Horticulture Principles and Practices

FIGURE 1–4 Formal landscaping
featuring topiary.
(Source: Steven Wooster © Dorling
Kindersley)
FIGURE 1–5 Landscaped
European palace. (Source:
Demetrio Carrasco © Dorling Kindersley)
to horticulture in the areas of nomenclature and taxonomy, among others. His outstanding
publications include The Manual of Cultivated Plants and How Plants Get Their Names.
Up until this period in history, horticultural production benefited primarily from
improvements and changes in the production environment. Evidence suggests that genetic
improvement (breeding) was conducted in the Middle Ages. The simplest method
of breeding entails visual selection and saving seeds from a plant with desirable characteristics
for planting in the next planting cycle. Knowledge of categorization or classification
of plants according to use and other characteristics existed. With time,
additional discoveries were made about the nature of things. Curiosity about the nature
and response of plants to their environment led to an interest in the practical application
of the existing knowledge through formal experimentation such as hybridization. Plant
classification was improved with the systematic method developed by Carolus Linnaeus
(1707–1978) described in his 1753 landmark publication Species Plantarium. One way
of displaying the tremendous variability in plants for public enjoyment is through the
establishment of botanical gardens. Advances, including modern machinery and equipment
for planting and harvesting crops and chemicals to protect crops from harmful
pests and to provide supplemental nutrition, have been made through the accumulation
of knowledge in a diversity of disciplines.
Modern horticulture continues to see advances in the way crops and other plants are
produced. Productivity per unit area has increased, and mechanization makes it possible
to grow large acreages of plants. Plant diversity has increased through advanced breeding
practices. Modern horticulture also enjoys tremendous support from academic programs
in institutions of higher learning, research in public and private sectors, and industry. Advanced
processing and storage techniques have extended the shelf life of products.
However, with advances in development and application of technology have come
a variety of issues of great social concern. For example, increased use of agricultural
chemicals has produced serious environmental consequences such as groundwater pollution.
Production of crops under controlled environments (greenhouses) has expanded
1.2 A Brief History of Horticulture 15