Prepare to be un-baffled! Your new gardening glossary is here!
Are you new to gardening and a bit baffled by all the terminology? Do you know your herbaceous perennial from your deciduous shrub? No? Well, you have come to the right place! Because, in this post, I have pulled together all the terms that you probably have heard mention of, into a super simple glossary.
This handy gardening glossary will give you the knowledge you need to sound like a pro. Plus, the added bonus is that the next time you are in the garden centre you won’t be baffled by the labels either!
Additionally, I have added little design tips at the bottom of the plant categories. And if you want even more garden design ideas then you can read my post ‘The Ultimate Guide to Planning your Own Dream Garden by clicking here. Enjoy!
N.B. I am not a horticulturalist and have not swallowed a dictionary. This is my understanding of the terminology, a laypersons glossary – not the technical definitions!
“The one who plants trees, knowing that he or she will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life”
Rabindranath Tagore
What’s your name again?
So before we really get into it, I just want to talk a little bit about plant names. You are probably more familiar with the common names such as ‘rose’ or ‘honeysuckle’. Whilst this tells us what the flower is, the surname if you like, it doesn’t help if we want that exact flower. Thus, if you ask different people for a rose, you will get different roses! Because of that we would need to know its first and maybe even middle name, and that is where latin terms come in.
In horticulture, the way plants are identified and subsequently named is by the binomial approach. This is based on a system developed years ago, when they spoke Latin more often. So, er, that is why it is all in Latin! Of course, there is a little more to it than this which frankly, I don’t think you need to know right now. But if you are really interested, comment at the end of this post and I will point you in the right direction 😝. Enough said.
What does that even mean? Glossary of gardening terms
Right, let’s start with some gardening terms and an explanation of what they actually mean.
Perennial
These are plants that come back year after year, they are immortal!
Short-lived perennial
Plants that come back year after year, but then give up and die. However, you can never really tell when, just when the mood takes them. Or that’s my experience at least.
Annual
Plants that die after only one season (normally flowers). But I think they are often the most beautiful however we all know beauty doesn’t last 😭
Biennial
Plants that do all their growing in the first year and then flower in the next. Then die. Knackered themselves out didn’t they?
Herbaceous
This means that the plant appears to dies. But it’s root survive so it re-emerge when the weather gets better. Additionally, they are often termed herbaceous perennials, because they die back and return year after year. They are tricksy these ones, because you forget where you have planted them!
Deciduous
This is a term which describes the leaves falling off the plant when it gets a bit cold, then come spring, they start growing again. I like to think that they get shocked by the cold and drop their clothes! You will notice that trees do this a lot.
Evergreen
Surprisingly, this means that the plant keeps their leaves all year round and stays, well, ever green!
Hardiness
Hardiness – this is how well plants can deal with the cold. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has 10 levels of hardiness, ranging from H1a to H7. If you click here, https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/trials-awards/award-of-garden-merit/rhs-hardiness-rating you can read all the detail on the RHS website. H1a is a bit of a wimp in the cold, but H7 is a bruiser and can survive temperatures of more than -20 degrees.
Tender
This term refers to plants that are heat-lovers. They are classed as H1a, H1b, H1c and are probably going to be houseplants in this country due to being needy….of heat and humidity.
Propagation
Now, this is a VERY large subject and not one I am going to cover in depth here. So standby for further posts. However, you do need to know a bit about this, so here is a little summary.
As a broad explanation, propagation is how plants multiply! We can help, or let them do it themselves. Now, we/they can make lots of baby plants in a myriad of ways: Seeds, cuttings, spores, layering, budding, grafting and division, to name more than a few. Don’t worry about some of these terms. The ones you really need to know are the easiest ones. Therefore, best for beginner propagation is sowing seeds, planting bulbs, taking cuttings from a mature plant or dividing larger plants into smaller ones. How to’s for all of these are coming soon!
To be a plant, or not to be a plant, that is the question. Glossary of plant categories
So as well as giving you a run down of gardeners terms, I am going to give you a glossary of plant categories, and explain some of the common plant groups. Unless you have aspirations to be a horticulturist you probably don’t need to know the more obscure ones at this stage!
Trees
I’m not going to insult your intelligence, everyone knows what a tree is (!?) What you probably didn’t know is that everyone can have one because they come in all shapes and sizes. Irrespective of the size of your garden, or even if you don’t have a garden and only an interior space you can still have a tree. I love trees 😍.
🌺🌼🌸Design tip: when you are designing a garden, plant your trees first and they will give your garden shape and height.
Shrubs
Shrubs are perennial woody-stemmed plants. They come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Some have flowers, others don’t. Also, some change colour through the seasons. In addition, they can be deciduous or evergreen. As a result, always have shrubs in your garden because they give you structure, and the evergreen ones give you green in winter!
🌺🌼🌸Design tip: plant the shrubs at the same time or after the trees, as together they will give the skeleton aka framework, of your garden.
Roses
These are obviously flowers. But they deserve special mention. Because roses are so amazing people make whole gardens from them. Notably, they are generally winter hardy and perennial, but they are deciduous. Whilst they come in a multitude of colours they are generally known for their wonderful fragrance.
🌺🌼🌸 Design tip: roses don’t look great over winter, with all their bare branches. So plant them with other shrubs and flowers, preferably evergreen ones.
Flowers
Flowers come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colours and forms. Therefore, a lot of gardening glossary words refer to flowers. So when people talk about perennials, annuals and biennials you now know the terms and can decipher what they mean. For example, a herbaceous perennial is a flower that comes back every year but the top growth completely dies back over winter so there is nothing left above ground. I love flowers as much as I love trees.
🌺🌼🌸 Design tip: try and choose flowers that bloom at different times of the year so that you are never without colour or beauty in your garden.
Grasses
We all know what grass is, but ornamental grasses are whole different ball game. They are the rugby of all ball games (the best. Grasses also come in all different shapes and sizes. For example, some are perennial, some annual. There are some that flower and you get lovely ethereal seed heads which look stunning in the winter months. Some grasses stay evergreen too. Hence, grasses are rapidly progressing up my favourites list!
🌺🌼🌸 Design tips: Grasses bring movement to your garden as they sway in the breeze and this movement can also create beautiful shadows when the light hits them. They add so much to your garden, definitely include them in your design.
Ferns
One plant firmly up there on my all time fav list are ferns. Because they are perennial, once in the right place they will come back year after year. Although ferns do not flower, this is not what you grow them for. Due to their wonderful green foliage which again comes in different shades, shapes and sizes you must include some. Also, an added bonus is that some are evergreen, whilst others are herbaceous.
🌺🌼🌸 Design tip: Ferns are fantastic for shady parts of your garden, and can be planted under trees or shrubs that cast shade. Consequently, they make your garden look lush and healthy.
Aquatic plants
As you would imagine, aquatic plants like water. Funny that. Different plants can be submerged to different depths. For example, bog plants, like very moist soil. Marginal’s like their roots in water but foliage out. Others like to be fully submerged and then throw up leaves and flowers, such as water lilies. Also, some plants like to float on the surface and I have grown watercress this way from a bit left over from a supermarket packet. Finally, there are plants that live under water and supply oxygen – a must for a pond of any type.
🌺🌼🌸 Design tip: aquatic plants will make your ponds look natural, but they are also super good for wildlife as they give water oxygen and keep it clear. Even if you want a small water feature with no pump, make sure you use some oxygenators.
Alpines
You will see a lot of alpines at garden centres so you probably need to know what they are. They are cute little plants normally with lots of flowers. As the name suggests, alpines grow in mountainous areas, which makes them very hardy. They also don’t need much TLC, just give them gritty soil to grow in, dry conditions and sunshine.
🌺🌼🌸Design Tip: alpines look great in containers and you can plant lots of them together. Put horticultural grit around the base of the plants to cover up the soil and they will look fab!
Carnivore plants
These are definitely one the for kids, and the greenhouse. I think they look like something out of an alien movie and are really interesting little plants. They cleverly trap little insects and then feed off them. These little plants are proper cool if you ask me! In fact, I probably should get some more 🤔.
🌺🌼🌸Design tip: make your own alien landscape by growing them in containers either in your house or your greenhouse.
Succulents
These are great plants for those who don’t have green fingers and good memories! They have thick plant parts (oh-er) which are fleshy and filled with fluid. Because of that they don’t need watering very often. Perfect for the forgetful amongst us. Some are hardy and can survive the garden providing they have sunshine and drainage. I have several succulents as house plants.
🌺🌼🌸Design Tip: succulents make a great centre table arrangement. With a nice shallow container, plant your succulents, use decorative stone around the bases and they look like artwork!
Climbers
Where would we be without climbing plants? The uses for climbers are innumerable. They can be hardy or tender. Perennial or annual. Deciduous or evergreen. Scented or unscented. Flowers or foliage. I have a mixture of all of these and I grow them up dedicated obellisks, over walls, up fences, around trees, over my gazebo. I won’t drone on. Get some!
🌺🌼🌸Design tip – grow contrasting climbers together or plant several of the same kind together. Either way the flowers will really pop. My favourites are sweet peas as they look, smell and pick fabulously well. Conseqeuntly, I grow lots of different colours and allow them to clamber up the same structure.
Conifers
These are plants you will absolutely have heard of. For example, Fir, pine, cypress and yew to name but a few. As they can get really big, you can prune them and restrict their roots to keep them small. Because they are evergreen and provide great structure to the garden, I absolutely love them!
🌺🌼🌸Design Tip: Confers, if placed well can give you instant height and colour. They also make great hedges. And, you can also use baby conifers in containers with other plants to make a really good display all year round, then plant them in the garden when they get too big.
Gardening Glossary Conclusion
I hope this post has been able to help you in some small way. You should now have a really good grounding of gardening terminology and a nice simple glossary to refer back to. Moreover, this will definitely help you in your own garden and you can wow your friends with your superior knowledge! So whether you are designing your garden from scratch, or whether you just want to add more pizzaz to your green space, you now have the knowledge to make it that little bit more special!
Happy gardening!
JT xx
