It did use to be that learning new gardening skills was either done by painstakingly flicking back and forth in gardening books, or by trial and error in your garden.
With the advent of the internet, and then the smartphone era, that all changed.
Now there are thousands upon thousands of online gardening courses you can use to hone your gardening skills.
And one of the most popular platforms to do so is Udemy.
So today we will focus on what we think are the best online gardening courses on Udemy.
So let’s dig in…
The Best Online Gardening Courses On Udemy
| Course Name | Price | Length |
| #1: Growing Fruit Trees With Ease | $25 | 36 mins |
| #2: The Beginner’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening | $35 | 1hr 36m |
| #3: Gardening, House Plants and Succulents For Beginners | $65 | 3hr 5m |
| #4: Beginner’s Guide to Gardening: Building Raised Beds | $25 | 30 mins |
| #5: Gardening Know-How: Attracting Birds and Butterflies | $30 | 1hr 11m |
| #6: The Backyard Forest | $55 | 3hr 50m |
| #7: Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Gardening in Cold Climates | $35 | 1hr 42m |
How Much Does Udemy Cost?
It is free to sign up for Udemy, you can then either pay for which courses you are interested in, or you can take out a monthly subscription with Udemy to give you access to thousands of courses for one flat fee.
At the time of writing the monthly subscription is $19.99.
* Note: All listed prices correct as of January 2023.
About Udemy
Udemy has grown remarkably since being founded by three budding entrepreneurs in Turkey in 2010.
The learning platform, whose name is a portmanteau of you and academy, now has over 50 million students, more than 200,000 courses and 75,000 instructors teaching in 75 languages.
Unsurprisingly that means there are thousands of courses about gardening alone in its vast collection.
And sorting the wheat from the chaff can be a tough job (although to be fair most of the courses on Udemy are generally pretty good!).
Between us at Suave Yards, we have done some thorough investigating, to pick out the seven best online gardening courses the platform offers.
#1 Growing Fruit Trees With Ease
Price: $25
Instructor: Susan Poizner
Course Content: Three sections, seven lectures, 36 minutes course time.
Course Overview: Learn how to grow and care for fruit trees from scratch.
Who is Your Instructor?
Susan Poizner is a self-proclaimed ‘urban orchardist’ and founder of the OrchardPeople.com website.
She planted her first fruit trees in 2009 when she co-founded the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard in Toronto.
Based in Toronto, Susan is journalist, filmmaker, author and radio presenter and is an instructor of fruit tree care at Niagara College in Ontario and an ISA Certified Arborist.
She wrote the book Growing Urban Orchards and is the host of the Urban Forestry Radio Show. She has also been training new growers since 2013.
In other words, she has an impressive set of credentials!
What Do You Learn?
The course really is one main section, bookended by two much smaller sections.
The first section introduces you to both the course and Susan. You are told what you are going to learn and will then find out a bit about Susan herself.
The meat and bones of the course is the second section, which delivers 27 minutes of lectures outlining eight steps to growing fruit trees with ease.
First of all, it is explained how you can find the easiest fruit tree to grow depending upon your requirements and soil conditions.
Obviously the great benefit of this approach is, it means immediately your chances of growing a fruit tree successfully are increased.
You then learn how to keep your fruit tree healthy, and how developing some simple habits can keep it free from pest and disease problems.
Another reason we like this course is because it has a lecture dedicated to protecting your fruit tree from insect infestation, a common problem for new growers.
It also goes into detail on correct pruning methods, and how to inspect your tree properly and identify and deal with potential pests and diseases before they become a problem.
Each part of the second section has a dedicated quiz to consolidate your learning.
The course is concluded by a short third section that provides some extra resources on fruit tree care.
Why We Like It
This course is aimed at newbies to growing fruit trees, so if you already have a decent level of knowledge you might want to look for an intermediate-level course.
But if you are a complete beginner, it is an excellent introduction to how to successfully grow fruit trees without giving you so much information it leaves you overwhelmed.
It is short and concise and Susan is a thoroughly engaging presenter whose knowledge and passion shine through.
#2 The Beginner’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening
Price: $35
Instructor: Rick Stone
Course Content: Five sections, 24 lectures, 1hr 46m course time.
Course Overview: Learn where, when and what to plant in your first vegetable garden.
Who is Your Instructor?
Rick Stone lives just south of Salt Lake City in Utah with his wife AJ and has been gardening for over a quarter of a century.
He is a graduate of the Utah State University’s Master Gardening Course and regularly teaches live classes and workshops around the state.
He has six (highly rated) courses on Udemy and runs the popular website Our Stoney Acres, which provides an abundance of advice to help both new and experienced gardeners grow more organic vegetables in their gardens.
What Do You Learn?
This course does exactly what it says on the tin, teaching you where to plant your vegetable garden, when to plant it and what to plant.
The first section is a simple introduction to both the course and Rick himself.
The second section deals with the first big W… Where to plant your garden.
It has separate lectures on growing vegetables in raised beds, flat gardens and container gardens, so it really does cover all bases.
Rick goes into detail on the importance of finding a sunny spot for your vegetables, the different types of soil and improving it and how proper watering can boost your success rate.
The third section looks at when to plant your garden.
Rick begins by explaining the role the hardiness zone you live in and the dates of your first and last frost play in deciding when to plant.
He also dedicates separate lectures to crops that grow well in cooler weather and those that grow well in warmer weather, before explaining how to estimate when you should plant your crops.
Section four focuses on what to plant in your garden.
You learn what plants are best planted as seedlings and what are best started as seeds, and then there is a lecture on a subject that isn’t often talked about, the difference between hybrid and open-pollinated plants.
This section is wrapped up by Rick outlining the easiest cool weather and warm weather crops to grow.
The fifth and final section, really just brings together everything you have learned in the course and looks at some other courses Rick has created.
Why We Like It
Rick’s presentation style is clear and simple, he doesn’t overcomplicate things or assume any level of knowledge.
That means this course really is a true beginner’s guide to vegetable gardening.
It is almost like Rick is there holding your hand as you plant your first vegetable garden!
It is a confidence builder and the inclusion of simple starter crops works really well to help you get your vegetable garden going.
#3 Gardening, House Plants, Succulents For Beginners
Price: $65
Instructor: Mark Shorter
Course Content: Four sections, 32 lectures, 3hr 5m course time.
Course Overview: A three-in-one course looking at easy-to-grow plants both inside and outside and how to take care of succulents.
Who is Your Instructor?
Mark Shorter’s background is actually in house development, but as he was renovating houses he moved from the inside to the outside and turned his hand to gardening.
That was 15 years ago and he has since helped thousands of people both in DIY and gardening.
He has eight gardening and DIY-related courses on Udemy, which have been taken by thousands of students.
What Do You Learn?
With a whopping three hours of lecture time, this is three courses rolled into one, making its seemingly slightly higher price tag great value for money.
The bulk of the course is taken up by the first section: Gardening for Beginners which has 2hr 15m of lectures.
This section takes a look at 18 different easy-to-care-for plants. There are individual videos for each of them, ranging from pansies to petunias and hostas to hellebores.
Each video clearly and simply explains how to care for the said plant so it can flourish in your garden, and what you can do should you run into any problems.
The second section of the course features five houseplants, and how to keep them happy and healthy.
The houseplants in question are snake plant, heartleaf philodendron, spider plant, peace lily and English ivy.
Section three focuses on five easy-to-come-by succulents: aloe vera, echearia, zebra haworthia, tiger jaws and burro’s tail.
Nick provides plenty of tips and illuminating insights into how these plants can not just look pretty, but also reduce stress levels and boost moods.
The very short fourth section is just an outline of the other courses Nick has available.
Why We Like It
The course is very well organized and covers some of the major plants in quite a bit of detail.
It is very much a beginner-level course, but the real bonus here is the succulent section as succulent courses are hard to come by.
#4 Beginner’s Guide to Gardening: Building Raised Beds
Price: $25
Instructor: Sunny Green
Course Content: Thirteen sections, 13 lectures, 30 minutes course time.
Course Overview: Learn how to build a raised bed from scratch and grow your own produce in it.
Who is Your Instructor?
Sunny Green is a former management consultant turned home gardener.
Sunny retired early after forming his own management consultancy called Green and Humble, and focused on living a simpler, more sustainable and less stressful life.
Sunny now calls themselves an urban farmer and has three popular courses on Udemy.
What Do You Learn?
The course offers a complete walkthrough on building, maintaining and sustaining a raised bed garden.
You will need some rudimentary carpentry equipment and skills as the course shows you how to build the raised bed garden from scratch.
But it is a low-cost project (under $10) and only basic equipment is needed.
Every part of the course is its own separate section, beginning with an introduction explaining exactly what lies ahead.
You then learn about the benefits of raised bed gardening and the supplies and equipment you will need to build a raised bed.
Then there are a number of sections dedicated to building the raised bed, including building the base, building levels and capping off the bed.
After the bed is built it moves onto the aspect of using it to grow plants, beginning with the types of soil you can use, how to plant efficiently and how to water it.
Why We Like It
This is a really nice, clear, easy-to-follow course.
If you have always wanted to grow vegetables in raised beds, but have never known where to start then start here!
There is no fluff, the visuals and instructions are spot on and it offers a different take on watering methods, which is really interesting.
#5 Gardening Know-How: Attracting Birds and Butterflies
Price: $30
Instructor: Linda Kelso
Course Content: Four sections, 18 lectures, 1hr 11m course time.
Course Overview: Learn how to make your garden, no matter how small it is (or even if it is non-existent!), a haven for birds, butterflies and other insects.
Who is Your Instructor?
Linda Kelso says she designed her first garden when she was 8 years old, using graph paper, crayons and one of her dad’s seed catalogs!
That initial love of gardening obviously never left her. As an adult she gained a degree in landscape design and runs her own company LK Landscape Design.
Linda has two other courses on Udemy.
What Do You Learn?
As the title suggests this course is all about attracting birds and butterflies to your backyard, by making a series of simple and small changes.
In fact, I should preface this by saying even if you don’t have a backyard this course can help bring these creatures to any kind of outdoor space, whether it be a patio, balcony or rooftop.
Section one is an introduction to the course, and explains the benefit of having birds and butterflies in your backyard.
The bulk of the courses lies within the second section which starts by explaining how certain plants and flowers can play a valuable role in attracting birds and butterflies to your backyard.
It then moves onto how you can use food and water in a positive way for these creatures, and how you can create an attractive shelter for them.
The final part of section two gives a balanced view of pesticides and herbicides.
The third section is for anyone who feels they have some insurmountable roadblocks that will stop them from attracting birds and butterflies to their gardens.
Don’t know how to garden? Don’t have a backyard? Don’t have much money?
Anything you think might be preventing you from creating a haven for wildlife is dealt with by Linda in this section.
The fourth and final section explains how you can get an e-book from Linda for free.
Why We Like It
Linda is an engaging and thoroughly likable instructor and is very easy to listen to.
Most importantly she breaks down into simple steps how to bring more beneficial insects, birds and butterflies into your garden, and the importance of it for both you and your backyard.
There is a wealth of practical knowledge here.
#6 The Backyard Forest
Price: $55
Instructor: Jake Rayson
Course Content: Eight sections, 42 lectures, 3hr 50m course time.
Course Overview: Transform your backyard in a forest garden to grow plants, attract wildlife and benefit the eco-system.
Who is Your Instructor?
Jake Rayson is a wildlife and food forest garden designer and founder of the Nature Works website.
Jake has honed his interest in creating forest gardens ever since moving from a small terraced house just outside of London to a hillside farm in Wales where he tends to three acres of forest garden.
He believes that fundamental to every garden is the creation of a diverse habitat and plant species for wildlife.
What Do You Learn?
Jake’s love of wildlife and creating forest spaces comes through in this mammoth course, the biggest on our list in terms of course time.
The course teaches you how to create your own forest garden which emulates the edge of woodland, requiring less watering and maintenance.
The course is made up of eight sections that fall into three stages.
The first stage introduces you to the concept of a backyard forest, explaining what it is and the benefits it can have.
Then it goes into detail on how to plan out and design the concept.
The second stage is where planning is put into practice.
This is where Jake goes into more detail on how to physically create the space you have just planned out, and how and where to protect your plants using both manmade measures and nature itself.
The final part of the course is about getting the ground ready for the all-important shrubs you are going to plant. It covers all the principles you need to get your backyard forest flourishing.
Why We Like It
If you aren’t familiar with the concept of forest gardening, you might think this course is going to be a bit overwhelming, but it isn’t at all.
Jake explains everything very well, slowly and clearly, and you get an understanding of how your garden can be part of the wider ecosystem and a benefit to both you and the local habitat.
He is personable and there is lots of useful information in an easy-to-digest format.
#7 Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Gardening in Cold Climates
Price: $35
Instructor: Maria Janowiak
Course Content: Six sections, 26 lectures, 1hr 42m course time.
Course Overview: Live somewhere cold? Master the basics of growing all kinds of plants no matter what the weather.
Who is Your Instructor?
Maria Janowiak has graduated from catching turtles and frogs as a young child in the countryside to selling vegetables at a farm stand as a teenager to gaining professional qualifications in forest ecology and management at Michigan Technological University.
Maria now plays an active role in coordinating Climate Change Response Framework activities in New England and northern New York and is Deputy Director of the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science.
What Do You Learn?
If you live in any area where the winter temperatures dip below freezing for at least a couple of months a year, you can learn something from this online course.
The course covers a vast array of topics from understanding the area you have available to grow plants in, to preparing the soil and planting your garden.
The first section simply explains the benefits of gardening.
Section two dives into why you want to garden and what you want to get out of it, as well as touching on important subjects such as the difference between annual plants and perennials plants.
The third section looks at what is considered a cold climate, hardiness zones and growing seasons and helps you find your hardiness zone and frost-free season.
The fourth section talks about the practicalities of selecting a location for your garden, and whether you should use an existing space or a completely new location.
It also covers creating a new garden bed and using raised beds and containers for growing plants.
Section five goes into detail on the science of soil and explains what you can learn from a soil test and how you can improve your soil.
The final section puts everything into action with plenty of information on when to plant, growing plants from seeds both outdoors and in containers and a few basic tools that can make the world of difference to a gardener.
Why We Like It
There are not many courses out there dedicated to gardening in a colder climate, so this earns kudos for that reason alone!
But on top of that it is an extremely useful resource and Maria is a great teacher with a wonderful personality and sense of humor and an abundance of knowledge.
It is well-paced, user-friendly and contains some golden nuggets of information.
Honorable Mentions
There are so many wonderful online gardening courses on Udemy that it has been hard to whittle the choice down to just seven.
These courses just missed out on a place in our list:
- Vegetable Gardening: How to Grow Healthy, Fresh Food at Home
This a great resource for creating an edible garden no matter what size garden you have. - Grow Like a Superpro – Become an Indoor Gardening Superstar
The title says it all! Take your indoor gardening skills to a new level. - Growing Potatoes In Your Backyard Garden
Get taken step by step through the process of how to grow potatoes in your back garden. - Gardening Know How: Sustainable Pest Control
Six simple steps to help you deal with those pesky insects that might be plaguing your backyard.
Alternatively you can view all of the Gardening Courses on Udemy.
Final Thoughts
As you can see when it comes to online gardening courses there are more than a few to choose from on Udemy!
We have tried here to pick a good selection of courses that cover everything a gardener might want to know, including popular subjects such as growing fruit and vegetables and attracting birds and butterflies, down to the less common pursuits such as gardening in cold climates and growing succulents.
The great thing now is that it is so easy to create online courses and it is so easy to watch them and put them into practice at the same time.
All of the course instructors here have a long background in gardening and all of the courses are engaging, informative and very useful!
Good luck whichever direction you decide to take!