So I’m new to horticulture. I would like to keep expanding my knowledge and find some good books. I’m open to anything but I don’t believe I want anything specialized. I’d love something that presents horticulture in its larger perspective. I’m open to books on mindsets and such but would prefer a focus on the science. I’m not afraid of textbooks but would prefer a slightly easier read out the gate.

Thank you for your consideration and I hope I was able to describe what I’m after well!

I live in SW Virginia, and there are a lot of "tree service" companies around in my area, but I have noticed that these businesses tend to be nearly all removal companies, there are no actual arborists or people who can CARE for your trees. Moreover, even though I am surrounded by farm lands there are no horitculturists to consult with regarding fertilizers, water rates, diseases, fungus etc in my area.

Ultimately I see a niche in the market I can fit into, as an answer to these problems, and I am looking to start my own Horticultural Consultancy and Landscape Design business. I am currently working as a tree trimmer for a utility clearance company, and am going to be getting my ISA Arborist certification later this year. I am also hoping to obtain a Master Gardener cert, Landscape Design and Permaculture cert, and herbalist license in the near future.

My question is this: for those of you who make a living as horticulturists, how do you market yourself to set yourself apart from tree service/ landscaper companies, and what can I do to start to build word of mouth in this field?

I just want to start off by saying I’m not a gardener at all and know next to nothing about plants, but I do like trees and would rather move them, if possible, than get rid of them completely. I recently bought a house with an extremely overgrown garden and have been slowly trying to get it into some kind of order.

In the back corner of our garden a tree is growing in a very bad spot and I just wanted to know if there’s any chance of relocating it at all or if it’s a lost cause. The plant in front of it is a massive Yacca, which isn’t going anywhere and there’s some kind of fern or something (sorry I really don’t know what most plants are) growing amongst it all.

I’m also not sure what kind of tree it is, though in spring time it did have some flowers that kind of looked like almond blossoms. I’m in Western Sydney, Australia, if that’s of any help.

Thanks for any help you folks can give.

I recently got a large amount of cones and I want to start germinating some of them in order to gain some trees

I don't come from a horticultural background. I'm an engineer.

I'm studying a material science solution that will allow a greenhouse to be consistently cooler than its ambient environment. Based on my research this probably isn't useful in most greenhouses in seasonal climates, because heating is a much larger cost than cooling.

I'm wondering if anyone had ideas for where this might be useful for horticulturalists? I'm particularly interested in agriculture to be more impactful, but happy to understand any other use cases!

Any ideas are most welcome and appreciated! Thank you!

Hi all,

I'm involved in a start-up community garden. I've got about 100 small fruit bushes I've propagated, most of which are in nursery bins(1-2 year old olds), but a out 20 are in-ground. We won't have access to plant until end of February, but I need to get these 20 bushes out of the ground so I can get my winter crops (onions, broads) ready.

What is the best way to store them for 3-4 weeks? They are dormant now. Can I just bunch them together and wrap the roots?

Kindly,

I'm trying to grow nettles (tiny seeds) in a pot. I had no problem getting them to start but the soil was too course and when I watered them they'd get displaced and die. I had the brilliant idea of grinding the potting mix with the poor clay like soil in my backyard in a mortar and pestle, without thinking about the risk of aerosolizing the soil which was not sterile or disinfected. I wasn't wearing ppe.

The potting soil was very dry and after about 2 minutes I added the moist soil. I stopped after another minute once I realized it wasn't really safe. I washed my hands and don't remember inhaling any soil or sneezing or anything.

I am now disinfecting the soil. I added a bunch of hydrogen peroxide and it fizzed a lot so there was certainly a lot of bacteria. I have it on the grill covered along with some sticks wrapped in tin foil to add to the soil when it's done.

I'm just wondering if I'm being a hypochondriac or if I made a serious mistake. I had am vaccinated against botulism but it was like 4-5 years ago but that is only one type of toxin/bacteria lurking.

I think the worst part is if I did get sick it was all for a stinging invasive plant.

I'm a home nursery guy, growing native plants and trees in plastic containers, with a goal of out-planting these trees and plants after a full growing season or two. There's some research on mycorrhizal fungus additives for commercial (large scale) operations being beneficial at least for trees in terms of drought and disease resistance.

https://rngr.net/publications/ctnm/volume-5/vol_5_chapter_2.pdf/at_download/file

These spores don't appear (always) spontaneously, though, so some growing operations have tried using applications of spores. Which prompted me to look at what's for sale on Amazon.

There's like hundreds of different mycorrhizal fungus additives for sale on Amazon. I'm very skeptical about these products since for the most part they don't even list the fungus they are. Rhizopogon ssp. for example are compatible with Douglas Fir roots, and it's not clear that other species really function that well.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237868356_Ectomycorrhizal_formation_and_plantation_performance_of_Douglas-fir_nursery_stock_inoculated_with_Rhizopogon_spores

Apparently you can just get the spores off of fruiting bodies of Rhizopogon, although it's seasonally dependent if they are available, hence the search for a product.

Perhaps the products for sale work for, say, most vegetable species? It's all a bit mystical, though, and I suspect people who buy and use these products either don't need them, or perhaps they're the wrong product.

I think i was watering too much: the cut grass is very wet squeezing it liquid comes out. So I decrease watering from 5 days per week to 3 for now.

Next door neighbor lawn is covered in dandelion. What can I do to protect my lawn from getting infected?

Hello all,

I am looking to get into horticulture as a hobby. I have some land and would just like to dabble in cut flowers, gardening, and growing trees. Maybe learning how to propagate plants and other basics.

Is there an online program you would recommend? Not looking at becoming a career in this so I don't need a full bachelor's degree.

I have found a couple.

https://www.uclaextension.edu/landscape-architecture-horticulture/horticulture-gardening/certificate/horticulture

I may get a greenhouse so found this one

https://training.uark.edu/professional-development/courses/greenhouse-managment-online.php

Any other thoughts?

Thank you!

https://preview.redd.it/279o0sei4x9e1.jpg?width=914&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30582161a9208f185d4cdca050785dc9b20a3d5f

Hello everyone! I am new to this community and also new to plant and garden growing/care. I have read that horticultural charcoal is a good thing to add to your potting mix but I can’t seem to find a good answer as to how much should I add when making my mixture. For instance, let’s say I have a 5 gallon bucket half full of potting mix. How much horticultural charcoal would I add to that mixture? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! 😊🪴

I left my sage plant in a plastic black pot outside. It’s been below freezing many days. But now we are having warmer days (mid 40s) and I was wondering what would be best to do to make sure this shade doesn’t die.

-Should I keep it as is (in the small pot, outside, sitting on grass lawn)

-Should I try to plant it in the ground (the eventual goal, tho I haven’t figured out the best spot for it yet) while the ground is warmer—tho I haven’t checked if it’s still frozen but it’ll be in 40s/50s next few days, so I’d probably try on the last warm day.

-or should I bring it in (tho I’m aware of plant shock with temperature changes, as my house is heated whereas outside is not)

-or, if ground is frozen, make a straw/leaf pile surrounding the pot to ensure the pot doesn’t crack/fully freeze (unless Sage can handle that, which I assume they can since people around me have bushes of them, but not sure if a small plant has that ability yet)

Thanks in advance! The plant is about 10” tall and produced beautiful flowers this year :)

Hi all,

Any tips on breaking down spent plants into green mulch to dig into my garden bed? I've got a big pile of nasturtiums I am trying to chop up with shovel. Wondering what the best way would be for a home gardener?

Cheers!

Hi everyone, I need a bit of an advice. I'm a postgraduate in horticulture with a specialization in fruit science. I was preparing for a test which allows you to teach at government universities, but amidst that I realised that I don't find it fascinating enough, plus it's not even that lucrative. I'm already 25 and I'm unsure about what to do with my degrees and in career. I'm thinking of learning autocad and landscape design which I think will turn out to be lucrative if I do it well. Can anyone pleaaseeee guide me a bit?

We mulched two areas of dense overgrowth of invasives like oriental bittersweet. ( No Japanese knotweed or tree of heaven.) The landscaper wants to remove the mulch left over and cover with top soil for us to plant native ecological gardens and in ground fruit and vegetables garden beds. I wanted to see if it would actually be better for soil quality and keeping regrowth from happening if we left the mulch. Also, any thoughts if it would be better to wait a season before planting to allow goats to eat anything that comes up before replenishing the land with native species? Any advice on how to proceed is greatly appreciated! Hudson Valley, NY

I'd like to experiment growing fruit from store bought samples. From what I've read, tissue culture is normally grown from leaf samples or stem samples. Is actual fruit alive enough to be cloned in this way of I apply the right hormone/nutrient mix?

Hello everyone I got these two ansu baobab for christmas at least thats what I think theyre called.

I live in the Uk its really cold here at this time of year so I was wondering how to best look after these awsome lil guys!

I will do anything for them if they need heatlamps or plant food please guide me <3

They are far too cute to lose xxxx