The eight disciplines
The professional disciplines of horticulture
Horticulture is not one job. These eight disciplines have different outputs, different standards and different measures of success — and each behaves differently in each climate region.
Eight professional disciplines
Landscape & Garden Design
The design and specification of outdoor space: spatial layout, hardscape, planting composition, and the drawings and schedules that let someone else build it.
16 regions · scope, standards, practiceOrnamental & Cut-Flower Horticulture
The production and use of flowering and foliage plants: cut flowers, bedding displays, bulbs, houseplants and show plants.
16 regions · scope, standards, practiceVegetable & Herb Horticulture
The production of vegetables, salad, herbs and roots in field, protected and home-garden systems.
16 regions · scope, standards, practiceFruit Growing & Viticulture
Tree fruit, soft fruit, nuts and grapes: orchard and vineyard establishment, pruning, training, pollination and harvest.
16 regions · scope, standards, practiceArboriculture & Urban Forestry
The care of individual trees and the urban forest: selection, planting, pruning, risk assessment and protection during construction.
16 regions · scope, standards, practiceTurfgrass & Sports Turf
Managed grass surfaces for lawns, sports pitches, golf and amenity: species choice, construction, mowing, nutrition, wear and disease management.
16 regions · scope, standards, practiceNursery Production & Propagation
Multiplying and growing plants for sale: seed, cuttings, grafting, division and tissue culture, in container and bare-root systems.
16 regions · scope, standards, practiceWater-wise & Ecological Restoration
Designing and rebuilding vegetation with native and adapted species for low water use, habitat, erosion control and remediation.
16 regions · scope, standards, practiceHow the disciplines differ
Design decides what gets built; floriculture schedules what gets cut; olericulture and pomology manage edible crops; arboriculture manages long-lived trees; turfgrass manages a surface; nursery production multiplies the plants the others use; restoration rebuilds vegetation under site pressure. The measures differ because the outputs differ.