START WIGGLING those green fingers. Courses for those of you who love being outdoors, in tune with the seasons, digging, planting and pruning, are on offer at five colleges around the State.

Over the coming weeks, up to 200 places on full-time courses will be filled by people who want to pursue a career in horticulture. Applications are invited from prospective students this month; entrance assessments will be held in the first week of June.

Horticulture offers a promising career to young people who are interested in working outdoors, says Michael Conlan, director of Kildalton College in Piltown, Co Kilkenny, which runs one of these three-year courses. The potential careers are many and varied, including landscaping, hardy nursery stock production, working in parks and golf courses and the production of fresh vegetables, fruit and crops grown under protection - mushrooms, tomatoes and lettuce, for example.

Teagasc, the agriculture and food-development authority, regulates and accredits such courses. It lists four colleges where diploma courses are on offer: Kildalton College; the College of Amenity Horticulture in the Botanical Gardens, Dublin; An Grianun in Termonfeckin, Co Louth and Warrenstown Horticultural College in Drumree, Co Meath. The Franciscan Agricultural College in Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath, has a two-year certificate course.

The recommended route for entry to a career in horticulture is to gain summer or holiday employment in a relevant area. Experience opens doors, says to John Keating, information officer with Teagasc.

The courses, whether in food production or in the amenity sector, follow a common training pattern of 50 per cent lectures and 50 per cent hands-on training.

According to Teagasc, the demand for graduates of its diploma in horticulture courses exceeds the supply.

Applications are made through Teagasc, which has its head office at 19 Sandymount Avenue, Dublin 4. Further information, details and application forms can be obtained by contacting your local Teagasc office or horticulture college.