8. Garden plants

Berry bushes

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The blackcurrant is a common garden shrub. It produces edible berries.

Blackcurrant bushes can be grown with vegetative reproduction. This means that a branch of a blackcurrant bush can be cut and planted into soil. In time, the branch may well grow into a new bush.

The redcurrant is related to the blackcurrant. It, too, is a common garden shrub that produces edible berries. The berries of the redcurrant are also a favoured food of many birds, such as thrushes!

Garden berries, such as blackcurrants and redcurrants, can be made into juice or preserved as jam. Both blackcurrants and redcurrants contain large concentrations of the important Vitamin C.

The gooseberry is also a popular garden shrub. It is a spiky plant that produces tasty berries, which are usually best when eaten fresh.

Raspberries and blackberries are also popular garden berries. These plants have been cultivated from their wild variants, and they usually produce bigger berries than the plants found in forests.

The picture on the right shows some of the most common berry bushes: 1. blackcurrant, 2. redcurrant, 3. gooseberry.

The potato

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The potato is said to have saved Europeans many times from famine over the course of its history. It remains one of the most common cultivated plants in the world. It is a versatile plant that can be cooked by boiling, frying or as a mash. French fries and potato chips are also popular potato products.

The edible part of the potato is known as the tuber. It is a part of the plant's root where large quantities of starch are stored.

A detached potato tuber can grow into a new potato plant, which means that tubers can also be used to plant potatoes.

The potato originates from America. When it arrived in Europe a few centuries ago, it quickly replaced other root vegetables as the staple of the European diet.

The apple tree

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The apple tree is one of the most common garden trees. It thrives in warm, temperate climates.

Many kinds of differently colored and tasting variants of the apple have been cultivated over the years. Different apple variants are grown during different times of the year.

If the climate is warm enough, various other fruit trees can also be planted in the garden. These include the cherry tree, the plum tree and the pear tree.

However, because the climate of Northern Europe is too cold for growing most fruit, they are usually imported to our stores from other parts of the world.

What kinds of things are needed to grow plants?

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To build a garden, you first need an area of nutrient-rich soil that can be easily dug and modified. Most plants prefer a soft, black soil type.

Garden soil mostly consists of dead plant parts. For example, it can contain small, partially decomposed parts of dead leaves. In addition, the soil should contain small grains of sand. Many garden stores also sell peat, which is a type of soil that is produced in bogs.

Earthworms live in garden soil. They are good friends of the gardener, as they help to soften the soil by digging their tunnels.

The garden should be fertilized every year. By doing so, you make sure that the garden soil contains enough nutrients. Nutrients are substances that plants need in order to grow and reproduce.

There are many types of garden fertilizers. They are sold in garden stores.

Photographs from gardens

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: Bees act as pollinators for many garden plants. The bee gathers nectar from the plant's flower. At the same time, it transports pollen from one flower to the next.
: An apple tree.
: Blackcurrant, redcurrant and gooseberry.
: Carrots are common garden root vegetables.
: Growing edible vegetables and root vegetables is fun and provides you with a lot of free food.
: Potato tubers.
: There are many kinds of potatoes in stores.
: Garden soil.
: Garden equipment.

Terminology

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GARDEN PLANTS
Term	Explanation
garden	An area near a house or a building where different plants are grown.