Prepare Planting Site with Hand Tools Training

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate the ability to select and inspect appropriate hand tools for site preparation.
• Apply safety procedures when using hand tools to prevent injury and damage.
• Prepare a planting site by clearing vegetation, loosening soil, and creating planting beds.
• Analyze site conditions to determine drainage and soil texture requirements.
• Evaluate the completed site for readiness against specified planting criteria.
• Implement basic soil conservation measures during site preparation.

Target Audience

This course is designed for farm workers, gardeners, and horticultural assistants who need to prepare planting sites without mechanized equipment. It is also suitable for small-scale farmers and community gardeners seeking foundational land preparation skills.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment.

Course Outline

Practicals

Overview

Learners apply theoretical knowledge in a practical field setting, preparing a planting site using hand tools under supervision. This hands-on session reinforces safe tool use, proper techniques, and site preparation standards.

Practical Activities

• Tool Selection and Safety Check — Learners inspect a range of hand tools for defects, select appropriate tools for the task, and don required PPE. (1h)
• Vegetation Clearing and Soil Preparation — Learners clear a designated area of vegetation, dig and loosen soil to specified depth, and level the site using hand tools. (2h)
• Marking and Digging Planting Holes — Learners measure and mark planting positions, then dig holes to correct dimensions using spades and trowels.
• Tool Cleaning and Storage — Learners clean, sharpen, and store tools properly after use.

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total

Component	Out of	Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored)	100%	30%
Daily Average (multiple choice)	100%	20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice)	100%	50%
Final Total	—	100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

How it works

• Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
• Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
• You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
• If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.

Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates	Discount
5	3% off
10	6% off
15	9% off
20	12% off
25	15% off
30	18% off
50	30% off
75	35% off
100	40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.