Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Figure 1.5
a) bare root b) root-balled c) containerized d) container grown
X
Bare-rooted
plants are taken from open ground
in the dormant period. These are cheaper but
only available for a limited period and need to
be planted out in the autumn or spring when
conditions are suitable. In practice, this is mainly
October and March. Roots should be kept moist
until planted and covered with wet sacking while
waiting. Plants received well before the time for
permanent planting out should be 'heeled in' (i.e.
temporary planting in a trench to cover the roots).
X
Root-balled
plants are grown in open ground,
but removed with soil and the root ball secured
by sacking (hessian). This natural material does
not need to be removed at planting and will break
down in the soil. This reduces the problems
associated with transplanting larger plants.
X
Containerized
plants are also grown in open
ground, but transferred to containers. Care needs
to be taken to ensure that the root system has
established before planting out unless treated as a
bare-rooted stock.
X
Container-grown
plants, in contrast, are grown in
containers from the time they were young plants
(rather than transferred to containers from open
ground). This makes it possible to plant any time of
the year when conditions are suitable. Most plants
supplied in garden centres are available in this form.
A specialist area within this sector is the
propagation
of plants. Part of this will be the multiplication of
seeds and material to grow on until ready for sale
but within this sector are the
plant breeders
who
specialize in the creation of new cultivars.
It is essential that care is taken when buying plants.
Besides ensuring that the best form of the plants are
being purchased and correctly labelled, the plants
must be healthy and 'well grown': plants should be
compact and bushy (see etiolated p. 68), free from
pest or disease and with appropriately coloured leaves
(no signs of mineral deficiency see p. 270). The roots
of container plants should be examined to ensure
that they are visible and white rather than brown (see
Figure 1.6). The contents of the container should not
be root bound and the growing medium not too wet
or dry.
The plant
At the heart of our garden is the plant. In order to
discuss them, we need to have an unambiguous
means of naming and ideally a way of seeing how
they relate to each other (see Chapter 4). While they
come in a great variety of shapes and sizes, they do
have some fundamental similarities in their life cycles
(see Chapter 5) and how they grow (Chapter 6).
