Garden lingo for newbies

9:23 PM, Aug. 22, 2013  |  Comments
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Novice gardeners may occasionally be puzzled by terms used in this column or in garden magazines. You are not alone if, as a newcomer to America's most popular pastime, at first you are confused with a phrase such as "friable loam."

Let's review some of the most common terms used in gardening.

? Acid soil: Soil with a pH less than 7.0. Most fruits and vegetables grow best in a soil pH of 5.5 to 7.0.

? Aerated soil: The availability of air in the root zone; proper aeration is important for root growth.

? Alkaline soil: Soil with a pH greater than 7.0

? Annuals: Plants which complete their life cycle in one year. A true annual germinates, grows, flowers, produces seed and dies in one growing season. Examples: Green beans and melons.

? Broadcast: Scattering seed or fertilizer over a broad area rather than placing it directly in the row.

? Compost: Decayed organic matter which adds fertility and friability to soil.

? Cover crop: A crop grown to protect and enrich the soil. It also controls weeds.

? Cultivar: A cultivated strain of plant. Short for "cultivated variety."

? Everbearing: Plants which bloom intermittently, producing fruit throughout the entire growing season.

? Friable: A term for soil that breaks or crumbles easily when handled.

? Green manure: A crop grown primarily to add nutrients to the soil when plowed under. Green manure crops include hairy vetch, clover, ryegrass and canola.

? Hardening off: The process of gradually acclimating plants to outdoor conditions by withholding water and lowering temperature before transplanting outdoors.

? Heirloom plants: Non-hybrid plant varieties that are generally more than 50 years old.

? Leaching: The loss of nutrients caused by the draining of water through the soil.

? Legume: A plant whose roots form an association with soil bacteria to capture atmospheric nitrogen. Peas and beans are examples of legumes.

? Loam: Topsoil with a balanced amount of sand, silt, and clay. Loam soils are generally considered the best garden soils.

? NPK: Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium - symbols for three primary nutrients needed by plants.

? Perennials: Plants which live more than two years.

? Tuber: Fleshy underground stems that have eyes or buds from which leaves and flowers grow. The underground portion of the plant serves to store reserved food. The most common tuber is the Irish potato.

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