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742 GLOSSARY


Glossary


Gardening terms used in this book are defi ned here. These words have roots in botany, landscape design, soil science, the nursery business, and in generations of experienced dirt gardening.


Acid soil. A soil with pH below 7. See page 667.


Air layering. A method of prop- agation in which a stem in the plant’s canopy is wounded, dusted with rooting hormone, encased in damp sphagnum moss, and covered with plastic wrap until roots appear in the moss. The branch is then cut free and planted.


Alkaline soil. A soil with pH above 7. See page 667.


Alternate leaves. See Oppo- site leaves.


Annual. A plant that completes its life cycle in one year or less.


Anther. See Flower.


Axil. The inner angle between a leaf (or other organ of a plant) and the stem from which it springs. Organs in the axil, such as fl owers and buds, are called axillary.


Balled-and-burlapped (B-and- B). Field-grown woody plants sold with a ball of fi eld soil around roots, wrapped in fabric.


Bare-root. Deciduous shrubs, trees, and perennials sold with the soil removed from the roots.


Bedding plant. Any plant suit- able for massing in beds for colorful fl owers or foliage. Most bedding plants are annuals or tender perennials grown as annuals.


Biennial. A plant that germi- nates and produces foliage during its fi rst growing season, then blooms, sets seed, and dies during its second growing season.


Biodynamics. Views each farm or garden as a living organism, using crop rotation, manuring, tilling, and composting to improve soil and control pests, weeds, and diseases. Practi- tion ers sow seeds by astronom- ical calendars and grow plants that attract benefi cial insects when they’re most needed. They


reject artifi cial fertilizers or pest controls.


Blanching. Blocking light from parts of certain vegetables to keep them paler, milder in fl avor, or both. It is done by tying outer leaves over the inner head or leaves, or (for asparagus) by mounding soil over emerging spears.


Bolting. Premature seed set- ting by fl owers and vegetables.


Bonsai. Japanese for “tray planting,” bonsai is growing and training dwarf plants in contain- ers to create trees in miniature.


Bracts. Modifi ed leaves grow- ing below a fl ower or fl ower clus- ter. Bracts are usually green, but may be colorful enough to resemble fl owers or petals, as in poinsettia.


Broad-leafed. Trees and shrubs with broad leaves (in contrast with the needle- or scale-like leaves of conifers). Also any nongrass weed.


Bud. A rudimentary organ or shoot. A fl ower bud develops into a blossom; a growth bud produces shoots or foliage. Terminal (apical) buds are pro- duced at the end of a shoot. Lateral (axillary) buds are pro- duced in the axils of a plant.


Budding. A method of propaga- tion in which a bud (scion) from one plant is inserted beneath the bark of a related plant, where it grows a copy of its parent.


Bud union. The point (often swollen) at which a scion unites with the rootstock.


Bulb. A thickened underground structure from which a plant grows. See page 675.


Callus. A thick, tough layer of tissue formed where plants have been injured.


Calyx. Collectively, the sepals of a fl ower. See Flower.


Chlorosis


Composite head. See Infl orescence.


Compost tea. Made by soak- ing a compost-fi lled bag in a barrel of water, this liquid fertil- izer is also used to make soils


Cambium. The layer of growing cells between the xylem and phloem.


Cane. An elongated fl owering or fruiting stem (as in roses and raspberries), usually arising from the roots.


Cane pruning. A method of pruning grapevines.


Catkin. A slender, spikelike, often drooping fl ower cluster found in plants such as alder (Alnus) and willow (Salix).


Chill requirement. Many bulbs, perennials, and decidu- ous shrubs and trees need a certain number of hours below 45°F (7°C) to fl ower well. That number of hours is the plant’s chill requirement.


Chlorosis. When a leaf looks yellower than it should (espe- cially between leaf veins), it is often chlorotic (suffering from chlorosis). Frequently, chlorosis is caused by a plant’s inability to obtain the iron it needs to produce green coloring. For one way to correct this condition, see Iron chelate.


more bioactive, and to fi ght plant diseases. It can be made more potent by super- oxygenating the water.


Compound leaf. See Leaf.


Conifer. A woody plant such as juniper (Juniperus) or pine (Pinus), whose leaves are nar- row and needlelike or tiny and scalelike. Most are evergreen (and often called evergreens), but a few are deciduous. All bear seeds in cones or in modi- fi ed structures such as juniper berries and the berrylike cones of yew (Taxus).


Corm. A bulblike, swollen under- ground stem base composed of solid tissue. See page 675.


Corolla. Collectively, the petals of a fl ower.


Cover crop. Mostly cool- season annual legumes, these are usu- ally sown in vegetable beds in fall and tilled in during spring to increase the organic content, nutrients, and tilth of the soil.


Cover crop (fava beans)


Crown. A tree’s crown is its entire branch structure, includ- ing foliage. Also refers to the point at which a plant’s roots and top structure join, usually at or near the soil line.


Cultivar. Shorthand for “culti- vated variety.” These genetically distinct plants may be of hybrid origin or selected varieties of wild plants. Cultivar names are enclosed in single quotation marks and are not italicized, as in Lobelia erinus ‘Crystal Palace’. In general usage and throughout this book, the term “variety” refers both to cultivars and to varieties found in nature.


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