The ABCs of Gardening: A Glossary of Essential Terms

You don’t just wake up and become an expert gardener. It takes time, patience, practice, and knowledge. However, learning to be a great gardener can sometimes be frustrating, especially when you’re reading gardening guides and aren’t familiar with many terms the writers expect you to understand.

If you have big dreams of growing your own garden and becoming a gardening expert, familiarise yourself with these essential gardening terms below.

Annual

Have you ever heard someone say they’ve planted a whole lot of ‘annuals’ this year? They’re referring to annual plants. These plants only live for one growing season. This means they grow, flower, go to seed, and die, all in a single growing year. Some great examples of annual plants are pansies, violas, sweet peas, and swan plants.

Biennial

Biennial plants are less commonly spoken about, but this term refers to plants that live for two years. Generally, they spend their first year growing roots, stems, and leaves. They may then bloom in their second year after being dormant through winter.

Cuttings

When you hear gardeners talk about growing something from a cutting or asking you for a cutting, they’re talking about plants you can propagate from part of a ‘mother’ plant. When you remove a section of a plant, you can form a whole new plant with the same genetics.

Deciduous

When you want your garden to look beautiful year-round, knowing what deciduous means in the gardening world is important. Otherwise, you might not achieve your goals! Deciduous plants are those that will lose their leaves during winter. They might also shed other parts of the plant structure after they ripen or flower. You might choose not to plant deciduous trees and shrubs if you’re looking for year-round beauty.

Evergreen

Gardens can look miserable during the winter months. However, familiarise yourself with the term ‘evergreen’, and your garden might be an exception to the rule. Evergreen plants maintain their green foliage year-round. You don’t have to worry about leaf litter or your yard losing its beauty when the temperatures plummet.

Fungicide

Fungal diseases can be devastating for plants. You might think you must sit back and let them take over, but you don’t. Gardeners can buy fungicide products designed to control and combat fungi-related diseases.

Herbicide

Weeds are every gardener’s worst nightmare. It can seem like as soon as you’ve gotten rid of some, more show up! However, herbicide can be an ideal product to have in your tool shed. Herbicide is a general name for a weed-killing product. You can also purchase herbicides that actively target lawn weeds while not harming your lawn in the process.

Insecticide

Weeds aren’t the only problem gardeners encounter. They also get fed up with non-beneficial bugs killing their prized plants. You can give insects their marching orders with insecticide products. Talk to your local gardening expert about the best insecticide for your unique needs.

Leggy

Plants won’t always grow how we want them to. Some gardeners talk about their plants growing too ‘leggy’. This means that seedlings have grown too quickly and have grown too much stem in a short space of time. Often, this is caused by seedlings searching for light.

Mulch

Many gardening resources talk about mulch so generally that they rarely explain what it is. It’s a loose organic material made of natural matter gardeners put on their garden beds to conserve moisture and control weeds. Most mulch products feature lawn clippings, bark, and leaves.

Perennial

Perennial is the name given to plants that can live for several years. We’ve got a number of great plant varieties in NZ that fit into this category, such as Auilegia Yellow Star, Bellis Habanera, Balkan Mint, Curry Plant, and Cowslip.

Propagating

Propagating describes increasing how many plants you have through sexual or asexual plant propagation. Sexual propagation involves pollination and seed production, while you can perform asexual propagation through cuttings, layering, grafting, and other growing methods.

Thatch

There’s more to lawn mowing than hauling the mower out of storage when the grass starts growing. Many passionate gardeners also take care of dethatching. Thatch refers to the dead grass, stems, and roots that can build up on the soil at the base of your grass. A small amount of thatch is okay, but a great amount can stop your lawn from getting the nutrients it needs to thrive.

Fortunately, it’s easy to remove. You can use a vertical mower, short-tined rake, or power rake to scrape out the thatch.

Are You Ready to Start Gardening?

Sometimes, understanding gardening terminology is the hardest part of the gardening process. Now that you know the fundamentals, you might feel more confident to get started! If you need further help with gardening or lawn care, contact your local lawn care experts!