Sometimes I forget that homeowners and part-time gardeners may find landscaping jargon confusing. Ordinary words take on a different meaning to gardeners: Exfoliate is not a spa treatment, pools aren’t always for swimming, beds are not a place to sleep and trimming doesn’t refer to haircuts.
So, in an attempt to clear up any misconceptions about terminology, here are definitions of some of the terms commonly used in landscaping and gardening.
Amend: To incorporate materials that improve soil structure, usually natural substances, such as compost, gypsum, horticultural limestone or manure. A soil test before amending is always a good idea.
B and B: The abbreviation for “balled and burlapped,” referring to how shrubs are dug and moved. The soil surrounding a plant is dug to create a “ball” of roots, which are then wrapped in burlap to hold soil solidly around the roots.
Bed: An area separate from paved area and lawns in which trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals can be arranged as part of a landscape design.
Branch collar: A bulge or flare about one-half inch long at the base of a branch where it meets the trunk or main stem of a tree or shrub.
Broadcast: Scattering landscape materials such as seed and fertilizer. Material that is broadcast is prone to drifting in the wind, so it can blow into ornamental areas where you don’t want it. Therefore, do not broadcast any pesticides.
Bud or growth point: A bud is the raised area or bump on a stem from which new growth emerges. A growth point is where a leaf, stem or major branch is already growing. Always prune just above a bud or growth point, a prudent practice for the health of trees and shrubs.
Bulbs: Plants that grow from large roots that store food from the previous year or earlier in the season and use it for flowering. Plants called bulbs are often corms, rhizomes or tubers. Lilies, daffodils and tulips are bulbs. Irises can be rhizomes or bulbs. Day lilies and dahlias are tubers. Gladiolas are corms. All are often referred to as bulbs.
Canopy: Overhead covering of trees or structures, one of the best ways to bring the landscape down to people-size proportions.
Compost: A dark, friable mixture of decayed organic material, used to enrich soil, usually composed of well-aged leaves, woody material, herbaceous green matter and sometimes manure and kitchen scraps.
Container plants: Plants propagated and grown in containers. They are usually transplanted from small pots into larger ones. Depending on the plant, it can continue to live in a container (a good way to control growth of overvigorous types) or removed from the container and planted in the soil.
Deadheading: Pruning off the blooms or entire flowering stems as soon as the flower fades, which helps the plant bloom again or produce more foliage. If a plant spreads many seeds, deadheading can help prevent it from becoming invasive.
Deciduous: Plants that shed all their leaves in fall and winter and grow new leaves in the spring.
Drip line: The outermost edge of a branch spread, including the leaves. When a tree or shrub is grown without much pruning, the root spread of a tree is generally thought to equal or exceed its branch spread.
Elevation: A scale drawing of the front, sides or rear of a structure or design showing elements in a vertical configuration.
Espalier: Training a small tree or shrub to grow on a flat plane, such as against a wall.
Exfoliating: The nature of some woody plants to have peeling bark, giving the trunks of these plants ornamental interest.
Hardscape: Structural elements of the landscape, including such things as walks, arbors, trellises, decks, sheds and patios.
Horizon: A term used in landscape design to describe the area as far as you can see into the distance on your property and beyond. If you have a vista, this can be the point at which earth and sky appear to meet.
Leaf mold: Partially decomposed leaves. Also called leaf mulch, this is an excellent soil amendment for plants. As leaves decompose, leaf mold mixes into the top mantle of soil to make a nutrient-rich, moisture-holding medium.
Microclimate: A climate created in a small area because of very local conditions. It can support plants that are not typically hardy to a location. For example, mild climate conditions can be created by a house wall that offers extra heat through winter. It might also create an area that is colder or drier than is typical of your region.
Mulch: A covering of protective material, usually organic, spread over the soil surface to hold moisture and control weeds and erosion.
Naturalize: When plants relocate on their own or are placed by humans or other animals and have the ability to colonize, spreading by stems, stolons, roots or seeds.
Parterre: A French word (pronounced par-TARE) for a garden with beds, often bisected by walks, with the beds and plants designed to form a pattern or patterns.
Percolate: Drain or seep through a porous substance, such as gravel or soil.
Perspective: A drawing of objects in depth, as would be seen in normal binocular vision.
Pesticide: Any herbicide, fungicide or insecticide used to kill a pest.
Pool: Usually installed as part of a landscape design to grow aquatic plants and raise fish, frogs and other wildlife.
Root collar: A visible bulge or flare on a shrub or tree just atop the point where the roots join the main stem, which should never be covered with mulch or soil.
Root pruning: The act of cutting a plant’s roots while it’s still in the ground. The job is performed with a flat nursery spade by slicing deeply into the soil, 12 to 18 inches, in a circle around the perimeter of the plant. Root pruning is usually done on trees and shrubs a year or more before transplanting, to encourage new feeder roots to grow.
Selective pruning: Pruning or trimming by choosing and cutting one branch at a time. Examples include pinching new tender shoots, cutting off old rose blooms, taking out select branches from a lilac, yew, crape myrtle or other shrub, or cutting off huge limbs on trees.
Softscape: The plant material in the landscape.
Wet feet: Any plant standing in constant moisture. There are plants that thrive with wet feet, but in many cases, wet feet rot or suffocate plant roots by keeping oxygen from getting to them. This is why the expression for keeping most plants watered is “moist but well drained.”
Xeriscape: Using native plants, compost in the soil, mulches and other water-efficient practices to minimize moisture demands in the landscape.
Lerner is president of Environmental Design in Capitol View Park, Md., and author of “Anyone Can Landscape.” Contact him through his Web site, www.gardenlerner.com.
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