Education

If you work for, manage or own a retail or wholesale nursery garden center — the California Certified Nursery Professional (CCN Pro) program is made for you. Not only does CCN Pro certification make you more knowledgeable and helpful to gardening customers, but CCN Pro makes you a more valuable employee and elevates your garden center.

Since 1969, CCN Pro has set standards for solid, basic knowledge every nursery or garden center salesperson should know in order to serve the gardening customer. CCN Pro is the state’s most recognized nursery education program.

CCN Pro offers certification through a program designed to educate retail nursery staff in three key areas — general knowledge, plant identification and landscape design. To become certified, individuals must pass an exam with a minimum of 75% accuracy in each section and they must maintain their certification through continuing education credits.

Nurseries with 50 percent of their employees certified through CCN Pro qualify to become a Certified Garden Center.

1. Eligibility Requirements.

To be eligible for CCN Pro certification, individuals must have at least 18 months, or a total of 3,120 cumulative hours, full-time work experience at a California retail or wholesale nursery.

Applicants must submit an employer verification form indicating hours worked and all applications are reviewed prior to acceptance in the program.

Optional ways to qualify:

Individuals may earn hours toward the 3,120-hour requirement as follows:

• 1,040 hours are earned if you have a bachelor’s degree in ornamental or environmental horticulture;
• 520 hours are earned if you have an AA degree in ornamental or environmental horticulture.

Individuals with at least 24 months nursery experience from another state, are only required to have 12 months of experience working in a California nursery business.

Individuals with comparable educational and/or work experience may be accepted on a case-by-case basis. These applicants should complete the required forms and provide as much information as possible about their qualifications.

2. Exam Description

To earn certification status, individuals must pass each of the three sections of the initial exam with a score of at least 75 percent.

a. General Knowledge Section: 100 questions, including true/false and multiple choice based on the course manuals or from practical experience.

b. Plant Identification Section: 35 plants must be identified with complete botanical and common names and correctly spelled. These are chosen at random from the list of over 250 plants listed in the study guide.

c. Landscape Design Section: Individuals must create a landscape design on a pre-printed plot plan to scale complete with legend. The section also includes 115 landscape questions.

3. Exam Schedule and Costs

CCN Pro exams in California are held multiple times throughout the year.

Each section is timed; the complete exam takes approximately five hours.

Plant California Member Discount. If you work for a Plant California Alliance member company, you will receive a discounted rate for CCN Pro exams. Cost of the initial exam is $75 for employees of Plant California Alliance member companies and $220 for employees of companies who are not members of the Plant California
Alliance.

Click here to see a list of exam dates, times and locations and to register to take an exam.

4. Study Guides and Clinics.

To prepare for the initial CCN Pro exam, individuals should utilize the following materials:

Retail Garden Center Manual: An instructional resource and study aid for an individual seeking to become a CCN Pro and is a basic horticulture reference for CCN Pro members and other environmental horticulture professionals in California. Content was developed through a partnership between the University of California Cooperative Extension and the CCN Pro program of the Plant California Alliance.

Retail Garden Center Study Guide: The objective of the workbook is to help individuals better understand what is expected of them when taking the CCN Pro exam. The workbook, like the exam, is divided into three sections: general knowledge, plant identification, and landscape design. Within each section are sample quizzes and information to help the studying process.

Plant identification flashcards: An ideal study aid when preparing for the Plant ID exam section and available for download here.

Clinics: Clinics are available to assist individuals in preparing for exams. Check Exam Schedule for more information.

5. Retests

Individuals who do not pass all three exam sections with 75 percent accuracy, may retake the failed section(s) as many times as necessary in order to achieve certification. If more than three years have passed since the initial exam testing date, the full exam must be retaken, including the sections passed earlier and the full initial exam fee is required.

Fees to retake exams are $55 for employees of Plant California Alliance members/$140 for employees of non-member companies.

1. Advanced Exams. CCN Pro Certification is a prerequisite to taking an Advanced Exam. CCN Pro offers several Advance Exams and Courses on a wide variety of topics to enhance your knowledge, expertise and value. For a list of upcoming courses and study materials or to register, click here.

• INSECT, DISEASE AND WEED EXAM: this exam is focused on the pests in the landscape – trees and shrubs.  It is a two-part exam of general questions based on the manual and an identification section of 50 insects, diseases and weeds.
• ROSE GARDEN MANAGEMENT: this exam is focused on rose types and care such as fertilizing, pruning, spraying, mulching and exhibiting. The exam also covers monthly rose care and pests.
• IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT: Understand the role of water to meet a plant’s needs in order for it to grow healthy and strong, in addition to landscape design and environmental factors, such as temperature and soil type, that affect the irrigation management of landscapes.

2. Continuing Education Credits.

In order to maintain their certification status, CCN Pros are required to earn 12 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) per year. CCN Pro requires individuals to pay an annual fee of $30 to maintain certification. You will receive an invoice for this fee.

CEUs can be earned in several ways including:

•  Take a CCN Pro Advanced Exam = 2 units for taking exam; 5 units for Passing
• Attend a Plant California Alliance Meeting or Sponsored Event – 1 unit per meeting
• Enroll in a college horticulture class – 1 CEU per 1-unit class
• Participate in a PlantRight 101 Training on Horticultural Invasives in CA- 1 CEU http://www.plantright.org/continuing-education
• Attend a University of California Integrated Pest Management Workshop – 1 CEU per 1 hour of class
• Attend a company sponsored workshop – 1 CEU per hour of workshop
• Submit an article for the Plant California Alliance Newsletter – 1 CEU
• Be creative. We encourage CCN Pros to create fun and educational ways to earn CEUs such as volunteering your time at a nursery event or tradeshow — the possibilities are endless! Please be sure to contact Plant California Alliance for approval if the project is not listed above.

2024 scheduled exams and clinic:

• CCN Pro Exam, September 19^th, at Armstrong Garden Center, Costa Mesa

• Landscape Clinic, September 17^th, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm, at Green Thumb Nursery, 23734 Newhall Avenue, Santa Clarita

• CCN Pro Exam, October 2^nd, Green Thumb Garden Chapel, 7769 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Canoga Park
• Exam | Thursday, November 14, 2024 | Belmont Nursery, 7730 E. Belmont Avenue, Fresno, CA 93737

Please contact the CCN Pro office to register for the clinic at (916) 448-3900 or info@plantcalifornia.com

CCN Pro Exam Registration:
Step 1: Complete Contract and Work Verification Form
Step 2: Register for Exam

Advanced Exam Registration:
Register for an Advanced Exam

CCN Pro Study Materials 

Advanced Exam Study Materials

CCN Pro Flashcards (PDF)