Celebrating 70 years, horticulture in focus

By Annabelle Mor-Codali, Gibraltar Horticulture Society

Flowers are an important feature in our everyday life, they are given for gifts, anniversaries, birthdays and used in religious celebrations, for example weddings and funerals. Maybe a lot of readers might think that horticulture is just the production of flowers in pots or gardens, but truly it involves many areas and not just ornamental production.

Horticulture is derived from the Latin word hortus, meaning “garden”, and covers all systems of intensive cultivation of plants for human use this includes the food we eat and plants in our garden or our home usually described as non-food crops.

Horticulture can also be described as an art form in related areas of plant conservation, landscape, landscape restoration, garden design and horticultural therapy. Horticulture involves a large amount of science in the use of techniques of propagation, plant breeding, crop production, plant physiology and biochemistry.

Genetic engineering, although not widely approved by many, has led to improvements in plant yields, quality and resistance to pests and diseases as well as environmental stresses. Through education, commerce, marketing and healthcare horticulture is able to reach everyone in their everyday life in some form or other.

Throughout the years, horticulture has also become a business through companies specializing in floral, landscaping and nursery enterprises for the creation of attractive gardens either in private dwellings or general surroundings. In Gibraltar we see more and more areas been beautified with new buildings incorporating green walls, green areas etc.

Careers in horticulture might still be considered relatively small in Gibraltar, although with the advent of so many new private and luxury developments on the increase is becoming a growing area. Horticulture allows us an intimate interaction with people and plants, this is an important element in horticultural therapy and allows us immense satisfaction in working outdoors with like-minded people.

Ultimately horticulture for me is more than a hobby, it’s a passion for nature, our environment and the beauty of our surroundings. Through my work in the Gibraltar Horticultural Society I am able to engage in conversations with many professionals within different areas. I love talking to people and hear their stories of their journey into horticulture either from a particular beautiful plant they have seen on a walk or a garden they have visited or even an interesting specimen of plant that they are growing at home. We ask your readers to share any interesting stories they might have on their horticultural journey and, in time, we will share and hope to inspire the next horticulturists to make Gibraltar a healthier and more beautiful place to live. If you wish to check our programme of events please visit our website www.gibraltarhorticulturesociety.com.

Please come and support us in our community day of Plant a Seed on October 14 2023 from 10.30 to 13.30 at the Gibraltar Botanical Gardens. Come and participate in all our activities and have an enjoyable morning. If you wish to sponsor our initiative to collect money for gardening projects in schools and clubs plus the Education Project at the Gibraltar Botanical Gardens please don’t hesitate to contact me on ghsmember@outlook.com or alternatively call 54004737.

Together we can make Gibraltar a greener place, a seed at a time!