The Plant California Alliance is now California Association of Nurseries. Welcome to our new name and new look!
The Plant California Alliance is now California Association of Nurseries. Welcome to our new name and new look!
Nothing is more critical to advancing and growing California’s nursery industry than education. California Association of Nurseries places great emphasis on providing our members with opportunities to learn.
CAN supports education that leads to promising careers in the California nursery industry through our scholarship program.
CCN Pro Contact:
Ariana Zamora McCray, CCNPro Director
ariana@nurserygrowers.org
Watch this testimonial from CCN Pro, Greg Gayton!
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.
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:
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.
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.
CCN Pro exams in California are held multiple times throughout the year.
Each section is timed; the complete exam takes approximately five hours.
California Association of Nurseries Member Discount. If you work for a California Association of Nurseries member company, you will receive a discounted rate for CCN Pro exams. Cost of the initial exam is $75 for employees of California Association of Nurseries member companies and $220 for employees of companies who are not members of the California Association of Nurseries.
Click here to see a list of exam dates, times and locations and to register to take an exam.
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 California Association of Nurseries. Retail Garden Center Manual Pricing – Member $35; Non-Member $50
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. Retail Garden Center Study Guide Pricing – Member $25; Non-Member $40.
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.
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 California Association of Nurseries members/$140 for employees of non-member companies.
Renewing your CCN Pro Certification Renewal is as simple as completing this form.
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.
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 $35 to maintain certification. You will receive an invoice for this fee.
CEUs can be earned in several ways including:
Please contact the CCN Pro office at (805) 668-1876 or ariana@nurserygrowers.org
CCN Pro Exam Registration:
Step 1: Complete Work Verification Form
Step 2: Register for an Exam
Advanced Exams and Retests:
Register for an Advanced Exam or Retest