what is horticulture

Horticulture is the science and art of cultivating plants in gardens or greenhouses, as opposed to the field-scale production of crops characteristic of agriculture. It involves the development, sustainable production, marketing, and use of high-value, intensively cultivated food and ornamental plants. Horticulture is derived from the Latin words hortus meaning garden and colere meaning to cultivate. Horticulture includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants. It is divided into specializations such as pomology, which deals with fruit and tree nut production, and olericulture, which deals with herbaceous plants for the kitchen. Horticulture involves the use of hand tools such as digging sticks, hoes, and carrying baskets. It is viewed by anthropologists as a subsistence strategy characterized by the small-scale, non-industrial cultivation of plants for food, in contrast to agriculture, which is a more intensive strategy involving the use of plowing, animal traction, and complex techniques of irrigation and soil management. Horticulture is also a popular recreational activity, generally by non-professionals, known as home horticulture.