Definitions Flashcards
Tree ?
a large woody perennial unbranched for some distance above ground, on a single stem.
Domestic garden trees being less than 10m in mature height. Most offer an array of attractive features, including decorative foliage, flowers, fruits and bark. Some keep their leaves all year, while others are leafless over winter.
Shrub ?
A multi stemmed woody perennial; plant having side branches emerging from near ground level.
Climbing plant ?
A weak-stemmed plant that derives its support from climbing, twining, or creeping along a surface of a wall, fence, or another plant.
These plants clothe walls and supports in foliage and flowers. Climbers cling on using tendrils, twining stems, stem roots or sticky pads.
Wall shrubs
These shrubs can be evergreen or deciduous and trained up and across a wall, cloaking it in foliage, some will prefer to be tied in.
These shrubs can transform a dull wall, clothing it in attractive foliage, flowers and often berries. They benefit from this sheltered location and provide an insulating effect and help to prevent weather erosion on a house wall. Many also offer food and shelter for wildlife.
Herbaceous perennial
A perennial that is non-woody and generally loses it’s stems and foliage at the end of the growing season.
Planting in September or March is ideal, but most container grown plants can be planted any time the soil is not frozen or waterlogged.
Annual ?
A plant that completes it’s life cycle within a growing season.
Hardy annuals are able to survive -5oC including frost, so can be sown outdoors in autumn or from early spring onwards.
Half-hardy annuals tolerate 1oC to -5oC temperatures, but need protection from frost.
Biennials ?
Biennials are often sown to grow in their first year and then flower, set seed and die in their second year.
They’re often sown indoors, but hardy types can be sown outdoors too.
Patio plant ??
A plant normally cultivated in the ground, having characteristics suitable for use as a container plant (characteristics typically include a dwarf habit, shallow roots etc.)
F1 hybrids ?
F1 hybrids, which are largely annual and vegetable cultivars, are produced by crossing two stable seed lines (called inbred lines) that give rise to especially uniform progeny that possess good vigour, yield and other properties. It will say on the seed packet if the variety is F1
Examples
Tomato ‘Sunglod’
Carrot ‘Resistafly’
Cabbage ‘Spring hero’
Beetroot ‘Action’
Courgette ‘Goldmine’
Sowing locations ?
Direct - outdoors in final position.
Indoors - raised off site and transplanted.
Nursery bed - an area of prepared space set aside for sowing.
Coldframes and mini-greenhouses ?
Frames are merely boxes that lie flat on the ground with a glazed, sloping lid and mini-greenhouses are glazed boxes that stand vertically with openings on one side.
Coldframes and mini-greenhouses can be easily moved to a spot suitable for growing a particular plant or crop
Use coldframes on raised beds to warm the soil in spring
Cloches (low polythene tunnels)
A polytunnel is a tunnel typically made from steel and covered in polyethylene, usually semi-circular, square or elongated in shape. The interior heats up because incoming solar radiation from the sun warms plants, soil, and other things inside the building faster than heat can escape the structure
The Protected Environment
Protected cropping is the use of a structure to influence the environmental conditions so that negative aspects are reduced and positive factors enhanced.
HARDENING-OFF
Any plants that have been started inside need to be allowed to become adjusted to the lower temperatures and/or the elements outside.
Take outside during the day bring back in if it is likely to be frosty or too chilly at night. Use the ventilation in a cold frame during the day and extra insulation on very cold nights.
Hedge ??
Definition: plants (usually trees or shrubs) grown in a line. Allowing them to grow to their own shape gives an informal hedge whereas cutting to a regular shape gives a formal hedge.
