Understanding Garden Terms
This page it to help you understand any garden terms that are perhaps
Aboriginal: truely orginal Flower head: a mass of small flowers or florets that together appear as one flower. Force: to induce artificially the early production of growth. Forma: a subdivision of a species that has only minor variations. Frame: a open metal or wooden skeleton used to train plants into shapes. Framework: the skeleton of a tree or shrub; the main branches that define a plants shape. Also used to describe a metal or wooden structure used to train plants into formal shapes. Frond: the leaf like organ of a fern. Fruit: the structure in plants that bears one or more ripe seeds. Gallery: a shaded tunnel of trees or shrubs that meet overhead, trained on an underlying framework. Often the wood or metal structure used to train plants into formal shapes. Genus: a botanical division within the family, containing one or more related species. Girdling: an injury to a stem or branch caused when a tie or wire is to tight and constricts the plant, blocking flow of water and nutrients. This leaves a permanent ring and usually results in the death of all tissue above the point of constriction. Glabrous: not hairy. Glaucous: bluish white, bluish green, or bluish grey. Globose: spherical. Glochid: one of the barbed bristles or hairs, usually small, borne on a catus. Glorieta: a group of trees trained and clipped into a radiating circle of arches to form a open pavilion. Orginated as a Spanish garden feature, ususally planted at the intersection of paths or water channels. A simplified version consists of 2 arches that cross each other. Grafting: a method of propagation by which an artifical union is made between different parts of an individual plants, usually the shoot of one is grafted onto the rootstock of another. Groundcovers: a low-growing, spreading plant used for ornamental purposes, or as a subsitution for grass. Half-hardy: referring to plants that can withstand long plants that can withstand long periods of damp or cold weather, but may be damaged by frost. Harden off: the process of increasing an indoor plants exposure to light and colder temperatures to acclimatize it to outdoor conditions. Hardy: referring to plants that have the ability to surive prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures.. Hedge: a row of trees or shrubs planted and trimmed into a solid line; the basic element of architectural topiary. A stilt hedge or pole hedge is a square cut shape raised on smooth trunks. Heel in: a method of protecting a plant, such as a rose or blackberry bush, by placing its stems in a shallow trench over winter. Heel: the small portion of old wood that is retained at the base of a cutting when it is removed from the stem. Herbaceous: dying down at the end of the growing season. Hoop stake: a long thin, metal post with a perpendicular ring of wire at the top, which serves as a support for tall growing flowers. Horticulture: the art and science of cultivating plants. Hose-in-hose: with one corolla borne inside another, forming a double or semi-double flower. Humus: a rich, dark, organic soil matter made with decaying plant or animal material. Hybrid: a plant that is the off-spring of 2 parent plants of differing varieties, species or cultivators. These plants ar usually bred to have the best characteristics of both parents. Inflorescence: a cluster of flowers with a distinct arrangement. Insectivorous: plant that traps and digests insects and other small animals to supplement its nutrient in take. Key: a winged seed such as is produced by the sycamore. Knot Garden: a level bed ornamented with a pattern of intertwining lines formed with dwarf hedges or clipped herbs. Lateral: a side growth that rises from the side of a shoot or root. Layering: a method of plant propagation by which a single stem of a plant is notched, and buried with its leafy tip exposed while still attached to the parent plant. Leaching: occurs when water flushes mineral substances and nutrients out of the soil. Leader: the main, usually central stem of a plant, which is longer and more vigorous than other portions. Leaflet: the subdivision of a compound leaf. Leggy: refers to plants that have an abnormal amount of stem in relation to their flowers and foliage. Lenticel: a small ususally corky area on a stem or other part of a plant which acts as a breathing pore. Lime: Compounds of calcium; the amount of lime in soil determines whether it is alkaline, netural, or acid. Linear: very narrow with parallel sides. Lip: a lobe comprimising 2 or more flat or sometimes pouched perianth segements. Loam: ideal garden soil that has a well-balanced mixture of sand, slit and clay. Maiden: a young, unbranched sindle stem treee whose leader has not been cut. Also called a whip. Marginal water plant: a plant that grows partically submerged in shallow water or in a moist soil at the edge of a pond. Maze: sometimes called a pullze hedge; a network of paths framed by hedges to make a life size game. Midrib: the main central vein of a leaf or the cental stalk to which the leaflets of a pinnate leaf are attached. Mock Topiary: an instant creation that resembles a growing plant sculpture, actually assembled from cut and dried or fresh foliage, flowers and other plant materials. Monocarple: flowering and fruiting only once before dying. This type of plant may take years before reaching flowering size. Moss:botanically speaking, a minute, flowerless plant that grows closely together to form a dense material. The term is loosely used to discribe several types of plant material used in the creation of portable topiary and mock topiary. Mulch: a layer of organic matter applied to the soil over or around a plant to conserve moisture, protect the roots from frost, reduce the growth of weeds and enrich the soil. Naturalize: to establish and grow as if in the wild. Nectar: a sweet sugary liquid secreted by the glandular tissue usually found in the flower, but sometimes found in the leaves. Netural: with a ph value of 7, the point at which soil is neither acid or alkaline. Node: the point on the stem from which a leaf or leaves arise. Offset: a small plant that arises by natural vegetaive reproduction usually at the base of the mother plant. Offshoots: new plants that branch out from the base on a old one. Ornamental: a plant raised for soley for its beauty. Ovary: the female part of the flower, containing embryonic seeds that will eventually form the fruit. Palissade: a large, ornate variation of the hedge; row of trees or shrubs, clipped into a wall, arcade or other architectural form. The stilt hedge or pole hedge is one of the classic palissade consisting of a square-cut head raised on high, smooth trunks. Palmate: 5 lobes arising from the same point. Palmette verrier: a tree or shrub trained into the open, flat shape of a 6 armed candelabrum. A classic espalier design, named after Louis Verrier, a 19th century French agriculturist. Pan: shallow, free draining pot in which alpine plants or bulb plants are grown. Panicle: a branched raceme. Papilla: a tiny protuberance or gland like structure. Parterre: a low level bed ornamented with a pattern made of dwarf hedges, flowers, grass and colored stone. A variation of the knot garden, usually larger in size, parterre designs generally consist of arabesques, open scrolls or fleurs-de-lis rather than intertwining lines. Pealike: of the same structure as a pea flower. Peat bed: a specially constructed area edged with peat blocks, and containing moisture-retentive, acidic, peaty soil. Pedicel: the stalk of a individual flower. Peduncle: the stalk of a flower cluster. Petate: sheild shaped leaves with the stalk inserted towards or at the center of the blade and not at the margin. Perennial: a plant that lives for atleast 3 seasons or longer. Perianth: the outer parts of the flower comprising the calyx and the coraolla. Peranth segment: one portion of the perinath resembling a petal and sometimes known as a tepal. Petaloid: like a petal. Petiole: the stalk of a leaf. pH: the scale by which the acidity or the alkalinity of the soil is measured. Phyllode: a flattened leaf stalk, which functions and resembles a leaf. Pinch off or out: to remove the growing tips of a plant to induce the production of side-shoots. Pinching: also called pinching back or stopping out; the pratice of removing the soft tips of stems, branches and leaders in order to encourage the sprouting of lateral buds for bushier growth. It may be done with the thumbnail and forefinger or with a small knife or scissors. Pleaching: a technique wherein branches from neighboring tress are woven together to form a solid wall or canopy. It is a method used to create many forms of architectural topiary, ranging from a rustic tunnel to the formal palissade. Initaially support may be necessary, but eventually some of the intertwined branches will grow together, forming natural grafts that strengthened the structure. Pinna: the primary division of a pinnate leaf. The fertile pinnae of ferns produce spores, vegetative pinnae do not. Pinnate: compound with the leaflets arranged on opposite sides of a central stalk. Pistil: the female part of a flower comprising the ovary, stigma and style. Plugs: circular pieces of sod that are planted in a grid pattern to start a new lawn. Pollard: to cut back to its main branches in order to restrict growth. Pollarding: the technique used to mold individual trees into a distinctive knobby head and keep them from increasing in size from year to year. This is accomplished by annually cutting the main branches back almost to the main trunk to encourage a supply of thin new branches. This is a common pratice in Europe, where acenues of street trees are kept in bounds by this method; the orginal purpose was to produce firewood without losing trees. Pollination: the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the same or different flowers, resulting in the fertilization of the embryonic seeds in the ovary. Poodle: a kind of single stemmed topiary or standard with multiple disks or balls along the stem instead of a single crown of growth. Potbound: container grown plants that lack adequate space for root growth. Procumbent: prostrate, creeping along the ground. Portable Topiary: a technique wherein fast growing plants are trained over a wire frame. Because the metal frame, rather than a plants branches, provides structure and definition, this type of topiary can be any size and shape. There are 2 types: tje hollow trellis over which the vines planted beneath are trained: and in which the frame is stuffed with moss and potting mix so that it can serve as both form and growing container. Primary leaf: a leaf growing directly from the leader or along the central stem, also called a basal leaf. Pruning: the shortening or removing a plants branches, buds or shoots in order to change it's shape, remove weak or disesed portions, ro to make it more vigorous. Pruning simulates the sprouting of buds into healthy shoots, leaves and flowers. New growth may be removed while still in the bud stage by rubbing out or pinching off with a fingernail, while more mature stems and branches are cut off with tools such as scissors, pruning shears or a saw. New shoots will grow in the same direction the bud below the cut is facing. The cut should be slanted away from the bud to avoid injuring it and so that no unslightly stub remains. Raceme: a unbranched flower cluster with several or many stalked flowers borne singly along a main axis, the youngest at the apex. Ray floret, ray flower: one of the flowers, usually with strap-shaped petals, that together form the outer ring of flowers in a composite flower head, like a daisy. Ray petal: the petal or fused petals of a ray floret. Recurved: curved backwards. Reflexed: bent sharply backwards. Retaining wall: a barrier created with stones, timber, or boards to prevent erosion of soil on steep slopes. Revert: to return to its orginal state. Like when a plain green leaf is produced on a varigated plant. Rhizome: a underground, creeping stem that acts as a storage organ and bears leafy shoots. Root: the part of the plant that, normally underground, that functions as a anchor and through which water and nutrients are asorbed. Rootball: the roots and accompanying soil or compost visible when the plant is lifted. Rootstock: a well rooted plant onto which a scion is grafted. Rosette: a group of leaves radiating from approximately the same point, often borne at ground level or at the base of a very short stem. Runner: a horizontally spreading, usually slender stem that forms roots at every node. Row cover: nylon or synthetic netting used to cover young seedlings to protect them from predators. Runner: on vining plants, a long stem that grows out from the main stem of a plant and develops roots. Sapling: a young tree whose main branches are still flexible. Scaffold: a major side branch on a shrub or tree, part of it's frame work,from which secondary growth developes. Scale: a reduced or modified leaf or part of a conifer cone. Scandent: produce long stems that grow over plants or other supports. Scarify: to scar the coat of a seed by abrasion in order to speed water intake and hence germination. Scion: the shoot of one plant usually grafted onto another plant. Scree: a area composed of a deep layer of stone chippings mixed with a small amount of loam. It provides extremely sharp drainage for plants that resent moisture at their base. Seed head: any usually dry fruit that contains ripe seeds. Seed leaf: the 1st leaf, pair of leaves or occassionaly group of leaves produced by a seed as it germinates. In some plants they remain below ground. Self Seed: produces seedlings around the parent plant. Sepal: part of a calyx, usually insignificant, but sometimes showy. Series: the name applied to a group of simular, but not identical plants linked together by common features. Sessile: without a stalk. Sheath: a cylindrical structure that surrounds or encircles, partially or fully another plant organ such as a stem. Shoot: the aerial part of a plant that bears leaves. Shurb: a plant with woody stems usually well branched from or near the base. Shy-flowering: reluctant to flower, producing few flowers. Simple: not divided into leaflets. Soft-stemmed: the opposite of woody stemmed. Spadix: a spike like flower cluster that is usually fleshy and bears numberous small flowers. Spathe: a large bract or sometimes 2, frequently colored and showy, that surrounds a spadix or an individual flower bud. Species: basic unit of plant classification. Sphagnum: mosses common to bogs. Their mositure retentive character makes them ideal components to help in plant growth. Spike:a racemose flower cluster with several or many unstalked flowers borne along a common axis. Spikelet: flowering unit of grasses comprising one or several flowers with basal bracts. Or part of a branched flower cluster. Spore: the minute reproductive structure of flowerless plants. Sporangium: a body that produces spores. Sport: a mutation, caused by an accident or induced change in the genetic make up of a plant, which gives rise to a shoot with different characteristics to those of the parent plant. Spur: a hollow projection from a petal, often producing nectar. Or a short stem bearing a group of flower buds such as is found on fruit trees. Spur back: to cut back side shoots to within 2 or 3 buds of the main shoot. Stake: a wooden or banboo stick used to support and guide a topiary during training. Also used as a marker when laying out knot gardens or archutectural topiary. Stalking: a method of supporting upright-growing plants by tying their stems to a wood or metal post. Stamen: the stalk that produces pollen. Standard: a) the clear length of bare limb below the first branches of a tree or shrub. b) one of 3 inner and often erect perianth segments of the iris flower. Stem segment: the portion of the jointed stem between 2 nodes, most frequently occuring in cacti. Sterile: infertile, not bearing spores, pollen, seeds, ect... Stigma: the part of the female portion of the flower borne at the tip of the style, that recieves pollen. Stipule: small scale like or leaf like appendage, usually one of a pair, mostly borne as a node or below a leaf stalk. Stock: a well rooted plant. Stolon: a horizontally spreading or arching stem, usually above ground, which roots at its tip to produce a new plant. Stone Fruits: members of the genus Prunus, such as peaches, cherries and plums, with single hard pit in the center of a fleshy fruit. Stop: to remove certain growing points of a plant to control eithergrowth or the size and numbers of flowers. Stratify: to break the dormancy of some seeds by exposing them to a period of cold. Style: the part of a flower on which the stigma is borne. Sub-globose: almost spherical. Sub-shrub: a plant that is woody at the base even though the terminal shoots die back in winter. Subspecies: a distinct, often geographical varient of a species. Succulent: a plant with thick, fleshy leaves and or stems. Sucker: a shoot that rises from below ground level, directly from the root or rootstock. Summer-deciduous: loses it leaves naturally in the summer. Taproot: the main, downward-growing root of a plant. Template: an object, usually flat, used as a guide in carving shapes in plants or in bending wire to make a frame. Tender: susceptible to frost and may not be able to surive freezing temperatures. Tendril: a thread like structure, used to provide support. Terninal bud: uppermost bud on the stem. Thatch: a layer of plant derbris that accumulates between the soil and grass blades and prevents the flow of moisture to the grass roots. Thinning: cutting branches or stems back to the main branch to allow sunlight into the plants center, provide air for circulation, and encourage growth. Tooth: a small, marginal, often pointed lobe on a leaf. Top Dressing: feeding plants by sprinkling ferterlizer or compost on top of them. Topiary: the art of pruning and shaping trees and shrubs into decorative shapes. Topsoil: the uppermost layer of soil that is the site for the plants root growth and contains the most organic matter. Training: a method of controlling plant growth, especially on climbing plants, by tying the stems to a support and prunning them back regularly. Trellis: a lightweight framework of wooden strips, usually in a diamond or grid pattern, used to support and train espaolers orvining plants. Trepal: a petal. Trifoliate: has 3 leaves. Trifoliolate: 3 leaflets. Trimming: the removal of the tips of branches and stems for a neat well-defined appearance and even surface. True: retaining the distinctive charateristics or the parent plant when raised from seed. Truss: a compact cluster of flowers often large and showy. Tuber: a thickened, usually underground, storage organ derived from a stem or root. Tubercle: a small rounded protuberance. Turion: a over wintering bud found on certain water plants. Tying: attaching a branch or stem to a frame, stake or other structure, in order to provide support or guide into a peculiar shape. A soft material that is strong, yet "gives" should be used to tie the branches or stems. Good ties include raffia, soft string, old stockings, twine, osier or basket willow and notched garbage bag closures. Ties should be checked periodically, as no material has infinite stretch and strength, to prevent firdling, chaffing or broken ties. Branches never recover from severe girdling injuries, although it may take years for them to die. Umbel: a usually flat-topped or rounded flower cluster in which the individual flower stalks rise from the central point. Understock: the lower plant used to form the roots and main trunk. Upright: vertical or semi-verticl main branches. Varietas: a subdivision of a species that differs from it only slightly. Variety: a natural grown or cultivated type of plant species. Variegation: a pattern of stripes or patches on otherwise solid colored leaves. Wall aides: plastic tubes of various sizes, with pointed ends, that may be stuck into sphagnum moss, foam, or vegetable forms for mock topiary. They are filled with water and have a rubber cap that seals around the flower stem. Used to add fresh flowers to a dry base, provide additional support and water for delicate flowers in a wet form or for adding flowers as decorations on stuffed portible topiary. Water bud: a bud on a rhizome. Weeds: unwanted plants that grow rampantly through other plantings and may strangle desireable plants, competing for their food, light and water. Whip: a young, unbranched single stem tree whose leader has not been cut. Also called a maiden. Wire: the main component of topiary frames; many kinds are employed for topiary. It must be flexible enough to bend easily, but stiff enough to hold the shape you want. It is sized in reverse order to its thickness; the higher the number, the thinner the wire. The size of wire is referred to as the gauge. Aluminum is soft and rust proof. It is more expensive than galvanized, but is easier to bend than aluminum, but this means a thinner gauge will still hold it's shape. The galvanizing process makes the metal rust resistant, but it will eventually corrode. Number 8 or 9 gauage wire is some times sold as fence wire. Chicken wire, a hexagonal mesh, can be used on its on to construct simple frames, or it can be added to wire skeletons. Hardware cloth, a sturdy wire mesh is used to line the base of frames, or to create forms for training outdoor ivy sculptures. Florist's wire is thin, green enameled, and available in straight lengths or coiled on spools.means Whorl: the arrangement of 3 or more organs arising from the same point. Winged: having a marginal flange or membrane. Woody stemmed: with a stem composed of woody fibers that do not die back. Xeriscaping: creating a garden with drought-tolerant plants that prefer arid climates. Zones: a growing region of the United States and Canada, determined by the average annual mimimum temperatures of the area. When a zone is specified for a particular plant it indicates the northern or coldest region in which it usually grows, meaning that it will thrive in several zones to the south. Weather patterns are changing, and gardeners are experimenting with growing plants untested in their zones, providing that it is possible for many plants that succeed farther north or south than had previously been believed.
Graphics, layout, content are all © by Annie R., 2000.
|