31 words you need to learn to sound like a gardening expert
Horticultural jargon can be daunting and mysterious and feel a bit exclusive. Beyond the technicalities lie some simple explanations, so we've compiled a gardening glossary to help you cultivate your green thumb with confidence. Let’s dive into some of the most common gardening terms you’ll come across in our jargon-busting guide.
PLANTS
Annual / Biennial / Perennial
Annuals complete their entire life cycle (growth, flowering and seed production) in one growing season. Save the seeds if you want to grow them next year. Annual plants include sunflowers, marigolds, petunias and pansies.
Biennials have a two-year life cycle. They germinate and develop in year one and flower and set seed in year two – foxgloves and hollyhocks fall into this category.
Perennials live for years, flowering annually – peonies, for example, can continue for decades. Perennial plants are often dormant during the winter months and regrow in the spring. Other perennials include lavender, roses, irises, sedum, phlox and hostas.
Evergreen / Deciduous
Evergreen plants do exactly what the label says – they stay green and leafy all year round. Conifers are typically evergreen, but there are many other shrubs and trees e.g., yew, holly and pittosporum. Perennials can have evergreen foliage too.
Deciduous shrubs and trees lose their foliage in autumn before going dormant over winter, with fresh new growth returning in spring.
Herbaceous
A herbaceous perennial is a plant that dies back and loses its leaves over the winter. The stems are generally soft and fleshy, not woody like shrubs. The roots survive below ground and start producing new shoots in spring, returning to full size through the summer. Herbaceous perennials live for a number of years. Prime examples are delphinium, lupin and red hot pokers.
Hardy / Tender plants
A hardy plant will survive winter temperatures to return next year. At the opposite end of the scale are tender plants that turn to mush after the first frost – for example, pelargoniums and dahlias. These are fine outdoors over the summer months but they will need to be brought into a sheltered place over the winter.
Variegated
Variegated refers to plants with leaves that have more than one colour. Hostas, euphorbia, calathea, coleus and acers are all examples of variegated plants.
Rootball / Rootbound
This is what you’ll find if you dig up a plant – the roots bind the soil together. It’s important to keep this intact when you transplant a shrub or plant to help your plant settle into it's new location. Dig a deep, wide circle around the plant to ease out the rootball and move it to a new planting hole that’s big enough to accommodate it with room to grow.
In container gardening or for houseplants, if a plant is rootbound it has been confined to a pot for too long and the roots have nowhere to go, so it has outgrown its pot – you'll likely see the roots coming out the bottom of the pot and yellowing leaves.
Bare root
Plants sold and delivered to you as bare root specimens are dug up from the ground without any soil or rootball – they might just be wrapped in damp paper. They tend to look quite gnarly and unimposing, but if planted in autumn, they have time to bed in and develop new roots before spring. Some plants, like roses, perform better planted as bare root specimens.
SOIL & GROWING MATTERS
Mulching
Think of mulch as a cosy natural blanket for your plants. It’s made from leaves, homemade compost, bark chippings or well-rotted manure. In autumn, apply a thick layer of mulch around the base of plants to protect their roots during cold winter weather. Mulching in spring provides plants with nutrients from this organic layer, which breaks down into the soil, fuelling strong growth through the summer, and helps keep the soil moist.
Compost / Soil
Compost is generally made from well-rotted natural materials – either garden or food waste. You can make it at home with composting bins, or buy in bags from the garden centre. We use compost for seed sowing, potting on, and growing in pots. Compost can also be added as a layer of mulch – it will be broken down over time and become part of the soil.
Soil is what you find in your garden – it might be good quality – open, rich and fertile, or poor, dusty and sandy. Adding well-rotted compost always helps to improve the quality and fertility of your soil.
Ericaceous
Soils can have different pH levels that affect what plants you can grow. Check the pH of your garden soil with a testing kit available from garden centres. If it’s between 4 and 5, it’s acidic or ericaceous, which means that plants preferring chalky or neutral soils won’t thrive.
Often plants originating from woodland, heathland or boggy areas need ericaceous soil, for example, rhododendrons, camellias and heathers. If you don’t have acidic soil in your garden, you can buy ericaceous compost and grow these plants in containers.
Leaf mould
This is not a disease! The fine, fertile end product of a pile of rotted leaves is called leaf mould and it’s grower’s gold. It’s valuable for mixing with compost for seed sowing or potting on young plants. You naturally get leaf mould on forest floors, and it contributes to that wonderful earthy woodland smell. To make it yourself, simply fill an old compost bag with damp fallen leaves, poke some holes in it and put it in a corner of your garden. Forget about it until 12 months later, when you can open it up to find your perfect growing matter.
TECHNIQUES
Pruning
Don’t be terrified! Pruning involves cutting plants strategically. It’s a testament to the regenerative powers of plants that they recover from damage naturally by producing new shoots from the affected areas. Making cuts just above a bud or growing point encourages new shoots, allowing you to manipulate and manage the shape and size of a shrub or tree.
Deadheading
This simple practice involves removing faded or spent blooms from plants. Plants will carry on flowering for longer if you remove the blooms that are past their best – it stops the plant putting its energy into developing seeds. Instead, it will produce more flowers. Deadheading works well for roses, and many summer-flowering plants.
Transplanting
Moving plants is needed at different stages. You might transplant small seedlings or plants into the next pot size up to give them more room to grow; or larger plants and shrubs to a different spot. In both cases, you need to ensure there’s good growth above ground and a strong root system.
Thinning / Pricking out / Potting on
These gardening terms apply to seedlings and young plants. When you sow small seeds into a tray, they will germinate too close together and get overcrowded.
Thinning is a method that removes extra seedlings so that the remaining ones can grow properly without competition for space, light and nutrients. It reduces the number of plants in any one space to encourage healthier growth. (You can also thin fruit to improve the size, health and quality of fruit. Fruit trees that may need thinning include apples, pears, plums, peaches and nectarines).
To prick out is to separate seedlings growing together in the same container and move them into individual pots. The seedlings are delicate, so you need to be gentle and transfer with care, but it'll help to grow healthier and stronger plants.
Potting on is the process of planting young plants into a bigger container for mature growth. The roots of these plants are more established so less likely to get damaged once transferred.
Pinching out
When plants are just getting going, they can get gangly and leggy. To encourage more compact growth, pinch off the new leaves at the top of these shoots between finger and thumb. This will stimulate new, branching shoots and promote healthy, vigorous growth – essentially, it’s the same principle as pruning.
Hardening off
This process involves acclimatising plants that have been grown indoors, inside a greenhouse or under protection to outside weather conditions, to prevent transplant shock. The plants are gradually exposed to outdoor conditions, helping them to develop stronger stems, thicker foliage, and to ultimately improve their chances of survival and success in the garden.
No Dig
This method is good for soil and good for your back. It’s an ancient technique being revived for modern growing that promotes better soil health. By not digging or turning over the soil (which is the more traditional approach) you avoid disturbing the natural structure and micro-organisms. To create a no-dig bed, add a thick layer of mulch or compost over a layer of cardboard and leave this to break down. Plant into the compost layer and top it up each year to maintain soil health.
Companion planting
This is not just about aesthetics; it’s about mutual support among plants. Companion planting helps deter pests and attract beneficial insects. For example, French marigolds planted with tomatoes will deter whitefly; while strong-scented herbs such as sage, thyme and lavender can be planted with vegetables to deter carrot fly, flea beetles on brassicas, and aphids on beans and roses. Calendula also attracts the beneficial insects that prey on unwanted ones.
Succession planting
This is a design holy grail, where one season of colour and interest fades seamlessly into the next. It means your garden has always got either something in bloom or some visual interest. You might move from winter flowers or structure to spring bulbs, followed by early summer-flowering shrubs, peak summer perennials, and late-season grasses and other autumn-flowering plants.
Dividing
A cost-effective way to grow your garden, dividing plants allows you to get new plants for free. Typically carried out early autumn or spring, the process involves gently lifting the plant and pulling it apart in small clumps for replanting (some plants may require tools to help tease it out). Plant the new divisions as soon as possible, either in the same spot or another part of the garden. There are many benefits – it’s a great way to fill borders, it reduces crowding, improves air circulation, and stimulates new growth. Snowdrops, heucheras, hostas, ornamental grasses, lilies, tulips and primulas, are good plants to divide.
TOOLKIT
Hori Hori
This is a relatively new tool on the block in European gardening terms. The Japanese gardening knife might look like a lethal weapon, but in the garden it gives the humble trowel a good run for its money. The ultra-sharp, pointed steel blade helps with digging holes in the toughest of clay soils and can be used for many other garden tasks – prizing out weeds, dividing plants, trimming roots.
Dibber
A dibber is a traditional, pointed but blunt-ended wooden tool made from wood or steel and used to make holes in soil for sowing seeds or planting. Larger dibbers can be made from old spade handles. The off-the-shelf ones are often a nice piece of kit, but it’s not a must-have – the end of a pencil or even your fingertip will do just as well for seeds.
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