Landscape Gardening Research

Abstract

Research in landscape gardening has never been a priority although it has been a heritage and cultural needs. Floriculture is an important multibillion-dollar industry dealing with thousands of species and varieties of ornamental plants in both cultivation and the wild. In addition, it also provides an important livelihood option for several poor, especially in per-urban areas. Current global conservation efforts are focused mainly of food, forage, and industrial crops. The world’s germplasm collection exceeds six million accessions, stored in about 1400 genebanks worldwide. However, barely less than 1% is ornamental plant species. It is timely in the twenty-first century the progressive world, besides conserving food crops, should also recognize the wealth of ornamental plant diversity to bring happiness and health to humankind. To date only one specialized ornamental plant genebank, the Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center, exists in Ohio, USA, although there could be small collections with different public and private sector organizations. More such centers are required to collect and conserve the disappearing genetic materials including new species not only for their aesthetic value but also as food, medicine, and beverage and for improvement. Presently ornamental germplasm are conserved through in situ and ex situ methods in forests, natural parks, botanical gardens, and arboreta. Various techniques ranging from the simple drying of seeds to cryopreservation of embryos are in practice. In this chapter, the diversity of ornamental plant species and their importance and potentials in landscape gardening are described. The methods of conservation using various approaches are described. It is hoped that the collecting, multiplying, and distributing of these invaluable ornamental germplasm will benefit one and all.