Whether you are reaching for gardening for beginners guides or are a dab hand, gardening terms can be a jungle of confusion. From 'hardening off' to 'biennal' - we've pulled together a list of meanings for common gardening terms to help get over the jargon.
A
Acclimatisation
Acclimatisation is when plants adjust to cooler (often outdoor) conditions. Often heard at the beginning of spring, before planting out plants that have been growing indoors over winter. Also see ‘hardening off which is the technique to help plants acclimatise for cooler conditions.
Acid Soil
Acid soil is when the PH is lower than 7. Some plants, like nasturtiums or parsley need acidic soil to thrive. Also see Alkaline soil.
Aerate
Aerating is the practice of loosening compact soil, usually with a trusty garden fork to allow air in. This benefits your plants giving them good drainage and fertile ground to grow big and strong.
Alkaline Soil
Alkaline soil is when the PH is higher than 7. Plants like lavender and forget me nots do really well in alkaline soil. Also see Acid soil.
Annual
A plant that will sprout, grow, flower, seed and complete its life cycle in a year. See also 'Perennial' and 'Biennial'
B
Bedding Plants
Bedding plants including violas and sweet peas, provide immediate bursts of transient hues. They are ideal for garden beds, border landscapes, plant containers, and hanging baskets.
Biennial
Biennial is a plant that has a 2 year life cycle. Growing in the first year and flowering and going to seed before dying off in the second.
Bolting
Bolting is when vegetables and herbs go to seed before you would like them to. Often this brought on by stress - like a cold spell, lack of water or particularly hot conditions. It normally makes the vegetables and foliage woody, bitter to eat and virtually unusable. Very common with lettuce leaves and spinach.
C
Coir
This is a natural fibre derived from the exterior husk of coconuts. It assists in maintaining soil moisture while simultaneously promoting drainage and aeration.
Companion Planting
Plants and vegetables that are grown near one another for mutual benefits such as attracting pollinators or deterring pests. Try growing chives near carrots to deter carrot fly or sweet peas near broad beans to attract pollinators or basil near tomatoes as they both love the same growing conditions.
D
Deadhead
Deadheading is simply removing a plant's spent flower heads, often as they start to seed. Deadheading can encourage new blooms. Usually, you remove the flower up to the node below the flower.
Deadheading
Deadheading is to cut off spent flowers to encourage the plant to bloom again, often flowering for a second time before the end of the season., extending the plants flowering period.
Direct Sow
To direct sow, is to sow in their final positions where you want them to grow, often essential for plants that don’t like their roots disturbed.
Direct sowing
Direct sowing refers to planting seeds straight into the garden (whether in-ground or containers), where they will joyfully grow and thrive.
E
Earth Up
Earth up refers to the practice of piling soil around the base of a plant. This technique serves multiple purposes: it helps to block light, safeguards against frost and stimulates the growth of roots from the stem. It's a technique frequently employed when cultivating potatoes.
Evergreen
This refers to a type of plant that maintains its foliage year-round. Evergreen species keep their leaves for over a year, continuously replacing older leaves over a gradual period.
F
F1 Hybrid
F1 Hybrid is the first generation of baby plants you get when you mix two different types of purebred plants together. These hybrids are known for being strong and very similar to each other. However, if you plant the seeds from these F1 Hybrids, they won't grow up to be the same as their parent plants.
Force
Force: Spurring growth when it's not the season. This is when you coax a plant to flower or fruit at a time that's not its usual season. It's a trick often used to get a plant to flower or fruit ahead of its normal schedule. Mostly, this is done in greenhouses or a warm window sill where we can manage things like light and temperature.
Full Sun
Position in your garden that gets 6 hours or more of sunlight in a day.
G
Germinate
When seeds begins it's physical changes and grows roots and leaves. We like to think of it as the moment you have cracked it's code to get it to grow.
H
Hardening Off
Hardening off is the method of getting your sprouts and plants that have been grown indoors or in a greenhouse used to outdoor temperatures. By hardening off, your sprouts won’t get stressed, wilt or in some cases die off. See also ‘Acclimatisation’.
Hardy
Plants that are tough enough to survive winter without any protection. Ordinarily this means the plant is capable of withstanding outdoor winter temperatures down to -15C.
Herbaceous Plants
A herbaceous plant is a type of perennial plant that doesn't develop woody stems or branches. These plants often retreat into dormancy during winter through their underground roots or woody base. When spring arrives, they return to active growth.
L
Loam
A fertile soil mixture made up of equal amounts of sand, silt and a little less clay. The ratio is about 40-40-20%. Loam is a garden favourite as it is considered ideal for retaining nutrients well and absorbing water while still allowing excess water to drain away.
M
Micro Green
Micro greens is the process of harvesting young, leafy vegetables and herbs whilst they are still sprouts. With their small tender leaves, they often have a concentrated flavour and are rich in goodness (making them an ideal salad topper).
Mulch
"Mulch" is stuff you spread over the ground and around plants to keep the soil moist, keep weeds away, and make the soil better. You can use all sorts of things for mulch, like well-aged manure, compost, reuse compost bags or even gravel.
N
N-P-K
N-P-K stands for the big three nutrients that plants absolutely need: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). They're also called "macronutrients." When you see three numbers on a fertiliser bag, that's what they're talking about.
O
Open Pollinated
Plant varieties that produce seeds that are 'true', growing into near identical plants from which they were grown from (not cross pollinated). Unless otherwise stated as a hybrid, the plant it is often open pollinated. Choosing open pollinated means you are supporting the bio-diversity of the seed and being a part of the seeds history.
P
Perennial
Perennial means plants that live for more than 2 years. Also see 'Annual' and 'Biennial'.
Pinching Out
Pinching out means taking off the growing tips of a young plant to make it sprout side shoots. It's a neat trick to make the plant grow in a fuller, bushier way and to get more stems that will bloom.
Pollination
Pollination is the word describing the process of moving pollen from one flower to another. It can happen with a little help from the wind, bugs, animals, or even by hand.
Pot on
Pot on means taking a plant out of its current container (usually because it's grown too big for it) and moving it into a new, roomier one so it can keep growing.
Pricking Out
Pricking out is when you move your seedlings from pots or trays to give them more space to grow, normally when their first set of true leaves have grown.
R
Root Rot
Root rot is a nasty fungal disease that affects the roots of the plant, often causing the plant to wither and die. Often caused by overwatering or plants in pots without much drainage.
Rootball
The mix of roots and dirt that tags along when you pull a plant out of its pot or lift it from the ground.
S
Seedling
A plant in its early stages of life, grown from a seed.
Spacing
Spacing is all about how much space you leave between seeds in a row, and from one row to the next. The size of the seed and the grown-up plant it's going to become decide how much space you need. So, bigger plants need more elbow room between seeds and rows, while smaller seeds can be snugger and closer together in the row.
Stratification
The process of simulating the natural process of breaking a seeds dormancy that it would naturally experience over autumn and winter. Placing seeds in a moist and cold environment (often the fridge with a damp tissue in a bag) before taking them out to sprout.
T
Thin Out
To thin out is when you remove seedlings that sprout to close to one another, to allow the strongest seedlings to grow with less competition for light and nutrients.
Transplant
Transplant is the process of relocating a young plant, typically from a pot, to its final spot in the garden where it's set to flourish, bloom, or bear harvest.
V
Vermiculite
Vermiculite is a natural mineral that's been heated to high temperatures, resulting in lightweight, super-absorbent flakes. When you mix Vermiculite into your growing medium, it boosts aeration and helps hold onto more moisture and nutrients.
W
Waterlogged
Lots of water and no wear for it to go, waterlogged pots or even beds is when you have an excess of water submerging the pots, best avoided by using free draining soil and lifting plants off the ground with feet in the winter.
Weed
Weed: A plant that's not where it should be. A weed is just a plant that's ended up somewhere it's not wanted or supposed to be.
