|  Gardening
Glossary: H - L
Gardening terms can be difficult to understand
and can make reading books or articles on the subject less
informative than they would be otherwise. When you find
a term you don't understand, look it up in this glossary.
Let me know if you come across any term that doesn't appear
here and I will add it
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Half
Hardy: A plant that cannot withstand the coldest
conditions in a particular climatic zone so needs some protection.
Hardening Off:
The process of acclimatising plants grown under protection,
in the greenhouse for example, to cooler conditions outdoors.
Hardwood Cutting:
A cutting taken from mature wood.
Hardy: A
plant that can withstand the extremes of climatic conditions
in the area it is grown.
Heel: A
small piece of bark at the bottom of a cutting
when it is removed from the main stem. This often makes
rooting the cutting easier.
Heeling In:
Putting a plant in a temporary position until it can be
permanently planted.
Herb: A
plant grown for flavoring food or for medicinal purposes.
Herbaceous:
Usually refers to perennials, these are plants with non-woody
stems that die back to the roots at the end of the growing
season.
Herbicide:
A chemical used to kill weeds.
Honeydew:
The sticky secretion from aphids, etc.
Humus:
The beneficial decayed vegetable matter that helps to form
soil.
Hybrid:-
The offspring of two different plants.
Hydroponics:
Growing plants in nutrient enriched water.
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Indehiscent:
A fruit that remains closed so doesn't open to
release seeds.
Inflorescence:
A group of flowers growing on one stem.
Inorganic:
Usually refers to fertilisers - those that do not derive
from living material.
Insecticide:
A substance, either chemical or organic, used to kills insects.
Internodal Cutting:
A cutting taken by cutting
between two nodes.
John Innes Compost:
A loam based compost.
Knocking Out:
Removing a plant from a pot to repot or check root ball.
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Layering:
A method of propagation used to make a new plant before
severing it from the old plant.
Leaching:
Losing nutrients from top soil by water draining them out.
Leaf Bud Cutting:
A cutting taken from a small piece
of stem with one or two leaves or buds.
Leaf Cutting:
A cutting taken from a whole or part
of a leaf.
Leaf Mould:
Decomposed leaves used for compost and to add body to garden
soil.
Leaflet:
A sub-division of a compound leaf.
Leggy: Weak,
tall growth on a plant, sometimes caused by keeping a plant
in too warm conditions too long.
Legume:
Dehiscent fruit that splits into two
when mature.
Lithophyte:
A plant that grows naturally on rocky ground.
Loam: Good
soil, usually easy to work, with equal proportions of silt,
sand and clay and with a high proportion of humus.
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