others in the workplace
- Establishing crops or plants in growing medium
- Repair and maintain structures or surfaces
- Condition floristry plant material
- Wrap flowers and plants
- Principles of Maintaining Plants
- Monitor and record environmental conditions for protected crops
- Make a country basket arrangement
- Maintain and develop personal performance
- Carry out basic floristry tasks
- Identify flowers, foliages and plants
- Communicating with others at work
- Respond to customer requests
- Horticulture: Identify Parts of a Flowering Plant
- Establish and maintain artificial plant displays
- Prepare and operate a tractor and attachments
- Produce and maintain shop displays
- Use and maintain ride-on powered equipment
- Clearing horticultural and landscaping sites
- Prepare and excavate internment plots _Dig Graves_
- Identify the health and maintain the condition of general amenity turf
- Identify and collect plants for dispatch
- Promote responsible public use of the environment
- Transport harvested crop
- Maintain the appearance of decorative amenity areas
- Establishing plants or seeds in soil
- Make a single flower buttonhole
- Renovate and repair sports turf surfaces
- Merchandise plants and other relevant products
- Store harvested crops
- Prepare harvested crops
- Installing flagstone surfaces
- Transport physical resources within the work area
- Load and unload physical resources within the work area
- Prepare and construct new structures or surfaces
- Maintaining plants outdoors
- Process payments for purchases
- Introduction to looking after customers in a retail environment
- Produce planted designs
- Propagate plants from seed
- Maintain the condition of sports turf surfaces
- Use and maintain non-powered and hand held powered tools and equipment
- Preparing ground for seeding and planting
- Maintaining water features
- Installing block surfaces
- Identify and report the presence of pests, diseases and disorders
- Establish and maintain conditions appropriate to the welfare of animals
- Carry out harvesting operations
- Maintain the health of sports turf
- Provide customer service when selling plants
- Prepare a container for a flower arrangement
- Prepare and plant a container for display
- Control pests, diseases and disorders
- Provide nutrients to crops or plants
- Establish propagation material
- Collect and prepare propagation material
- Maintain equipment and machines
- Monitor and report on the growth and development of crops and plants
- Installing sett/cobble surfaces
- Prepare plants for dispatch
- Obtain, position and prepare growing media
- Prepare and establish propagation material
- Introduction to potting up rooted cuttings, large seedlings or plugs by hand
- Plan, prepare and construct tied floristry designs
- Plant nomenclature, terminology and identification
- Place goods and materials into storage
- Receive goods and materials into storage
- Use and maintain pedestrian controlled powered equipment
- Maintain moisture levels for crops or plants
- Excavate and form foundations for fencing
- Use and maintain chippers and/or shredders
- Install hard standing sub-layers
- Maintain drainage systems
- Installation of edge restraints
- Introduction to handling stock in a retail environment
- Assist with Maintaining Plants
- Prepare, backfill and restore graves and internment plots
- Construct and maintain boundaries
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships with others
- Monitoring and maintaining health and safety
- Preparing and transporting plants and resources
- Exhume coffins and remains
- Communicate information within the workplace
- Remove unwanted plant growth to maintain development
- Assist with the burial process
- Make a round posy arrangement
- Assemble basic floral designs
- Resolve customer service problems
- Identify floristry plant material
- Wrap and pack goods for customers in a retail environment
- Maintain and renovate artificial sports surfaces
Top Exam Board Tips
- In practical assessments, narrate your actions by explaining why you are choosing a particular plant, container, or method to showcase your underpinning knowledge.
- Always check that your display meets the client brief; take a moment to review from different angles to ensure it is symmetrical, balanced, and stable before declaring completion.
- Demonstrate clear awareness of relevant legislation by referencing the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and COSHH when handling composts, fertilisers, or cleaning agents.
- During practical observations, verbalise each step you take when cleaning or tidying, demonstrating your understanding of 'why' as well as 'how'.
- When disposing of waste, always check the workplace sorting guidelines and ask if unsure—this shows conscientiousness and is often an assessment criterion.
- For emergency scenarios, clearly state that you would first ensure your own safety, then call for assistance from a designated first aider or dial 999, giving details calmly.
- When describing the process, always start with a pre-work check, referencing specific legislation like Health and Safety at Work Act and COSHH.
- For practical assessments, verbalise your reasoning as you work, e.g., checking verticality, to demonstrate underpinning knowledge.
- Use correct technical terminology such as 'tamping', 'backfilling', and 'postcrete' to meet assessor vocabulary expectations.
- In written responses, always include a contingency step: explain how you would adapt if the ground is too hard or too soft.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Overlooking the mature size and growth habit of plants, leading to overcrowded displays that quickly outgrow the space.
- Failing to consider lighting conditions of the intended location, resulting in plant stress or poor display longevity.
- Using incorrect or contaminated growing media that can introduce pests and diseases to the display.
- Neglecting to clean and maintain tools properly, which can lead to cross-contamination and reduced tool lifespan.
- Learners often assume that any household cleaning product is safe for use on floristry tools and surfaces, without checking for potential damage or chemical reactions.
- A frequent error is sweeping broken glass or thorny stem clippings directly into general waste without wrapping them securely, posing a risk to handlers.
- In an emergency, learners may panic and forget to state their exact location or the nature of the accident when calling for help.
- Failing to check for underground services before digging, risking cable strikes.
Key Terminology & Definitions
- Be able to select, use and maintain equipment for establishing interior plant displays, Be able to establish interior plant displays, Be able to work safely and minimise environmental damage, Know how to set up interior plant displays, Know the types of equipment required and how to maintain them, Know the relevant health and safety legislation and environmental good practice.
- Know how to clean work areas, Know how to dispose of waste and rubbish safely, Know how to ask for help in an accident or emergency
- Work safely in line with legislation and codes of practice, Be able to select and prepare tools, Be able to prepare materials, Be able to place and fix posts, Be able to deal with difficulties, Know the relevant legislation and codes of practice, Know how to place and fix posts
- Be able to select, use and maintain equipment for levelling and preparing sites, Be able to level and prepare sites for landscaping., Be able to work safely and minimise environmental damage, Know the importance of site preparation for landscaping., Know how to reinstate the ground to the required level, Know the types of equipment required and how to maintain them, Know the current health and safety legislation and environmental good practice.
- Be able to fill plant containers with growing medium
- Be able to recognise materials used in floristry
- Equipment selection and maintenance
- Installation methods for interior displays
- Health and safety legislation compliance
- Environmental sustainability in floristry
- Plant care and maintenance routines
- Design and placement principles
- Be able to prepare the site, Be able to construct more than one type of water feature, Be able to select, use and maintain a selection of tools and equipment for constructing water features, Be able to work safely and minimise environmental damage, Know the importance of the specification when constructing water features, Know how to deal with problems during construction, Know how to use a range of materials, Know the types of equipment required and how to maintain them, Know the current health and safety legislation and environmental good practice.
- Be able to install drainage systems, Be able to select, use and maintain equipment for installing drainage, Be able to work safely and minimise environmental damage, Know the principles of drain installation, Know the types of equipment required and how to maintain them, Know the current health and safety legislation and environmental practice.
- Know about different types of retailers, Know about different roles in retail