Gardening Glossary

Acre - An area of land 4,840 square yards or 43,560 square feet.

Air Layering - A method of vegetative propagation in which branches of woody plants are rooted while they are still attached to the parent plant.

Alternate - A term used to describe the arrangement of leaves on a stem. Leaves are alternate when they grow singly at different heights on the stem, and are not opposite each other.

Annuals - Plants which complete their life cycle within one year.

Balled and Burlapped - A tree or shrub has been dug with a ball of soil left around the roots,

then wrapped in burlap.

Biennial - A plant that completes its life cycle within two years. The plant grows one season, flowers the next and then dies.

Blanching - A method by which stems or leaves of certain vegetables (leek, asparagus, celery, endive and cauliflower) are treated to cut out light so they become white. The purpose of blanching is to improve texture and flavor.

Bolting - A term indicating that a vegetable has produced seed rather than form the normal vegetable. High temperatures frequently cause cabbage, lettuce and radish to bolt.

Bract - Modified leaves of a flowering shoot or branch which sometimes form the showy part of the plant. The poinsettia is an example.

Bramble - Loosely defined term given to raspberries and blackberries and other members of the genus Rubus.

Callus - New tissue which forms at the base of a cutting; also the healing tissue that forms over a wound.

Cambium - A layer of soft formative tissue in a plant that gives rise to new tissue (wood or bark) in plants. This tissue produces new food and water conducting vessels.

Chlorosis - Yellowing of leaves, usually due to a nutrient deficiency, generally Iron or Zinc.

Cross Pollination - The transfer of pollen from one flower to another of a different variety.

Collar - The part of a plant between the base of the stem and the root.

Deciduous - A botanical term meaning leaflosing, i.e. cottonwood trees are deciduous since they lose their leaves at the end of the season.

Die back - A term referring to the condition where tips of plants die because of unfavorable growing conditions, i.e. freezing or drought.

Dioecious - A term meaning that male and female flowers are borne on separate plants.

Dormancy - A period of time when a plant stops visible growth for the year.

Drip line - The area of the ground around a plant just below the leaf canopy.

Exotic - A descriptive term for plants introduced into cultivation from other countries, as opposed to those which are native.

Forcing - A method used by gardeners to cause fruits, flowers or vegetables to flower or mature earlier than they usually would through normal cultural practices.

Freestone - A descriptive term for varieties of peaches, nectarines and plums whose flesh slips with ease from the stone.

Healing in - Temporary placing of roots of young trees and shrubs in a shallow trench and covering them with soil until they can be planted in a permanent location. This prevents roots from drying.

Leggy - Descriptive term applied to plants whose stems have lost their lowest leaves; plants that are tall and spindly.

Monecious - A botanical term which describes a plant which bears both male and female flowers on the same plant.

Perennial - A plant with a life span of more than two years.

Pinching - Removal of the tip of a shoot to ensure the development of side shoots. The technique is often called "pinching back" or "pinching out."

Plug - A small piece of grass turf that is cut away from established turf areas and used for planting new lawns.

Pot-bound - A plant growing in a pot with roots closely packed together.

Pubescens - A term meaning covered with soft hairs or down.

Rhizome - A surface-creeping or underground stem, generally thickened because of storage of foodstuff.

Slip - A home gardener's term for a cutting.

Sport - A sudden deviation from type, in habit of growth or color. For example a yellow apple suddenly appears on a shoot of a red variety.

Sucker - A secondary shoot springing from the roots or lower part of the plant.

Tilth - Soil which has been worked into suitable condition for sowing and planting.

Viticulture - The growing or cultivation of grapes.

Water Sprout - A vigorous, but unproductive shoot arising from a latent bud on the trunk or branch of a tree.

Well drained - A term describing the condition in which all water, except that which holds like a film around particles of soil, drains away.

Whip - The single, unbranched shoot of a woody plant at the end of one season of growth from a graft or bud.

Xerophyte - A plant which can stand long dry periods. Cacti are good examples.

Gardening Glossary, Glossary of Gardening and Horticultural Terms, by A.S. Lindsey