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I'm by no means an expert, and my guide is certainly a summary. You may be quite right, although this is not anything I've read.
I'm unsure where gardening / farming would split. The people of the Woodland period appear to have been "gardeners" in the sense that they seem to have encouraged specific wild plants by controlled burns and weeding out unwanted plants. (I think that supposition is based on pollen, seed, and plant pieces found at sites.) And I've read that there is some evidence that nut tree
orchards appear to have been cultivated by pre-historic people in that way. I believe part of the "not farmers" idea is based on a lack of obvious farming tools like chert hoes. They don't appear in a big way until Mississippian culture.
But the "gardeners" not "farmers" idea would be blown away by evidence of slected breeding, as you describe. (e.g. Maize - it was developed until it couldn't propagate without humans.) The Fort Ancient museum in Ohio has an interesting outdoor garden of wild plants, created from evidence at Woodland sites.
I was unaware that any remains have been found that are not in evidence as wild plants growing today. Is your source from information at the Newark site?
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