| Description |
1 online resource (317 pages) |
| Contents |
Cover; Half Title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgements; Glossary; Preamble: safety in the garden; Introduction; a. Hand-tools; b. Machinery; c. Children; d. Garden chemicals; e. Glass; f. Stakes and canes; g. First-aid; Tools; Essential tool kit; Additional tools; Ancillary tools; Greenhouses, frames, cloches and plant supports; Watering cans; Fertilisers; 1. What makes plants tick?; Introduction; Garden practices; a. Basic ingredients for plant growth; Water; Air: carbon dioxide and oxygen; Warmth; Light; Nutrients; Substrates |
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B. Making plants growb1. Showing the effects of water, light and warmth; c. The need for nutrients and physical support; c1. Demonstrating healthy growth; c2. Demonstrating the need for nutrients; c3. Demonstrating the effects of adding nutrients to seedlings grown on kitchen roll; d. Demonstrating the need for carbon dioxide in plant growth (photosynthesis); e. Demonstrating the carbon dioxide produced by respiration; Underpinning knowledge; 1.1 Gathering energy from sunlight (photosynthesis); 1.2 Using energy (respiration); 1.3 Moving goods around (transport) |
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1.4 Getting bigger and stronger (growth)Achievements: have you understood and learnt?; 2. Understanding soil by growing potatoes and onions; Introduction; Garden practices; a. Soil management; b. Weed control; c. Selecting and preparing land; d. Digging soil; e. Digging processes; f. Follow-up husbandry; g. Liming; h. Using dug land; i. Planting potato tubers (seed); j. Seed potatoes; k. Planting husbandry; l. Watch for tender growth; m. Potato crop husbandry; n. Disease control; o. Alternative husbandry; p. Onion sets; q. Starting onion growth; r. Planting onion sets; s. Onion husbandry |
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t. Onion growthu. Harvesting onions; Underpinning knowledge; 2.1 Knowing soil; Weathering; Soil transport; Soil profiles; Soil structure; Soil texture; Soil composition and plant growth; Organic soils; 2.2 What soils provide; Types of nutrient; Soil water; Soil conductivity; 2.3 The life of soil; Soil microbes; Mycorrhizal fungi; Pathogenic microbes; Soil macroƯorganisms; 2.4 Dirty hands; Soil quality; Finger test; Soil flotation test; Soil profile; Soil auger tests; Soil pH tests; Straight and compound fertilisers; Professional soil sampling; Achievements: have you understood and learnt? |
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3. Growing legumes from seed and seedlingsIntroduction; Garden practices; a. Seed origins and care; b. Growing peas and beans; c. Germinating and growing broad bean and pea seed as transplants; d. Transplanting seedlings; e. Direct sowing; f. Runner beans and dwarf French beans; Underpinning knowledge; 3.1 Reproduction asexually and sexually; Naming plants; Asexual and sexual cell division; Mitosis; Meiosis; Sexual organs; The sexual process; Pollination and sexual fertilisation; Pollen and seed dispersal; 3.2 Across the generations; Seed production; Seed quality; Seed germination |
| Summary |
Written in a clear and accessible style, Garden Practices and Their Science guides gardeners in the practical arts of plant husbandry and in their understanding of its underpinning principles. The author, Professor Geoff Dixon, is an acknowledged and internationally respected horticulturist and microbiologist; he intertwines these arts and principles carefully, expertly leading readers from one to the other. Achieving the manipulation of plant life is described in eight full-colour, well-illustrated chapters covering the growing of potatoes, bulb onions, legumes, small-seeded vegetables, soft fruit, bulbs and herbaceous ornamentals in great detail. Environmental factors controlling the successful husbandry of these crops is described in simple, non-technical language, increasing gardeners' enjoyment and competence. Gardeners are also informed of the tools and equipment they require and their safe use. Also provided are a series of simple, straightforward tests identifying the aerial and soil environments beneficial for plant growth using readily accessible domestic tools. Discussions of very straightforward techniques for vegetative propagation conclude this book. Each chapter ends with a list of the gardening knowledge that has been gained by readers. The structure of this book fulfils a longstanding need for descriptions of practical skills integrated with the corresponding biological reactions of plants. Emphasis is placed on gardeners' development of healthy soils, which encourage vigorous, active root systems capable of withstanding stresses-an aspect of gardening that rarely receives sufficient attention. Tailored for readers requiring clear and concise directions, this very practical book is an instruction manual directed at early-stage gardening learners. These include people of all ages and requirements such as new garden owners, allotment-holders, apprentices and students of basic levels in the Royal Horticultural Society's or City & Guilds qualifications, career changers, community gardeners and those needing applied biological knowledge for GCSE examinations |
| Notes |
Seedling growth |
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Print version record |
| Subject |
Horticulture.
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horticulture.
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GARDENING -- Garden Design.
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GARDENING -- Landscape.
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Geoff Dixon.
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gardening.
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Horticulture.
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Professor Geoff Dixon.
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plant biology.
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Horticulture
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9781315457802 |
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1315457806 |
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9781315457796 |
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1315457792 |
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9781315457789 |
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1315457784 |
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9781315457819 |
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1315457814 |
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