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35 Gardening Terms Everyone Should Know

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35 Gardening Terms Everyone Should Know

When looking through seed catalogs or plant care manuals, you are likely to stumble upon at least a few descriptions that you didn't know existed. So here's a cheat sheet to help you manage your rates and maybe even impress your gardening friends.

Aeration: Poke holes in compacted soil with a garden fork or aerator to allow oxygen to reach plant roots.

Amendment: Adding organic matter such as compost or manure to the soil to improve soil fertility, drainage, water retention, or structure.

Annuals: Plants that complete their life cycle in one year regardless of climate.

Bare Roots: Plants, usually roses, trees and shrubs, are sold without soil or pots taken out of the ground.

Semi-annual: plants whose life cycle is completed in two years.

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Seedlings: Early flowering crops such as lettuce and beets that make them bitter or reduce their quality.

Botanical name: The name given to plants using Latin terms developed by the eighteenth-century Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus. Using the plant's botanical name (also known as the "scientific name") eliminates the risk of confusion with other plants.

Spreading : sowing seeds by hand or machine over a large area instead of sowing in rows.

Hat: A traditional bell-shaped item worn on a plant to protect it from insects or frost.

Cold frame: fence around plants to create a greenhouse effect and extend the growing season.

Common Names: Nicknames used in certain geographic areas or regions to describe plants. Because different plants can have the same name, and a single plant can have multiple names, using them can be confusing for the gardener.

Companion plantings: combinations of plants selected based on the benefits they bring to each other. These benefits include attracting pollinators, repelling pests, or using live baits.

Pruning: The process of removing wilted or dead flowers from a plant to encourage re-blooming, prevent self-seeding, or simply keep the plant clean.

Deciduous: Plants, trees, or shrubs that lose their leaves in autumn or winter.

Direct Seeding: Sow seeds right in the garden instead of planting them in indoor containers and then transplanting outdoors.

Ephemeral: A plant that emerges and dies relatively early, often in the spring.

Evergreen: A plant, tree, or shrub that does not shed its leaves in either fall or winter, but remains green throughout the year.

Foliar Fertilization: Apply liquid fertilizer directly to the leaves, not to the ground.

Germination: The initial growth of a shoot from a seed.

Hardening: The process of gradually adapting plants to different, usually harsher, climatic conditions, such as outdoor and indoor climates, to increase their viability.

Heirloom: A plant in its original form that has not been crossed or crossed with any other species or cultivars. Heirloom seeds produce plants that are "true bred" or have the same characteristics as the plant they came from.

Hilling: The practice of spreading soil over new shoots above the ground, as in potato plants.

Hybrid: flower color, disease resistance, aroma, size, hardness, taste, shelf life, etc. .

Naturalization: The practice of dispersing seeds or tubers in a natural or visible manner, such as in lawns where unrestricted dispersal is permitted.

Organic Matter: Non-synthetic materials such as decaying plants and animals, manure, compost, and leaf litter used to improve soil fertility, structure, and other properties.

Perennials: plants with a life cycle of more than two years. Perennials can fall to the ground in winter and return year after year, or they can stay green all their lives.

pH: In horticulture, the pH scale measures the acidity or alkalinity of soil, compost, and water. The lower the reading, the more acidic the soil; The higher the value, the higher the alkalinity. A value of 7.0 is considered neutral.

Pinching: The practice of using the thumb and forefinger to remove young shoots and stems, usually to encourage the growth of side shoots.

Scarification : Scratching, slicing, slicing or damaging the hard surface of a seed to facilitate germination.

Self-sowing : A term used to describe plants that reproduce by dropping seeds into the surrounding soil. These seeds germinate, take root and grow into new plants. This is also called "self-seeding".

Side dressing: spreading granular, powdered or granular fertilizers (or other additives) next to various plants instead of applying them to the soil or planting holes.

Stratification: The process of exposing seeds or tubers to low temperatures, usually in a refrigerator or freezer, to simulate the open winter conditions necessary for successful spring germination.

Top dressing: Applying fertilizers or additives such as compost or manure directly to the soil on and around plants.

Wet Feet: Wet roots are usually caused by poor drainage or over-saturation of the soil.

Xeriscaping: The use of drought tolerant plants in landscaping to conserve water. This is also called "garden water management".

Morgan Wallins

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