Horticulture is a branch of agriculture that focuses on the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. Medicinal plants, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, flowers, seaweeds, and non-food crops such as grass and ornamental trees and plants are all included.
The word Horticulture is derived from a latin word “hortus” which mean garden and “colere” which mean cultivating. The hotel’s flora contributes to the hotel’s decor, as well as freshening the environment and leaving a lasting effect on guests. It also has a positive impact on the guests’ health, and even more so on the staffs. As a result, a full-time horticulture is hired, either on the hotel’s payroll or on a contract basis, to oversee plant execution and maintenance, timely replacement of old plants with new ones, and the beautifying of indoor and outdoor gardens. Horticulture work begins even before the hotel opens, as landscaping areas must be properly identified so that it may be planned ahead of time.
BRANCHES OF HORTICULTURE
- Plant Propagation/Nursery crop culture: is the process of creating new plants from variety of sources such as seeds, cutting, bulbs and other plants parts.
- Floriculture: is also known as flower farming and concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens.
- Landscape Horticulture: is dealing with design, construction and care of landscape also taking care into consideration proper choice of plants and aesthetic effects for homes, business and public places.
- Olericulture: is the science of growing and cultivating vegetables. This branch of horticulture deals with the production, storage, processing and marketing of vegetables.
- Pomology: is the science of growing and cultivating fruits.
- Post-Harvest Physiology: deals with post-harvest handling, grading, packaging, storage, processing, value addition, marketing etc. of horticulture crops
Other branches are:
- Viticulture: the production of grapes (largely intended for winemaking).
- Turf management: the production and maintenance of turf grass for sports, leisure and amenity use.
- Arboriculture: the cultivation and care of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants, primarily for landscape and amenity purposes.
EFFECTIVE HORTICULTURE REQUIREMENTS
There are certain things that have to be taken into consideration in order to have effective horticulture:
- Availability of light: The availability of light plays an important role in terms of survival of the plants. Generally, there are two types of light-natural and artificial. Sunlight is very important for plants, since they make their food in the presence of sunlight.
- Direction of hemisphere: Whether the hotel is situated in the north hemisphere or the south hemisphere also has an impact on the garden. Since that defines the slope, water drainage system for plants.
- Designing and execution: The architect should design the layout of the hotel, considering the drainage system, water availability, sunlight and Irrigation systems which are required for the survival of the plant.
- Humidity: People feel that indoor plants staying in an air-conditioned environment remain healthy. However, the fact is that plants dry up faster in such an environment. Plants require humidity to survive and in case of indoor plants the humidity is low. In a hotel the Horticulture has to deal with outdoor and indoor greenery of the hotel, therefore the work of horticulture can be divided into two parts
- Other factors: Timely availability of manure, fertilizer, water, sunlight, drainage, soil mixture and rainfall are also essential factors for the health of the plants.
ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF HORTICULTURE:
Hedges: Hedge is a fence or boundary formed by closely growing bushes or shrubs. It is also a line of bushes or small trees planted very closely together, especially along the edge of a garden. Hedge plants are cheap, easy to plant and form an attractive boundary more quickly than many gardeners imagine. As well as hedges provides structure to a garden. Given below are some shrubs which can be grown as hedges.
- Duranta: This hardy shrub grows into a tall hedge, and if not sheared too frequently bears pretty blue or white flowers by yellow berries.
- Murraya Exotica (Kamani): An evergreen hedge growing up to 10 feet, it has glossy deep green foliage. When in bloom, it bears cluster of white flowers, which scent the air with their fragrance.
- Lawsonia Alba (Henna): Excellent for screen, it needs periodical pruning and can be planted directly by cutting or by seeds.
- Hibiscus: This has many varieties, out of which Rosa Sinensis is a wide spreading one. It grows five to eight feet high with thick foliage and red flowers. While this is more suitable for plains, Hibiscus Syriaus a white and nauve flowering variety, grows well in hills.
- Bougainvillea: one of the most hardy and versatile shrubs with a profusion of flowers, makes a very compact hedge and thick barrier. It requires timely and regular trimming.
Lawns :
Lawn is an area of soil covered land planted with grasses or other durable plants which are maintained at a short height used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. Well maintained lawns reduce the land erosion from wind and water because both the healthy soil and grass that make up your lawn create a protective layer from the elements. Lawn also helps in cooling the air; actually, they act as a natural air conditioner. The lawn also acts as an air filter. It is a great benefit for those guests who suffer from dust and pollution allergies. The dirty particles in the air are trapped in the grass and pulled down and away with water, trapping and then moving a significant number of pollutants out of the air. The following points must be taken into consideration while maintaining a lawn in the hotel:
- Test the soil and apply fertilizers: Check the acidity or alkalinity of lawn’s soil by performing a soil test. If the soil is slightly acidic, raise the pH level by using a drop spreader to add pulverized lime to the lawn. To lower the pH of moderately alkaline soils, add organic materials, such as peat moss. For soil with extremely high pH amend it with sulphur or iron sulphate.
- Selection of grasses: While selecting a grass for the lawn it is necessary to consider the species that will be best adapted to the environmental conditions and to the intended use and maintenance level of a particular site.
- Mowing: Proper mowing increases the density of the density of the lawn, which in turn decreases weeds. Each type of grass is in your lawn and mow at the proper height. Stick to the 1/3 rule; never remove more than 1/3 of the grass blade length at any one time.
- Watering: Water is essential to lawn, but too much or too little can harm them. On an average most lawns need 1 to 1.5 inch of water per week to stay lush and green. That water can come from rainfall or irrigation. The water needs of a lawn also depend on lot of factors such as soil type, sunlight, grass, type, regional climate etc. The best time to water a lawn is early morning so that less water is lost due to evaporation.
- Fertilizing: Fertilizers are organic or inorganic materials that are applied to the soil or the plant to improve its health and provide sufficient mineral nutrient elements. Fertilizers can help the lawn to stay health, encourage leaf and root growth also reduces troublesome weeds. Fertilizers also aid in recovering lost nutrients and help the lawn in recovering from various activities. Fertilizers can be applied once or twice in a year and compost can be a good option to fertilize a lawn.
Flowerbeds, Trees and Shrubbery:
A flower bed is an area especially prepared for growing flowers. A flower bed is an element of many gardens. Annuals and herbaceous perennials are grown in flower beds to provide massive effect of different colours. It is always advisable to keep one type of flowering plant confined to one bed or one set of pots, arranged in an attractive pattern and kept well-trimmed.
Trees and shrubs are used in gardens for decorative purposes. Trees fill some of the space of the garden, counterbalancing the flat areas. They also give privacy and provide backdrop for smaller plants. Growing of shrubs in a group is called shrubbery.
It is of two types (i) Pure shrubbery (ii) Mixed shrubbery. Pure shrubbery refers to planting of entire selected are with a single species and the opposite holds good for mixed shrubbery. Both Trees and shrubs are best planted in combination to create a pleasing decorative effect.
Landscaping:
The process of making a garden or other piece of land more attractive by altering the existing design, adding ornamental features and planting trees and shrubs is called as landscaping. Following things must be considered while planning landscape.
- Climate, Topography and Soil: Think about your climate, topography of the site and also the soil type when planning the landscape of a garden. The topography of the site is important to consider as well as you plan, take note of how water drains in the landscape. The amount and length of sun and shades exposure must also be taken into consideration.
- Themes: A theme can unify your landscape and help to guide your plant and material selections. When deciding on a theme for the garden a good place to start looking at the architecture of the hotel. Themes can help in guiding how you place and select plants, decoration, hard paces and structures.
- Make your plants work for you: Early in your planning you should determine how your plants will function in your landscape. Plants can be used in a number of ways. They can provide you with fresh and delicious fruits and vegetable, beautiful scenery, lovely aromas and much more. Plants can be used as barriers to define areas within your landscape as well as identify where your landscape ends.
- Think about future: More specifically take into consideration how passage of time will affect your landscape plants. When selecting plants make sure you consider the plants growth rate, maintenance needs and its eventual mature size.
- Protect your resources: By choosing resources efficient plants consciously managing water and choosing environmentally sound hardscapes, you can protect and preserve your environment.