General Questions Flashcards
What maintenance tasks should be undertaken in the first year?
Staking
Irrigation
Weed control
Mulch
Pruning
Pests/Disease
Fertilizers
Explain the concept of Best Practice can be used to ensure that these tasks are
undertaken efficiently
What are two advantages of inclusive cultures?
- New ideas
2.
What are the survival advantages that an annual lifecycle offers to plant species?
Rapid reproduction
Adaptability to environment changes
Increase biodiversity
adaptations have evolved over time to allow annuals to thrive in diverse ecological niches, from arid deserts to temperate grasslands and beyond.
State TWO ways in which climate change could affect the successful cultivation of a
NAMED ornamental annual plant in a garden setting
Fluctuating Temps.
Drought/waterlogging.
What is clonal selection?
Crops that are propagated by vegetative means. Cultivars.
How does an iron deficiency affect the appearance of leaves?
YOUNG foliage affected
Interveinal chlorosis (pale between green veins)
Starts at leaf margins
Undersized leaves
Leaves may drop prematurely
Ericaceous especially prone as Iron is locked up.
add elemental sulfur
Why is iron important to growth?
iron is involved in the synthesis of chlorophyll, and it is essential for the maintenance of chloroplast structure and function.
How does a potassium deficiency affect the appearance of leaves?
OLDER leaves
Small and distorted leaves
Purple leaf veins
Tip dieback
Purpling of undersides of leaf.
Poor flowering or fruiting
POtassium controls water uptake and process allowing plants to harness nrg from sun.
USE Sulphate of potash, tomato feed
How does a magnesium deficiency affect the appearance of leaves?
Yellowing between leaf veins
Reddish brown tints
Early leaf falls
common on light, sandy soils
Common in tomatoes Solanum lycopersicum and roses.
Add epsom salts
How does a phosphorous deficiency affect the appearance of leaves?
Slow growth and dull yellow foliage.
rare, but may occur in areas with high rainfall and heavy clay soil.
Remedy: Apply fertilisers such as superphosphate or bone meal
Symptoms of N deficieny
Spindly yellow plants or yellow leaves, sometimes with pink tints.
Nitrogen promotes green, leafy growth and deficiency results in yellowing and stunted growth. Nitrogen is very soluble, so is easily washed out of the soil in winter rains, leaving the soil deficient in spring, just when plants are putting on new growth. Nitrogen deficiency is a common cause of yellow leaves in spring.
In the long term, mulching with organic matter (such as well rotted garden compost
provides a steady trickle of nitrogen to stabilise levels. In the short term, applying high nitrogen fertilisers such as sulphate of ammonia or poultry manure pellets
Symptoms of Manganese deficiency
Yellowing between the leaf veins with browning of leaf edges on acid-loving plants.
Soil shortages are rare, but manganese and iron can be unavailable to plant roots in alkaline conditions. Ericaceous (acid-loving) plants are particularly vulnerable when growing in alkaline soils or potting composts.
Use chelated iron and Sequestrene
SYmptoms of molybdenum deficiency
Elongated twisted leaves on cauliflowers or other brassicas growing in alkaline soil. Molybdenum deficiency is normally seen in cauliflowers and brassicas, particularly when growing in insufficiently alkaline soil.
Soil shortages of molybdenum are rare, but it can be less available to plant roots in acid conditions.
Lime the soil in the long term.
Symptom of boron deficiency
Stunted growth and tip dieback on lettuce, brown cracks in celery; rotten swedes, turnips and celeriac; dimples in pears with brown patches underneath.
Boron is required for healthy plant cell formation. Soil shortages are rare, but this nutrient can be less available to plant roots in alkaline conditions.
Remedy: Treat with fritted trace elements (see our advice on fertilisers) or by applying borax (disodium tetraborate) to the soil before sowing vegetables or as a foliar spray feed applied to pear trees.
List two ephemeral plants
Stellaria media
Senecio vulgaris
List two biennials
Daucus carota
Alcea rosea (hollyhock(
What is the correct sequence of activities in the Nitrogen cycle?
nitrogen fixation, nitrogen assimilation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification.
What is nitrfication
The conversion of ammonia into nitrites and nitrates
The conversion of nitrates into nitrogen is known as
Denitrification
What is the function of seed testa
protects the embryo against adverse environmental conditions
What is the function of the radicile
Embryonic root
absorbs water and nutrients and supplies to the leaves for starting photosynthesis
What is the function of micropyle
helps to absorb water at the time of germination of the seed. The opening of the micropyle allows the pollen to enter the ovule for fertilization.
What is the function of the endosperm?
supplying nutrients for embryonic growth, controlling the growth rate of the embryo during germination and seed development, and providing some amount of protection for the embryo.
Method of seed dispersal for Zea mays
WIND
Light weight
feathery
Abundant amount
Nymphaea alba seed dispersal?
WATER
floats
abundant amount
Name the site of respiration in a cell
mitochondria
What are the products of aerobic respiration
C02 and H20
What are the products of anaerobic respiration
Anaerobic respiration is the breakdown of glucose in the absence of oxygen.
C02, H20 and lactic acid
Significance of aerobic resp. in propagation?
to produce energy for plant growth.
Significance of anaerobic resp. in prop.?
allows the plant to continue producing energy even when there is a lack of oxygen. This helps the plant to survive in conditions where there is limited oxygen,
What is the difference between adventitious and taproot?
Tap root: The primary root that persists throughout the life of a plant is known as tap root. Adventitious root: A root that develops from any part of a plant except the radical or its derivatives is called adventitious root.
Describe how the availability of mineral nutrients affects photosynthesis?
Adequate mineral nutrition is required for proper photosynthetic activity and plant growth. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) concentrations in the soil are usually limiting factors
Alkaline vs Acidic = nutrients locked up.
ACIDIC: nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium and also the trace element molybdenum is reduced and may be insufficient.
ALKALINE: Phosphorous and most micronutrients.
What is meant by the term plant tissue
Plant Tissue. Groups of organized cells of similar structure that perform a collective function. Types of Plant Tissue. Meristematic and Permanent tissue.
What is the uptake and transport of mineral nutrients from the soil to the growing point of a stem
Active Absorption
This is the process of absorption of minerals with the direct expenditure of metabolic energy. Throughout the absorption of active minerals, ions from the location of the cell move to the inner space and it typically happens against the concentration gradient.
Describe how the availability of mineral nutrients affects photosynthesis?
To perform this process, an adequate supply of essential mineral elements, such as iron, is required in the chloroplast. Because iron plays a crucial role during electron transport and chlorophyll formation, iron deficiency alters photosynthesis and promotes chlorosis, or the yellowing of leaves.
Example of a simple leaf
Ginkgo biloba
Example of a compound leaf
Aesculus hippocastanum
Horse chestnut
palmately compound
What is the role of the spongy mesophyll?
facilitate the exchange of gases essential to the process of photosynthesis.
Primary function of pith
facilitate the exchange of gases essential to the process of photosynthesis.
Key characteristic of sandy soil?
acidic
warms and cools quickly
fast drainage
Which pH range makes most nutrients available to most plants:
6.- 7.5
What is transpiration pull?
capillary action
One of best additives to improve drainage of soil?
vermiculite
Gymnosperm example
Ginkgo biloba
characteristics of gymnosperms
naked seed
needle leaves
harsh growing conditions
Why is water important to plants?
for photosynthesis, for cooling, and to transport minerals and nutrients from the soil and into the plant.
how does planting density affect availability of water
- more water needed
- Less photosynthesis if plants are covered by each other.
Suitable tree for wildlife
Quercus robur
Betula pendula
Suitable plant for waterlogged area?
CORNUS ALBA ‘SIBIRICA’
compare the external characteristics of eudicotyledons and gymnosperms
G: naked seeds
E: enclosed seeds
G reduced needle like leaves
E: broad leaf
G Wind pollinated
E: wind or insect poll
G: No flowers
E: have flowers
G have cones
E bear fruit
what does scarification involve?
nicking, breaking, softening, or otherwise weakening of the seed coating meant to speed up germination.
rudolph steiner
biodynamic gardening (astrological indicators)
What is pollarding
Cut off top and branches of a tree to encourage new growth.
Pests/disease prone
can kill tree if pollarded incorrectly
what is a monophagous relationship?
The predator which is highly host specific and consume exclusive on a single species of prey, e.g. Rodolia cardinalis is a specific predator of cottony cushion scale
Define phenology
the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life
what is the manual handling operations regulations 1992?
explains how to avoid, assess and reduce the risk of injury from manual handling.
Why do tree roots come to the surface?
Need oxygen
DEfine scarification
weakening, opening or altering the coat of a seed to encourage germination.
Biodynamics
Rudolph Steiner
first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks, emphasizing spiritual and mystical perspectives.
3 ecosystem services provided by a plant?
noise reduction
flood mitigation
temperature regulation
What is pollarding?
Preventing trees and shrubs outgrowing their allotted space
can reduce the shade cast by a tree
May be necessary on street trees to prevent electric wires and streetlights being obstructed
Platanus hispanica (London plane)
pin and thrum flower heads for what reason?
the reciprocal positions of the anthers and the stigma in the two flower types would promote cross fertilization
3 distinct features of a formal garden?
use symmetry, geometric shapes and repeating patterns
EX: Hever Castle, Kent or
Rydal Mount, Cumbria
List 4 advantages of using plants to create garden boundaries
Nesting habitat for wildlife
Food for pollinators
Carbon sequestration
Reducing high winds
Biodiversity
Noise reduction
Rainfall capture and reduction in flooding as roots and soil hold water better.
EX: Berberis darwinii
Ilex aquifolium
what is a pneumataphore?
specialized root structures that grow out from the water surface and facilitate the aeration necessary for root respiration in hydrophytic trees
Mangrove
WHat are the steps for a BAP
1 State what is needed to achieve the objectives
2 Set targets and deadlines
3 Agree responsibilities for staff, where appropriate
4 Develop ways of monitoring the work
5 Get agreement for all areas of the plan from governors, teachers, parents and pupils etc
6 Implement the plan
Inform partners about progress (local authority services/ contractors/ landscape architects, wider school
community, school management, staff, pupils, grounds maintenance) 7
8 Review the plan regularly
What are two reasons for a BAP
Reversing habitat destruction
Protect pollinators and wildlife.
Conserving plant diversity for the future.
What has caused this biodiversity crisis?
Human-driven factors such as changes in land use, climate change and pesticide applications are behind these massive declines in biodiversity.
HOw can BAPS impact the maintenance of gardens.
Reduces maintenance:
Less mowing
Leave pruning til Jan/Feb
Build more wildlife sanctuaries and hedges
How does the Arts and Crafts movement continue to influence garden design today?
gardening with an awareness of nature, and thinking of the garden as an additional living space
Garden as extension of house.
Use Natural, Hand Crafted Elements In The Garden
Draw on landscape around the area
Abundant flower beds
EX: Great Dixter. E. Sussex
How can an edible garden exploit plant adaptations?
Pea, Beans, Cucumbers - tendrils (grow taller for sunlight)
Hairy leaves = tomatoes ; TRICHOMES; Aromatic to keep pests away also retain water.
what are 4 styles of garden design?
modern, traditional, formal, and informal.
What are the 7 principles of garden design?
unity, scale, balance, simplicity, variety, emphasis, and sequence
With reference to a name horticultural situation, how can a knowledge of sustainability and best practice help to minimize impacts of hort on the environment.
