WHAT ARE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS?
These are plants planted by a florist. They are flowering plants raised for beautification and other purposes. We have different steps in raising ornamental plants. They are;
Land clearing
Seedbed preparation
Planting
Weeding
Fertilizer application
Watering
Mulching
Pruning
LAND CLEARING
This is an act of preparing the land for farming or cultivation of ornament plant. This can be done by clearing the site with tools like hoe,cutlass,axe,rake,spade,shovel etc. These tools can only be used to clear small areas of land. Tools like tractor,cultivator,plough,harrow,are used for clearing a large areas of land.
SEEDBED PREPARATION
Seedbed preparation can be done using a hoe,followed by making the surface flat,smooth and ready for sowing the seeds. Pots may qlso be gotten and these pots are filled with fertile (loamy) soils. Alternatively to pot,polythene bags can be used too. These bags are kept or nursed in a shady environment known as the Nursery. A nursery is a temporary place whereby ornamental plant seedlings are raised before transplanting to the permanent field.
PLANTING
Before planting seeds,farmers prepare or till the soil using a variety of methods. Some turn over the soil with a spade,while others loosen it with garden fork. Then,they rake it smooth before planting. Some farmers prefer not to turn or loosen the soil because the oxygen that enters the soil when it is tilled by these methods quickens the breakdown of needed organic matter in the soil.
WEEDING
This is an act of removing unwanted plant growing where they are not wanted or planted. Weeds are undesirable because they compete with garden plants for light,space,water,and nutrients. Common methods of controlling weeds include pulling them up by hand,digging them out and cutting them off using a hoe or muller.
FERTILIZER APPLICATION
Not all soils have enough nutrients or the right balance of nutrients. For these reasons,farmers enhance soil fertility by adding fertilizer,a material that contains one or more of the nutrients plants needs.
WATERING
Water is very useful for plants as it is for other organisms. The pressure of water within the plant cells helps the plant's leaves to remain firm. The best method for watering plants is to apply the water directly to the soil,rather than over the tops of the plants.
MULCHING
Mulching is an act of using some materials on the soil to conserve the water and at the same time to control weed growth. Mulch acts as a barrier that slows down evaporation by reducing the amount of air and heat that reaches the soil surface.
PRUNING
It is an act of trimming the vegetative plants parts(leaves and stem) to have good shape. Farmers also prune to remove damaged,disease or dead branches.
They prune plants at different times of the year,depending on how they hope to affect the plant's growth.
