Garden Snob Glossary
Okay, many of the words & terms are useful, but if you continually use words you know people won't understand you might be a snob...
Garden Snob Glossary
Okay, many of the words & terms are useful, but if you continually use words you know people won't understand you might be a snob...
Acidic soil means the soil has a pH level of less than 7. It sounds bad, but some plants thrive in acidic soils.
Aeration means allowing air to circulate by loosening soil, etc.
Alkaline soil means a soil level with a pH level of over 7 and usually has a higher level of clay.
Allotment is the common term used in the UK for a community garden or p-patch
Alternate Bearing is a fruit or nut tree’s habit of producing a bumper crop one season and then producing nothing or a smaller crop the next.
Amendment Amendments are added to soil to make it balanced or healthy. The most common amendment is compost.
Annual A plant that finishes its life cycle in one year in your hardiness zone.
Average Frost Date is the average day on which a region’s first frost date is normally on or around.
Backfill is the soil removed from a hole dug for a plant that’s re-used to fill the hole back up once the plant is in place.
Bare Root are plants that are sold with no soil.
Basal leaf This refers to the lowest leaves on a stem.
Beneficial is used to describe helpful garden bugs that help limit garden pests.
Biennial Plants that need two seasons to reach maturity. Some biennials are also perennials meaning they begin flowering their second year but don’t end their life cycle.
Bolting happens in many plants usually due to stresses like higher than normal temperatures. Plants get confused and want to flower and produce seed before their natural time.
Bone Meal is a fertilizer made from ground-up animal bones that adds phosphorus to soil.
Broadcast is a somewhat random way of sowing seeds.
Chitting refers to placing seed potatoes somewhere so that they can form buds for planting.
Chlorosis is the yellowing of leaves usually due to a nutrient deficiency which can be caused by a number of factors.
Cloche is a small structure to protect a young individual plant from cold or pests.
Cloning is a plant produced by asexual seed, root cuttings, etc. from a parent plant. This happens in nature with plants like elms and dandelions. Others like tomatoes, philodendrons, etc. can be cloned by cuttings.
Cold Frame is a structure used to protect plants in cool weather. It’s generally made of glass or plastic.
Companion Planting is a long-standing technique for gardening. Its benefits are pest control, space-saving, and pollination to name a few.
Compost Organic materials like vegetation matter, leaves, manure and so on that have been broken down to a nutrient-rich soil-like matter
Conifer means trees or bushes with needles instead of leaves and generally produce cones.
Cotyledon This is an embryonic leaf when seeds first sprout
Corms are also often referred to as bulbs, though they are underground stems.
Cover Crop is usually an easy-to-grow crop that helps rebuild the soil structure.
Crop Rotation Means growing a certain crop in a different location than the previous year. This benefits the crop and the soil.
Cross-pollination When plants of the same type or species pollinate each other’s flowers,
Crown This term is sometimes used to refer to the section of a plant between the roots and the stem. Normally it’s at the soil level.
Cultivar is a plant variety that is produced by selective breeding.
Curtilage is an enclosed area around a building or house.
Cutting is a piece taken from a mature plant to propagate a new plant.
Dampening-off is a condition that happens when pathogens are introduced to a seed or seedling just before or after a seed germinates. It can be caused by anything from dirty gloves to gnats and usually involves damp or wet conditions.
Day-neutral plants These are plants that don’t need either short days or long days to initiate flowering. Roses, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. are considered day-neutral.
Deadheading is pruning or cutting down spent flowers. This sometimes promotes more growth.
Deciduous A plant, bush, shrub, or tree that sheds its leaves in winter.
Determinate is a plant that will stop growing at a certain height and then produce all fruits or flowers at the same time. Tomatoes can be determinate or indeterminate. The indeterminate tomato will produce flowers and fruit continuously until hard frost hits your area.
Dicot All plants go into two classifications. Dicots and monocots. There are several ways to tell these types apart. One way is the sprouting of leaves after a seed germinates. Dicots generally refer to two so when they sprout they will have two leaves. When the plant forms its “true leaves” they have veining that go more than one pattern. A good example would be a bean. Please see monocot.
Dormancy is a stage in a seed or plant where they aren’t growing.
Earth-up or Hilling is a technique mostly used for potato growing when you mound dirt around the plant to promote root growth.
Etiolation refers to seedlings or plants that become weak and spindly usually due to low light exposure.
Espalier It literally means ” something to rest the shoulder against.” It refers to training a tree or shrub to grow against a wall, etc. Espalier was originally done as a way to train fruit trees.
Exposure Means the exposure to the sun in a garden spot or what kind of exposure a plant needs. They are usually listed on plants or seed packets as the following:
Dappled Shade- It’s like partial shade but the dappling is usually caused by a tree.
Full Shade- This means around 4 hours or less of direct sunlight.
Full Sun- 6+ hours of direct sun.
Part Shade/Part Sun- In between 4-6 hours of direct sunlight.
Evergreen A plant, bush, shrub, or tree that doesn’t shed its leaves in winter.
F1 are hybrid plants that have been bred by crossing at least 2 varieties. The seeds from F1 plants tend not to reproduce by seed or won’t reproduce the same as its parent plant.
F2 are seeds or plants that have been bred with two F1 (hybrids) plants.
Fernery is a collection of ferns and can be indoor or outdoor.
Floriculture is the study and production of flowering and other ornamental plants.
Foodscaping This is a modern buzzword for using edible plants in an ornamental garden.
Forb A flowering herbaceous plant
Force or Forcing refers to speeding up a plant’s maturity. The term is used most often when referring to bulbs.
Frond refers to the branches of ferns and palms.
Furrow is a hole or trench made in the dirt in which you place seeds.
Genus is a group of related species. For instance, Homo is a genus and Homo sapiens is a species of that genus. It’s a taxonomic ranking.
GMO Genetically modified organisms means the genes have been modified by engineering.
Grafting is a technique of joining plants, for example, apple trees are normally produced by grafting the cultivar to a rootstock.
Green Manure is a cover crop that is normally grown specifically to be tilled into the soil while it’s still green.
Guano is the Spanish word for bat or seabird poop. In gardening, it’s used as an organic fertilizer.
Habit means how a plant grows. Most plant habits are vining or climbing, upright, mounding, clumping, or trailing.
Hardening-Off is a process to prepare plants started indoors for transplanting or moving outdoors. You set the plants outdoors for a few hours every day for 3 to 12 days depending on the plant and weather.
Hardy It means plants that can be left outside during winter
Heirloom Means a variety of plant that has existed 50 years or more and is usually open-pollinated.
Herbaceous Plants that don’t have woody stems or contain woody tissue such as herbs, ferns, etc.
Heavy Feeder refers to plants that need a lot of nutrients and usually require fertilizer. Tomatoes are an example.
Hilling or earth-up is a technique mostly used for potato growing when you mound dirt around the plant to promote root growth.
Hybrid is a plant that’s been developed from two plants usually by cross-pollination.
Hydroponics is a type of gardening where plants are grown in liquids and/or solutions instead of old-fashioned dirt.
IPM stands for Integrated Pest Management. This is the practice of using several methods with limited pesticides that complement each other to manage pests.
Indeterminate means a tomato plant that will produce flowers and fruit until it’s killed by frost. These are often called vining tomatoes. Examples of indeterminate tomatoes are beefsteak and brandywine.
Inoculant refers to mediums that have good soil microbes that can be used for things like speeding up decomposition in compost to improving soil fertility.
Invasive This would be a non-native plant, insect, or animal introduced to a location that causes damage.
Leaching generally refers to minerals, nutrients, and fertilizers being washed away. For example, heavy rains can leach or wash away or greatly diminish fertilizer.
Leaf Mold is just mostly decomposed leaves to use as mulch or a soil amendment.
Loamy refers to a type of soil. Soil can be sandy, loamy, and clay. Loamy soil is an even ratio of sand and clay.
Long-Day Plant refers to plants that flower when the days are longer. Plants included are Coneflowers, lettuce, and aster to name a few.
Medium generally refers to whatever material you’re using to grow plants besides straight-up dirt like sand, perlite, coco coir, moss, etc.
Microclimate Microclimates are unique weather pockets found in slightly different areas that have different moisture and temperature levels. Factors such as wind and tree canopy can cause these differences. Microclimates are unique weather pockets found in valleys or slightly different areas that have different moisture and temperature levels. Factors such as wind and tree canopy can cause these differences.
Micronutrients or trace elements are nutrients that play a big role in healthy plants. Magnesium, copper, and iron are all considered micronutrients.
Monocot is one of the two classifications given to plants. Mono meaning one is usually easy to tell by grass-type shoots. Examples would be grasses, lilies, tulips, etc.
Monoecious is a plant that bears both male and female flowers. Think squash.
Mossery is a collection of mosses.
Mulch A layer of material that protects plants from the elements, keeps weeds down, provides nutrients, etc. e.g. woodchips, leaf mold, and beauty bark.
Nitrogen is a nutrient in soil that helps plants produce rapid and healthy green growth. The N on fertilizers stands for nitrogen.
Nitrogen-fixing refers to a plant that produces nitrogen. Beans, lupine, alfalfa, and clover are some plants that produce nitrogen and can actually fix soil. Farmers and gardeners often use nitrogen-fixing cover crops to restore used plots that have had heavy feeders planted there in previous seasons.
No-Dig or No-Till literally means not digging or plowing.
Noxious Weed or invasive plant refers to a plant that is introduced whether on purpose or inadvertently that interferes with an ecosystem.
N-P-K stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium which are the 3 main nutrients needed for plants.
Olericulture Means the science/study of growing edible plants.
Open-pollinated is when a plant is pollinated by natural means like wind, insects, birds, or people.
Organic Matter refers to compost and other natural waste like manure and plant matter.
Over-wintering is bringing plants that won’t survive the winter indoors.
Perennial Plants that survive and come back more than two years. Some flowers are considered perennials because they reseed freely but in actuality, it’s not the original but clones or offspring.
Permaculture means permanent culture. It’s a design method that looks to natural methods to make use of natural resources, etc.
Phosphorus is a nutrient that helps promote photosynthesis and metabolic health. In short, it promotes flowering. Fertilizer labels will use a P for phosphorus.
Photoperiodism is the reaction of a plant or animal to the length of light or dark. Plants normally fall into either long-day, short-day, or day-neutral categories.
Photosynthesis is what plants do to turn carbon dioxide and water to make food grow and then release excess oxygen… OK, it’s more complex and wordy than that so do a web search if you want more.
Pinch means to pinch off usually a top or branching to encourage more growth and bushiness. It’s another word for pruning.
Plumule is the name of the embryonic shoot from a germinated seed.
Potager Garden It’s fancy talk for a kitchen garden.
Potassium is another nutrient and is represented by the K on fertilizer labels. It helps make plants stronger and helps move water and sugars within the plant.
P-Patch refers to a small parcel of land used in community gardening. So it would be called an allotment in the UK. The term gets its origin in Seattle, WA. The P stands for Picardo. The Picardo Farm leased out plots to individuals until the 1960s when the city bought the land. It is one of the few historical farms preserved in Seattle city limits.
Radicle is the embryonic root that emerges from a germinated seed.
Rhizomes are sometimes referred to as bulbs but are large underground stems that grow horizontally.
Root Ball is the roots and soil around the roots that you see when digging up a plant or removing it from a container.
Rootbound happens when a plant has circled roots due to being in a pot for a long period.
Rooting Hormone is a natural or synthetic medium that promotes root growth in a plant-cutting
Rust is a fungal disease that sometimes causes a rust or orange-colored growth.
Saprophytes are plants or organisms that grow on dead matter. Mushrooms, mold, yeast, and corallorhiza orchids are some examples of saprophytes.
Scarification Nicking, rubbing, or using hot water to break the outer shell of seeds to aid germination.
Scorch is when a plant or part of a plant gets burned. This can be by high temperatures or chemicals.
Self-fertile or Self-pollinating are plants usually considered hermaphroditic and produce their own pollen and pollinate themselves. A great many plants are self-pollinating. A few examples are peaches, onions, and sunflowers.
Season extender is a term that describes any equipment or technique to extend the growing season. Row covers, cold frames, etc. are season extenders.
Short-day Plants are plants that flower as the nights become longer and days are shorter. For example, poinsettias, marijuana, and soybeans fall into the short-day category.
Soil Erosion means the soil has been overused and deprived of nutrients, etc.
Soil pH is a scale used to measure soil. It goes from 0-14. Some plants thrive in acidic soils, while others need more alkaline.
Sour Soil is sometimes the term used for acidic soil.
Spore is pretty much the same as a seed which is produced by non-flowering plants like mosses, fungi, and ferns.
Stratify means reproducing the environment a seed needs to germinate. For example, poppies always need a cold period to simulate their natural environment for germination. Some Sea Holly needs a warm period to mimic the end of summer and then followed by a cold period to simulate winter. Confused yet?
Subsoil is the layer of soil under the topsoil that contains minerals but lacks organic matter and biological activity leaving it infertile.
Sucker is an offshoot of a plant from the plant’s root. Many trees produce suckers.
Successive is usually referring to sowing seeds of the same type over a series of weeks.
Sustainable Gardening usually refers to using eco-friendly natural alternatives instead of the more harmful chemicals, etc.
Tap root is the dominant or main root that usually grows straight down and tapers off. Dandelions, radish, and carrots are examples. Most plants start out with a tap root but many plant root systems branch out and become fibrous like corn and peas.
Tender as in tender annual- Usually refers to plants that won’t survive the winter in your hardiness zone but may be dug up or protected in another way.
Tendrils grow out of some vining plants and use them to latch onto fences or trellises. Peas and cucumbers have tendrils.
Thinning refers to removing excess seedlings to produce stronger plants.
Tilth The cultivating land or the surface soil that results from tilling.
Top Dress is putting compost or fertilizer on top of the soil instead of mixing it into the soil.
Transplant means moving plants to another location.
True leaves are usually the second set of leaves on a seedling after the initial embryonic leaf or leaves.
Tuber is usually an underground large swelling of a rhizome or root. Think potato.
Turf Management is the production maintenance of grass.
Understory usually refers to plants that grow under trees
Untreated refers to seeds that have not been treated by fungicides, etc.
Variegation is foliage/leaves with more than one color.
Viable generally refers to seeds that can germinate. There can be a number of reasons a seed isn’t viable such as the seed wasn’t ripe, the seed is too old or stored improperly, the seed wasn’t stratified, and so on.
Viticulture Growing grapes or winemaking.
Volunteer is a plant that grows from a self-sown seed. They result due to discarded seeds from the last growing season or by being brought in by animals.
Wet Feet You might hear someone say a certain plant doesn’t like wet feet meaning the plant doesn’t like its roots to be in wet areas.
Xeriscaping is landscaping to uses little to no water.
Zoochory refers to the dispersal of viable seeds by animals and insects.