|  Gardening
Glossary: P - R
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.
A
B C
D E
F G
H I-K
L M
N O
P-Q R
S T
U-V W-Z
top
Peat:
Usually partially decomposed sphagnum moss and used for
potting compost, etc.
Peat Substitute:
Because of
environmental concerns over the use of peat, a substitute
is now available made from renewable materials like coir.
Peduncle:
The stalk of a flower.
Perennial:
A plant that lives for at least three seasons.
Perlite:
Small granules of white expanded volcanic mineral mixed
with seed compost to improve air supply.
Petal:
An individual part of the corolla
forming the flower.
Pesticide:
A chemical that kills pests - see insecticide.
Petiole:
A leaf stalk.
pH: A measure
of acidity and alkalinity
- also see neutral.
Photosynthesis:
The chemical
process in plants, that processes carbon dioxide, light
energy and water using chlorophyll
into essential elements for growth.
Picotee:
Petals with a narrow band of contrasting
colour around them.
Pinching Out:
Removing the main growing point from a plant to encourage
side growth.
Pleaching:
A technique of weaving branches of a row of trees to make
a more solid wall.
Plunge:
To place an outdoor pot up to its rim in soil, peat, sand
or ashes to protect the roots from extreme heat or cold.
Pollarding:
A forestry technique - all the main branches of a tree are
cut back to the trunk at around 6ft above the ground. Also
see coppicing.
Pollen:
The male 'dust' produced by a flower on the anther
to fertilise other flowers.
Pot Bound:
A plant that has been left in a pot too long and so is now
to big for it and the root ball is tightly
compressed.
Potting On:
Repotting a plant so that it has room to expand its root
ball and encourage growth - see over
potting.
Pricking Out:
Moving seedlings from a seed tray and replanting them with
more space for development.
Propagation:
Making new plants either from seed, taking cuttings
or layering.
Pruning:
Cutting off or shortening branches of shrubs and trees to
encourage growth and/or to improve the shape.
A
B C
D E
F G
H I-K
L M
N O
P-Q R
S T
U-V W-Z
top
Remontant:
A plant that flowers more than once in a season.
Revert:
When a plant returns to an original state, for example,
one with variegated leaves may produce plain leaves.
Rhizome:
Like a bulb, this provides
storage. It is again a modified stem and lies horizontally
in the soil producing roots along its length.
Ripewood Cutting:
A cutting
from ripened wood, usually used for evergreen plants.
Root
Ball: The compact mass of roots and soil seen when
a plant comes out of a pot or is dug up from the soil.
Root Cutting: A
cutting taken from a piece of root.
Rooting Hormone:
A chemical in which the cut end of a cutting
is placed before planting to promote root formation.
Rootstock:
The roots used in a graft.
Rose: Apart
from the flower, the term refers to the nozzle with fine
holes put on the spout of a watering can.
Rosette:
A cluster of leaves coming out from around the same place.
Runner:
A thin stem that grows horizontally above ground and it
roots and grows new plants at the nodes,
eg strawberries. Not to be confused with stolon.
A
B C
D E
F G
H I-K
L M
N O
P-Q R
S T
U-V W-Z
top
Previous
Page Next
Page | 
