Home > Gardener's Guide > 40 Common Garden Terms

Acid Soil
On the pH scale, acid soil is soil which has a pH 7.0 or lower.
Alkaline Soil Soil opposite of acid in that pH is above 7.0

Bud Union
After grafting the buds on fruit trees, the nodes will appear swollen. This is the bud union.

Cold Frame
A cold frame is a 'box' built from wood, plastic or hay bales with a window (most often) laid or hinged on top which is used to overwinter tender plants or propagate seeds and cuttings extra-early in the season.

Companion Planting
Combining plants in the vegetable or flower garden and orchard that work together for instance, French Marigolds (Tagetes patula) attract nematodes and when planted in the garden draw these away from vegetable plants.

Damping Off
Results of this fungus are noted by rotting stems of new seedlings where they come out of the soil. It is caused by poor air circulation, over watering and soil that has not been sterilized.

Direct Seeding
Planting seeds directly in the ground rather than in flats or pots to be transplanted is direct seeding.

Frost Date
First: The expected date for the first heavy frost in fall.
Last: The expected date for the last heavy frost in spring.

Frost Hardy
These plants can survive winter frosts without damage.

Frost Tender
These plants may be killed by frost.

Germinate
The term for what happens when seeds begin to sprout.

Grafting
Grafting is a propagation technique where a piece of one plant such as a stem, is joined with the stem of another plant which has a better root stock. The first plant may have produced very good fruit but may not be as disease resistant as the receiving plant. This creates the best of both plants in one.

Hardiness Zone
This chart shows regions with their average minimum temperatures and compares it to plant's likelihood of surviving the lowest temperature in that region.

Hardening Off
Taking seedlings, which have been started indoors, outside a few hours each day over a period of several days is referred to as hardening off. Seedlings are set in a protected area, away from wind and direct sunlight at first. After several days, they can be left outside.

Heirloom Plant
Plant grown from seeds which are open-pollinated and can be traced back more than fifty years.

Hybrid
Plants created by using pollen from two different species to breed new varieties. Not suited for saving seeds like heirlooms because they do not 'come true' to the parent plant.

Intercrop
Different plants which are grown together, typically one maturing faster than the other.

Microclimate
A localized area that creates its own climate which is different from that of its surrounding environment, for instance, a gardener may have a subtropical garden in an area which is typically not suited to growing tropical-like plants.

Neutral
Neutral refers to soil that is neither acid nor alkaline. Soil with a pH of 7.0 is neutral.

Open-Pollinated
Plants pollinated in the field by insects, wind or other means. Open pollinated plant seeds 'come true' to the parent plants.

Organic Gardening
Gardening in which everything used in the garden was originally alive. Composted material such as leaves, vegetable waste and manure are used in organic gardening.

Overwinter
Plants which are frost tender must be protected from freezing winter temperatures. Moving them indoors to a greenhouse or garage during winter would be considered over-wintering them

Propagation
Methods of growing new plants by cuttings, layering, root division or seeds.

Scarification
Seeds with very hard outer layers may need to be nicked to aid in germination. Gardeners may use sandpaper, a file or clippers to wound the seed.

Self-Pollination
Plants which self-pollinate produce viable seeds without assistance from other plant pollen.

Stratification
Many seeds need a cold period so they will germinate. This is most often referred to as their 'chilling period'.

Succession Planting
In vegetable gardening, planting seeds a week or several days apart so harvest is extended. An example would be planting lettuce seeds one week apart for a month. This would extend the harvest by approximately one month.

T-Budding
A method of grafting a bud into a T-shaped cut on grafting stock as seen in the grafting of fruit trees as well as other plants.

Tender Plants
Tender plants are those which will not survive frost and freezing temperatures.

True Leaves
Most often the second set of leaves which appear on new seedlings, these are hardy leaves that will grow with plant.

Under-planting
Planting smaller plants (smaller at mature size) under larger ones is called under-planting.

USDA Zone
Hardiness zones classified by the United States Department of Agriculture which specify length of the growing season due to annual minimum temperatures in numbered zones.

Zone
As in the USDA Zone map, areas which have comparable growing conditions, these are represented by numbers on the zone map.