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Answers and Scoring for LessLawn Gardening and Ecology Quiz #1


Compare your answers to those shown in red below.

Gardening


1.   Mulching can benefit plants by:

  1. Retaining soil moisture
  2. Keeping roots cool
  3. Preventing "frost heaves"
  4. All of the above
  5. None of the above

2.   Ladybugs are beneficial in the garden because:
  1. They're fragrant
  2. They eat aphids and scale insects
  3. They provide early spring food for birds
  4. All of the above
  5. None of the above

3.   The proper time to prune a tree is:
  1. Mid-winter, when the tree is dormant
  2. Late fall, when the leaves turn
  3. Spring, when new growth occurs
  4. All of the above
  5. None of the above

4.   A weed is:
  1. Any plant with an aggressive growth habit
  2. Any plant that wasn't planted deliberately
  3. Any plant that isn't wanted in a particular place
  4. All of the above
  5. None of the above


Ecology


5.   The pesticide DDT was banned in the U.S. after the publication of this book, which described its negative human and environmental health effects:

  1. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
  2. A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
  3. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
  4. None of the above

6.   An ecosystem is:
  1. A fiscally balanced investment strategy
  2. An interrelated community of plants and animals
  3. A landscape that has evolved to a stable state
  4. None of the above

7.   An allelopathic plant:
  1. Emits chemicals that repel other plants or inhibit their growth
  2. Twines around other plants, strangling them
  3. Contains pigments that cannot be seen by humans but act as a beacon to certain insects
  4. None of the above

8.   Ecological Economics is:
  1. A policy of investing in environmentally sound companies and industries
  2. The study of how to value ecological factors in standard economic accounting schemes such as cost-benefit analyses
  3. The process of adjusting the supply of natural resources to fit the demand
  4. None of the above


Bonus Question (for Extra Credit)


Match the following quotations in the first list below to their respective authors in the second list. Each quotation matches one and only one author.

Quotations Authors

  • "...a garden one can wander through is always more thrilling than a garden one must simply stand before and stare at." Joe Eck in Elements of Garden Design
  • "The wildest place on earth, it is here, in the human heart." John Hanson Mitchell in The Wildest Place on Earth
  • "The biggest enemy of wildlife is the obsessively tidy gardener." Nigel Colborn in The Garden Floor
SCORING

Give yourself two points for every right answer on questions 1 through 8. In addition, give yourself a point if you chose a, b, or c on question 1 and a point for each of the bonus quotations you matched to the correct author.

Out of 16 possible points (and 3 bonus points),

  • If you scored 13 or higher, consider yourself Attuned to Nature.

  • If you scored between 8 and 12, you have a Sound Grasp of Horticulture.

  • If you scored between 4 and 7, chances are you're Bucking Nature (and may be working harder than you need to in the garden).

  • Finally, a score below 4 is a sign that you could be Wreaking Ecological Havoc... you might have better luck next time if you check out a few of our helpful resources!


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