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I refer with this question to those among you who have a strong background and work in fields like: botanics, horticulture, dendrology, etc.

I would like to start building a solid preparation, both practical and theoretical, in horticulture, with a strong scientific background.

I am a physicist at the moment, but I am trying to lay the basis for a career switch. In September I will attend the RHS courses, but in the meanwhile I would like to start studying something on my own.

Is there any introductory, basic, read that you would suggest? Also, if any of you have in mind a sort of "curriculum" (in terms of subjects, books, etc.) or would like to play with it, this would be of great help! Thanks a lot :)

OrganicLawnDIY
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usumdelphini
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    This sounds like a big life change for you. Please form your goals much more clearly. This is a very big field and I am having trouble answering your question without more information. Are you a gardener or what is prompting the switch from physics to organic sciences? Very cool, in my opinion but to help with career counselling we'd need a lot more information to help with this decision. Grin... – stormy Mar 30 '15 at 20:05
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because t does not appear to be about a gardening problem. – J. Musser Mar 30 '15 at 20:25
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    Well in a way it is, a physicist is asking what materials he should study to be a better gardener, which is of course the layman term for all the fancier terms like horticulturist, botanist, etc. these are all really just pigeonholed pieces of what is more broadly just "gardening". – Escoce Mar 30 '15 at 20:32
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    @J.Musser well, I am not asking for career counseling, but for gardening references! – usumdelphini Mar 30 '15 at 20:57
  • @stormy I am keen to learn as much as I can about gardening, any sides of it. I am an amateur gardener, but I would like to make a living out of my passion. – usumdelphini Mar 30 '15 at 20:58
  • @Escoce Right, as simple as that! – usumdelphini Mar 30 '15 at 20:59
  • Go find a Master Gardener course from your closest extension service in your state. Do you live in the U.S.? This is the least expensive way (very little money but you do have to pay back by helping out with fairs, exhibitions, community service education...). This will help you to think about specializing or whatever direction you want to go if you go back to school (YES!). So many fields to become fluent with; geology, soils, plants, botany, biology, entomology, climate, geoengineering?, even human social engineering. Become a Master Gardener...cheap and intense...an hour/wk for 8 weeks – stormy Mar 31 '15 at 21:31
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    A couple of my favorite authors; Michael Dirr for sure, Shane Smith on greenhouse gardening...shoot, I'll have to go remember. My library is in storage and there are some great books you should have...I'll be back, sorry. Bamboo knows her stuff! – stormy Mar 31 '15 at 21:56
  • @usumdelphini What would you like to accomplish as a result of this education? That should help us determine if this is on-topic. Botany is covered in biology.stackexchange.com. Horticulture could probably work here. Whatever the case, hands on experience goes a long way. Books can be quite helpful, but there are lots of variables to contradict hard and fast rules. So, what seems to work for one person might be detrimental to another. The science behind things should sometimes be challenged, too. I recommend studying soil, fertilizer, minerals, roots, aeration, hybridization, lighting, etc. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Apr 02 '15 at 03:38
  • However, the science and all that is quite useful. It's just that we don't always know all the variables in place. So, the science might seem to be different with different variables. How the conclusions for the science came to be should be studied, too, at times, or if possible. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Apr 02 '15 at 03:40
  • I guess you kind of say horticulture with a strong background in the scientific side of things. I suppose that could answer my question, but more details could be even better, if you have more specifics in mind. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Apr 02 '15 at 03:51

1 Answers1

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I don't know which RHS course you're starting with, so the ones I'm recommending may be too advanced for what you're doing, but two books you could obtain, and if you're dedicated, read and learn from:-

  1. Botany: an Introduction to Plant Biology ISBN 0-471-86840-X

  2. The Nature and Properties of Soils ISBN 0-02-313371-6

Both these were recommended resource materials when I did my RHS M Hort some years ago, and are still available. They are both large, relatively expensive and heavy textbooks.

An extra little one that you might find useful is:-

Plant Names Simplified: Their Pronunciation, Derivation and Meaning by A.T. Johnson and H. A Smith - this one now appears to be available on Amazon for £7.25, so pretty inexpensive. I can't find my own copy to give you the ISBN number, but it seems to be readily available. It's a useful little book, not least because it explains or translates the Latin terminology of parts of plant names.

The Longman Botany Handbook might be of some use, though its primarily aimed at advanced A level students (those in Sixth Form college or similar), but it does contain some useful, basic stuff. It's a sort of dictionary format, might be useful to you, not expensive to buy - ISBN 0-582-09965-X.

The RHS produces its own Gardener's Encylopaedia of Plants and Flowers, but if you choose to buy any publication listing plants, make sure it's a recent edition of whatever it is, or that it's been updated some time in the last 5 years. DNA research has meant many plants have been renamed and reclassified in recent years.

Bamboo
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