A Garden-Lou Visit to the Meramec Campus of St. Louis Community College-Horticulture Program
The Horticulture industry in St. Louis has been described as a small town; everyone knows everyone else. And most of those “everyones” have attended horticulture classes at St. Louis Community College’s Meramec campus at some point in their careers.
The program is the only one of its kind in the area, with Mizzou being the next closest with its Plant Sciences programs. For young people just entering college or people considering a career change, community college is a perfect, economical way to start. In St. Louis, we are fortunate to have multiple community college campuses to choose from, and SLCC is a well-respected, accredited school offering everything from Adult Education classes to certificate programs to associate degrees. Day, evening, or online classes offer the maximum flexibility for students, regardless of their schedule.
One advantage of the Meramec program, as it’s known locally, is its instructors, who have real industry experience and connections and understand if you are already working at a golf course, a botanical garden, or in residential maintenance.
And then there’s the campus. Ten acres of outdoor classroom include mature trees, natives, ornamentals, a water feature, and a recently added urban farm. The recently renovated spaces have new greenhouse facilities and lab classrooms in addition to the outdoor garden classroom.
The horticulture program at Meramec is perfect for someone thinking about a horticulture career, but wants to try it out first before committing to a full degree or career change. The program at Meramec offers hands-on learning alongside traditional classroom experiences, but for me, one of the most important benefits was the networking and connections made among classmates, instructors, and staff.
I started attending Horticulture classes back in 1997, and I am still in contact with some of my classmates and staff from those intro classes. We’ve worked together, sent referrals to each other, and have developed life-long friendships. One difference between community colleges and traditional state colleges is the diversity of their students. It’s not just young people trying to figure out their lives and get started in a career; it’s a mix of older students who might already be working in the industry and even retirees with years of experience and different backgrounds.
With that much diversity, there is as much to learn from the other students as there is from the instructors.
The Horticulture Program at SLCC Meramec is an HLC-accredited program (Higher Learning Commission) offering an Associate of Applied Science degree or a Certificate of Proficiency (CP).
For more information, contact Program Director Jerry Pence: jpence@stlcc.edu
Or check out the website at: Horticulture Programs
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Words and photos by Jo Batzer
© Jo Batzer, garden-lou.com-2025, All rights reserved.
