{"id":118641,"date":"2026-01-16T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=118641"},"modified":"2026-01-15T10:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T23:34:17","slug":"step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/","title":{"rendered":"Step into a greener future at The Gordon"},"content":{"rendered":"

IF YOU’RE looking for a career that gets you outdoors and makes a real difference in the community, studying horticulture at The Gordon could be the perfect fit.<\/p>\n

With flexible study options it’s easy to find a pathway that suits your lifestyle.<\/p>\n

This isn’t just your regular classroom learning. Students are out in the community, working on real projects that leave a lasting legacy whilst making Geelong a greener place.<\/p>\n

From propagating plants for the Geelong Botanic Gardens to supporting spaces like Winchelsea Hospital and Ocean Grove Primary School, you’ll gain hands-on experience while giving back.<\/p>\n

A career in horticulture can lead to many opportunities, including landscaping, parks and gardens, nursery work, or becoming a groundskeeper.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jake’s success came from meticulous planning, creative design and teamwork with fellow students and teachers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

As program lead Tony Hughes explained: “In recent years we’ve seen a growing trend of mature aged students with a passion for the outdoors coming back to study. Our horticulture course can be completed within a year (three days per week) or one night per week for three years. The night courses are a great option for those looking to gain experience and a qualification, whilst working full time.”<\/p>\n

The Gordon’s horticulture students also shine on the big stage.<\/p>\n

Last year, student Jake McCorkell won a silver medal at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show competing against other students from across the state. His success came from meticulous planning, creative design and teamwork with fellow students and teachers.<\/p>\n

\"\"
From propagating plants for the Geelong Botanic Gardens to supporting spaces like Winchelsea Hospital and Ocean Grove Primary School, you\u2019ll gain hands-on experience while giving back by studying horticulture at The Gordon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jake said: “The teachers have been awesome with the support they have given me. They are always available by phone, email or talking in person [which] makes a huge difference, especially when you’re stepping into a new career”.<\/p>\n

If you’re ready to step out of the office and into a new career, the grass really is greener as a horticulturalist.<\/p>\n

Applications are now open for a February start. Head to The Gordon and grow your future today.<\/p>\n

\/\/SPONSORED CONTENT<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IF YOU’RE looking for a career that gets you outdoors and makes a real difference in the community, studying horticulture at The Gordon could be the perfect fit. With flexible study options it’s easy to find a pathway that suits your lifestyle. This isn’t just your regular classroom learning. Students are out in the community, […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":118759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-118641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStep into a greener future at The Gordon - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Study horticulture at The Gordon. Gain hands-on experience with flexible courses in Geelong. Apply now for a February start!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Step into a greener future at The Gordon - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Study horticulture at The Gordon. Gain hands-on experience with flexible courses in Geelong. Apply now for a February start!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-15T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/Feature-Image-12.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Times News Group\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Times News Group\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Times News Group\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795\"},\"headline\":\"Step into a greener future at The Gordon\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-15T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":395,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Feature-Image-12.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/\",\"name\":\"Step into a greener future at The Gordon - Ballarat Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Feature-Image-12.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-15T17:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Study horticulture at The Gordon. Gain hands-on experience with flexible courses in Geelong. Apply now for a February start!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Feature-Image-12.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Feature-Image-12.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"The Gordon student Jake McCorkell won a silver medal at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show last year.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Step into a greener future at The Gordon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ballarat Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ballarat Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/BALT.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/BALT.png\",\"width\":739,\"height\":98,\"caption\":\"Ballarat Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795\",\"name\":\"Times News Group\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/author\\\/warick\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Step into a greener future at The Gordon - Ballarat Times","description":"Study horticulture at The Gordon. Gain hands-on experience with flexible courses in Geelong. Apply now for a February start!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Step into a greener future at The Gordon - Ballarat Times","og_description":"Study horticulture at The Gordon. Gain hands-on experience with flexible courses in Geelong. Apply now for a February start!","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/","og_site_name":"Ballarat Times","article_published_time":"2026-01-15T17:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/Feature-Image-12.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Times News Group","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Times News Group","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/"},"author":{"name":"Times News Group","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/person\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795"},"headline":"Step into a greener future at The Gordon","datePublished":"2026-01-15T17:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/"},"wordCount":395,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/Feature-Image-12.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/","name":"Step into a greener future at The Gordon - Ballarat Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/Feature-Image-12.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-15T17:00:00+00:00","description":"Study horticulture at The Gordon. Gain hands-on experience with flexible courses in Geelong. Apply now for a February start!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/Feature-Image-12.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/Feature-Image-12.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"The Gordon student Jake McCorkell won a silver medal at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show last year."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/step-into-a-greener-future-at-the-gordon\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Step into a greener future at The Gordon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/","name":"Ballarat Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization","name":"Ballarat Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/10\/BALT.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/10\/BALT.png","width":739,"height":98,"caption":"Ballarat Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/person\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795","name":"Times News Group","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/author\/warick\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/153"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118641"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=118641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}