Horticulture is the science or art of cultivating fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants. Etymologically, "horticulture" can be broken down into two Latin words: hortus (garden) and cultus (tilling). As William L. George explains in his definition of horticulture:

"Horticulture involves five areas of study. These areas are floriculture (includes production and marketing of floral crops), landscape horticulture (includes production, marketing and maintenance of landscape plants), floriculture (includes production and marketing of vegetables), pomology (includes production and marketing of fruits), and postharvest physiology which involves maintaining quality and preventing spoilage of horticultural crops."

Horticulture is the cultivation of garden plants, fruits, berries, nuts, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and turf. Horticulturists work for plant propagation, crop production, plant breeding, genetic engineering, plant biochemistry, plant physiology, storage, processing and transportation. They work to better crop yield, quality, nutritional value and resistance to insects, diseases, and environmental pollution.

Horticulturalists use modern nurseries for the production of seedlings and mother plants. These plants are propagated through different methods such as seeds, inarching, budding, veneer grafting, patch budding and soft wood grafting.