In my opinion, I don't know how well that would work. When it comes to Horticulture, you need hands-on experience and labs to learn. Horticulture is inherently outdoors. I don't know about the OSU program specifically. Yes, you can learn online about the physiology of plants, pest and plant ID, estimating, and maybe even design, but you need more hands-on applications (with professors) for learning about soils, pruning, disease ID, landscape structures, site analysis etc.

I don't think you can even learn plant ID online successfully. I was an advisor for many years for the hort program at a local technical college while they were exploring online classes and while there were a good many classes that would translate well to the computer, we determined the visuals (and the interaction) of both plant ID and most design courses did not. So both of those (and a few others) remained in person classes only.

It would never be my first choice to follow an online program for horticulture but understand if that is your only viable option. Some formalized education is better than none at all :-))

I got my Horticulture degree at OSU- graduated in 2014. There were some classes I ended up having to take online. In general, I am not a fan of the online classes. For me, it just doesn't work well with my learning style, as I am also hands on, and also retain more information from lectures than reading. It depends a bit on the teacher. I took an urban forestry class online and the teacher was really good, so that one I actually did enjoy. You really have to be a self starter and do the work to retain the information. I had to take a weeds class online, which was a lot of plant ID. The teacher had us make study guide sheets with certain info on each and at least 3 pictures. I honestly did learn a lot from that, but I'm sure I would have learned more in person. Your job in landscaping will probably be a good compliment, though.

I will say, the OSU program is not great for landscape design. There's basically only one design class and it's not good. So, if that was why you wanted to go, I would look someplace else. It's great for learning the science behind horticulture, but the landscape maintenance type of classes were only fun and useful because of the hands on sections. You don't HAVE to take those classes though. I think the online degree is maybe a little more general? It seemed like most people I went to school with ended up in things like blueberry production, farming, nursery production, plant breeding (if you go on to grad school). A lot of people felt the need to go on to grad school to do what they wanted. I honestly wish I had gone down a different path and done some fruit physiology classes. I did landscape design for a while (hated it!) and now I'm working in sales at a large Wholesale Nursery. Also keep in mind, if you're thinking landscape design, that most designers are self employed, and it's very difficult to make a living at it. Most design jobs want you to be a landscape architect.

I'm looking at the curriculum right now. If I paid $30,000 for that, I would feel ripped off. And DO NOT take the Bacc core classes online. Take that at a community college.

The advisor for the hort program, Kelly Donegan, is VERY nice and helpful. Talking to her would be a good next step if you're still interested. I think she would be honest about what the program is like for people.