Glossary of Terms
Below are common terms that you may run into when working with your lawn and landscape plants.
Bare-root: A plant, usually woody or a herbaceous perennial, that is sold with little or no soil on its roots.
Biennial: Plants that require all or portions of two growing seasons to complete their lifecycles.
Broad-leaved Evergreen: An evergreen plant with broad leaves (not needle shaped.)
Caliper: The diameter of a tree trunk measured six inches above the ground. On trees four inches or more, the measurement is made twelve inches about the soil surface.
Candle: The early spring growth of some evergreens before the needles expand.
Central Leader: The main stem of a tree from which other branches develop; usually the trunk.
Composting: The process of converting plant and animal wastes into useful soil additives.
Cool-season grass: Turfgrass species adapted to favorable growth during cool portions (40 - 75 degrees F) of the growing season; may become dormant under dry conditions during hot weather.
Crotch: The angle existing between two connecting branches.
Crown: The transition zone from root to shoot, generally located at the ground line; the branching portion of a tree.
Cultivar: A group of plants within a species that is unique.
Damping-off: A seed or seedling disease in which decay occurs before the emergence through the soil surface or after emergence, when the seedling stem collapses near the soil's surface.
Deciduous: A plant that sheds all of its leaves at one time each year.
Dieback: The dying back of stems due to adverse weather conditions, insects, diseases, or other causes.
Dormant: Period of time when a plant is not growing.
Drip Line: The circle that forms at the ends of the branches of a tree, where water would drip off the leaves onto the ground.
Evergreen: A plant that retains at least some of its leaves year-round.
Frost Crack: A type of winter injury caused by conditions similar to sunscald; results in a long, deep, narrow crack running vertically along the trunk of a tree.
Girdling: Constricting or destroying the bark in a ring around the trunk or branch of a plant.
Groundcover: Low-growing plants that are used for control of erosion or for aesthetic reasons.
Hardening off: The process of preparing plants for the harsh environmental conditions following transplanting. It involves reduced watering, fertilizer and temperatures.
Herbaceous plant: Any non-woody plant.
Midrib: Central vein of a leaf.
Mulch: A material spread on the soil surface to conserve soil moisture, influence soil temperatures and control weeds.
Multi-stemmed Plant: Plant with more than one stem formed at the base.
Narrow-leaved Evergreen: An evergreen plant with leaves that are needle shaped.
Perennial: Any plant that can live for more than two growing seasons.
Pot-bound: Condition when roots in a container circle the inside and become dense and matted. Pot-bound plants tend to dry out quickly and grow poorly.
Skeletonizing: Feeding pattern where areas between leaf veins are consumed.
Slow-release fertilizer: A fertilizer that releases its nutrients gradually.
Soil texture: Relative proportions of sand, silt and clay in a soil.
Sucker: A vigorous shoot originating from the root or stem tissue below ground.
Sunscald: A type of winter injury on southern and western sides of trunks of young, thin-barked trees, caused by thawing and rapid re-freezing when the sun sets or is obstructed.
Terminal: The tip-end of branches.
Thatch: Accumulation of living and dead stems, leaves and roots along the soil surface and beneath the topgrowth of turfgrass.
Transplanting: The act of planting a plant (a transplant) into a new location.
Warm-season grass: Turfgrass species adapted to an optimal growth during warm portions (75 to 95 degrees F) of the growing season.
Watersprout: A vigorous shoot arising from the trunk or older branches.
Weed: A plant out of place. Weeds are troublesome because they compete with wanted plants for water, minerals and light.
Wilting: The drooping of plant parts, especially leaves, generally because of a lack of water.
Winter annual: A biennial plant whose seeds germinate in the fall; it overwinters in the vegetative state and flowers in the spring or early summer.
Witches' broom: A growth that may occur in trees when many small branches arise from one point.
Wound: The area where the bark of a plant is cut or damaged.