Adult Education Programs

At our core, DCH is an educational organization aimed at teaching individuals and communities about the life-changing power of plants. We offer year-round workshops, lectures, classes, trips and tours for professionals and novices alike.

No matter what your interest, we have an educational opportunity for you. Become a DCH Tree Steward and attend training sessions where you can hone your pruning and identification skills, connect your neighborhood with funding, and lead the tree advocacy effort in your community. Attend our Community Garden Workshops and join the urban agriculture movement that DCH helped create in Wilmington. Learn from national and regional leaders in horticulture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and science through symposia and lectures in our historic Trolley Square location. Tour breath-taking gardens locally and abroad with our knowledgeable staff and meet new friends with your same interest in gardening.

Youth Education Programs

As a dedicated partner in the Seed Your Future campaign, DCH provides critical youth education programming through our community garden efforts and partners with local schools and camps to educate students on the opportunities available to them through horticulture. Our programs at the Clarence Fraim Boys & Girls Club and the Shearman Street Intergenerational Community Garden introduce children from preschool through middle school to the basics of plant and soil science, pollination, harvesting, and healthy eating through community gardening. We have also expanded our comprehensive Arbor Day celebration to additional schools in New Castle County to teach children about the importance of trees and their countless benefits to our environment. Our talented staff also provide personalized, subject-specific presentations to local school groups interested in learning about various aspects of horticulture and careers in the field.

Employment Training

Our award-winning employment training programs provide participants with horticultural skills and a deep awareness of the life-changing power of plants.

Branches to Chances® is a horticultural job training program for unemployed, underemployed, and/or previously incarcerated individuals. Training is aimed at connecting participants with entry-level positions in the horticulture industry, such as landscaping, tree maintenance, and park maintenance. Activities include hands-on training with daily tasks such as weeding, planting, mulching, staking plants, watering, pruning, harvesting, and trash collection, and are reinforced with a basis of knowledge in plant/weed identification, basic botany, equipment use and safety. The program also provides general skills in financial and computer literacy, preparing for a job interview, and workplace skills. Upon completion of this program, participants will have the opportunity to gain full-time employment. Multiple contingency plans and safety precautions are in place for COVID– related disruptions.

For more information about Branches to Chances® and program eligibility, please email: sbett@thedch.org