David S. Ingram & Daphne Vince-Prue 
Science and the Garden [PDF ebook] 
The Scientific Basis of Horticultural Practice

Most conventional gardening books concentrate on how and when to carry out horticultural tasks such as pruning, seed sowing and taking cuttings. This book is unique in explaining in straightforward terms some of the science that underlies these practices. It is principally a book of ‚Why‘ – Why are plants green? Why should one cut beneath a leaf node when taking cuttings? Why do plants need so much water? But it also goes on to deal with the ‚How‘, providing rationale behind the practical advice. The coverage is wide-ranging and comprehensive and includes the basic structure and functioning of garden plants, nomenclature, genetics and plant breeding, environmental factors affecting growth, methods of propagation and production, pest and disease control, and post harvest management and storage. Published on behalf of the Royal Horticultural Society, this book will be a most valuable text for those sitting the RHS general examination, and horticultural students at certificate and diploma levels; it will also appeal to gardeners, growers and scientists.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword.

Preface.

List of Contributors.

1. Know your Plant.

2. Naming your Plant.

3. Designing Plants.

4. Soils and Soil Fertility.

5. Choosing a Site.

6. Raising Plants from Seed.

7. Vegetative Propagation.

8. Shape and Colour.

9. Seasons and Weather.

10. Gardening in the Greenhouse.

11. Controlling the Undesirables.

12. Storage and Post-harvest.

Glossary.

Index

Über den Autor

David Stanley Ingram, OBE, VMH, FRSB, FRSE, FLS, F.I. Hort is an Honorary Professor of Science, Technology and Innovation Studies at the University of Edinburgh Ingram served as Master of St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge between 2000 and 2007.

Daphne Vince-Prue graduated from the University of London, Wye College and did postgraduate work in plant physiology at UC Berkeley. She obtained her doctorates at the Universities of Reading and London, and subsequently taught plant physiology to students of horticulture and botany at Reading for most of her career.

Professor Peter Gregory is internationally known and respected for his work on roots and is Director of the Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dundee, UK.