Accent Plant - A plant that is more distinctive than many plants, but does not attract the eye as much as a specimen plant.
Acclimaticization - The preparation of plants for a reduced light setting.
Alkaline - Characterized by a high pH
Annual - A plant that completes its life cycle in one growing season.
Antitranspirant - A liquid sprayed on plants to reduce water loss, transplant shock, windburn, and sunscald.
Balled & Burlapped - A form of plant preparation in which a large part of the root system is retained in a soil ball. The ball is wrapped in burlap to facilitate handling during sale and transplanting.
Bare Root - A form of plant preparation in which all soil is removed from the root system. The plant is lightweight and easier to handle during sale and transplanting.
Bedding Plant - A herbaceous plant preseeded and growing in a peat pot or packet container.
Bulb - A flowering perennial that survives the winter as a dormant fleshy storage structure.
Compaction - A condition of soil in which all air has been driven out of the pore spaces. Water is unable to move into and through the soil.
Complete Fertilizer - A fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, the three nutrients used in the largest quantities by plants.
Conditioning - Preparation of soil to make it suitable for planting.
Containerized - A form of plant preparation for sale and transplanting. When purchased, the plant is growing with its root system intact within a plastic, metal, or tarpaper container.
Crown - The point at which aboveground plant parts and the root system meet.
Deciduous - A type of plant that loses its leaves each autumn.
Dormancy - A period of rest that perennial plants experience during the winter season. They continue to live, but have little or no growth.
Drainage - The act of water passing through the root area of soil. Soil is well drained if water disappears in 10 minutes or less from a shrub or tree planting.
Espalier - A form of pruning in which plants are trained against a fence or wall. The effect is vinelike and two dimensional.
Evergreen - A type of plant that retains its foliage during the winter. There are needled forms (such as pine, spruce, hemlock, and fir) and broad-leaved forms (such as rhododendron, euonymus, and holly).
Exotic Plant - A plant that has been introduced to an area by human beings, not nature.
Fertilization - The addition of nutrients to the soil through application of natural or synthesized products called fertilizers.
Flora - Plant life.
Flower Bed - A free-standing planting made entirely of flowers with no background of shrub foliage.
Flower Border - A flower planting used in front of a planting of shrubs. The shrubs provide green background for the blossoms.
Focal Point - A point of visual attraction. A focal point can be created by color, movement, shape, size, or other characteristics.
Foliage Texture - The effect created by the combination of leaf size, sunlight, and shadow patterns on plants.
Foundation Planting - The planting next to a building that helps it blend more comfortably into the surrounding landscape.
Groundcover - A low-growing, spreading plant, usually 18 inches or less in height.
Hardiness - The ability of a plant to survive the winter season.
Hardscape - Design materials that are not living plant materials. The term usually is applied to the constructed materials of a landscape.
Heading Back - A pruning technique that shortens a shrub branch without totally removing it.
Heaving - An action that causes shallowly rooted plants, such as grasses, groundcovers, and bulbs, to be forced to the surface of the soil. The action results from repeated freezing and thawing of the soil surface.
Herbaceous - A type of plant that is nonwoody. It has no bark.
Humus - Created by decaying organic matter, it aids the soil in moisture retention.
Hydrozoning - Grouping plants on the basis of their water needs.
Incurve - The center of a corner planting bed and a natural focal point.
Lateral Bud - Any bud below the terminal bud on a twig.
Lime - A powdered material used to correct excess acidity in the soil.
Loam - Soil that contains approximately equal amounts of clay, silt, and sand (a desirable condition).
Massing Plants - Plants that serve to fill a large amount of space both on the ground and in the air.
Morphology - Physical structure of plants.
Mulch - A material placed on top of soil to aid in water retention, prevent soil temperature fluctuations, or to discourage weed growth.
Native Plant - A plant that evolved naturally within a certain locale.
Naturalized Plant - A plant that was introduced to an area as an exotic plant, but which has adapted so well that it may appear to be native.
Organic - Consisting of modified plant or animal materials.
Outcurve - The sides of a corner planting.
Perennial - A plant that lives more than two growing seasons. It usually is dormant during the winter.
pH - A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of soil. A pH of 7.0 is considered neutral. Ratings below 7.0 are acidic, above 7.0 alkaline (basic).
Propagation - The reproduction of plants. It may be sexual or asexual(by vegetative cuttings, layering, etc).
Pruning - The removal of a portion of a plant for better shape or more fruitful growth.
Respiration - The use of food reserves for growth an maintenance by plants.
Rhizome - An underground stem. New shoots are sent to the surface some distance out from the parent plant. Each new plant develops its own root system and becomes independent of the parent plant.
Root Systems - Of plants, range from total tap root systems, with a large single root growing straight down into the soil, to full fibrous systems, with thousands of fine, hairlike roots spreading out in all directions.
Shrub - A multistemmed plant smaller in size than a tree.
Slow Release Fertilizer - A slow action fretilizer in which the nitrogen content is in a form not soluble in water. The nitrogen is released more slowly into the soil for more efficient intake by plants.
Species - A category of plant classification distinguishing the plant from all others.
Specimen Plant - A plant that is highly distinctive because of such qualities as flower or fruit color, branching pattern, or distinctive foliage. Its use creates a strong focal point in a landscape.
Stolon - A stem that grows parallel to the ground. New plants develop from it and become independent of the parent plant.
Sucker - A succulent branch that originates from the root system. The vegetation of suckers is abnormal and undesirable.
Tendrils - Special appendages of certain vines that allow them to climb.
Thinning Out - A pruning technique that removes a shrub branch at or near the crown of the plant.
Transplant - To relocate a plant.
Twining - One method by which certain vines are able to climb.
Xeriscaping - Techniques of landscaping that conserve water.
