Download POWER_AND_TECH_files/Unit 1 - Introduction to Horticulture

History of the Horticultural Industry
• As human culture developed, it found many uses for plants:
o Food
o Medicine
o Clothing
• Gathers became cultivators approximately 10,000 years ago
• Ancient Greeks
o Used flowers in everyday life
and mythology
• Ancient Egyptians
o Flowers indicated presence of a god
The Science of Horticulture
• As a science began in the 18th century
• Botanists studied plant:
o Classification
o Structure
o Function
o Genetics
o Diseases
• Gardens became associated with churches and
monasteries
Horticulture in the New World
• Influenced the establishment of the United States
• Boston Tea Party – 1773
• Tea leaves from a subtropical
evergreen tree or shrub
• Morrill Act
• Signed by Lincoln
• Established Land Grant Colleges
• After WWII bedding plants began to
be used
• Houseplants in the 1970s
Classifying Plants
• Vascular Plants
– Ferns, trees, and flowering plants
– Tubelike cells in roots, stems, and leaves to carry
water
• Nonvascular plants
– Liverworts and mosses
– Take up water by osmosis
Classification by Reproduction
• Seedless – such as ferns:
– Produce spores
• Seeded – such as trees and
flowering plants
– Produce seeds
– Angiosperms: Produces seeds in a flower
– Gymnosperm: Produces seeds in a cone
Classification by Name
• Common Name
– Most often used
• Binomial Nomenclature
– Used by taxonomists
– Genus: Group
– Species: Individual
• Example: Eastern Redbud
Cercis canadensis
The Horticultural Tree
• Agriculture
– Science, business, and art of cultivating the soil
• Agronomy
– Study of Field crops
• Forestry
– Maintenance and cultivation of forests
• Botany
– Study of plant life
• Horticulture
– Study of growing fruits, nuts, vegetables,
and ornamentals
Branches of Horticulture
• Arboriculture
– Trees and shrubs
• Olericulture
– Vegetables
• Pomology
– Fruits and Nuts
• Ornamental Horticulture
Ornamental Horticulture
• Floriculture
– Flowers, ornamental plants,
and related products
• Landscaping
– Planning and constructing of landscapes
• Nursery Production
– Production, harvesting, and sale of trees and shrubs
• Turf grass Production
– Development of grasses for athletic fields, golf
courses, parks, and cemeteries
Values of Horticulture
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Aesthetics/Beautification
Increased economic value
Continuing Education
Health Promotion
Leisure opportunities
Standard Measures
Basic Formulas: Area and Volume
• Surface Area
– Amount of area on the outside, top, bottom, or
sides of something
• Volume
– Amount of space inside something
Ratios
• Mix Ratios
– Mixing items like soil, fertilizer, and pesticides
– Like quantities, i.e. gallons to gallons
• Slope Ratios
– Grade or incline of a physical element like a hill
– Horizontal distance vs. Vertical distance