Gardeners' Terms - Are they Tongue in Cheek or Serious?
Should you be pleased when you read that the plants you just bought are 'strong growing'? Would you worry if descriptions says 'moisture loving' or 'drought tolerant'?
Stop worrying. I'm going to tell you what these and other gardening terms really mean.
Free Seeding
Forget-me-not or Myosotis Sylvatica, known for being free seeding
Forget-me-nots are so pretty. How can you resist these sweet little blue flowers? If you have them in your garden, you soon find out they are free seeding. This bit of gardening jargon means that the plants are very good at their job. They set seed easily and then spread them far and wide so that you have lots more forget-me-nots next year and the year after and the year after that too. In fact, if you don't do something about them, your garden will be covered in forget-me-nots.Forget-me-nots aren't the only plants that fall into this category but they are a prime example.
Another great example of a free seeding flower is Papaver Somniferum, better known as the opium poppy. I once had these in my garden. Oh my goodness! I spent the whole of the second summer after we moved to that house, racing found the the garden cutting the seed heads off the poppies. I hadn't done it the summer before and the second summer we had poppies everywhere. They are beautiful but I quite like some variety in a garden.
My definition:
Free Seeding: you will spend most of your time trying to cut off seedheads and burn them, the rest of your time will be spent pulling out the seedlings from the ones you missed.
Papaver Somniferum - the Opium Poppy
Vigorous, Strong Growing, Ground Cover
Although the terms vigorous, strong growing and ground cover are not necessarily synonymous, quite often plants that have these terms in their descriptions could be described as the tough boys and girls of the garden or even the schoolyard bullies.The picture on the right is the herb mint. Now, if you have ever made the mistake of putting a little sprig of mint in your garden that some neighbour or friend has dug up for you, I expect you are now asking yourself a serious question, "Whatever did I do to upset my friend or neighbour?" Vendettas lasting generations have been started for less than this.
Putting mint in your garden is a seriously stupid or careless thing to do. It's on a par with planting some varieties of bamboo. Both of these plants spread through underground roots. Those little roots spread down and out sideways and, guess what, new plants spring up from them. The roots don't just spread in one direction, they spread all round the plant and all the small plants that grow from them. The roots are fine and easy to pull up at first. Eventually they grow so strong you will spend your whole life trying to dig out all the roots - without success, I might add.
Both mint and some kinds of bamboo qualify as vigorous, strong growing and ground cover. Usually ground cover refers to small plants that spread but, trust me, both mint and bamboo cover the ground as effectively as anything else and will succeed in killing off anything else that tries to grow near them.
Thai Bamboo I Art Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
My Definitions
Vigorous:The plant will take over the garden within 6 months, smothering everything, no matter how much you cut it back.
Very Vigorous:Not only will it take over the garden, it will spread throughout the neighbourhood and your neighbours will hate you.
Good Ground Cover: it smothers everything in the flowerbed, then tries to invade the lawn.
Excellent Ground Cover: it does invade the lawn and it comes up through concrete paths.
Strong Growing - This plant definitely grows through concrete and also grows from the brickwork of your house.
Beginners: Get a Good Book to Help You
Gardening Basics For Dummies
This handy guide gives beginning gardeners tips, plans, and insider know-how for getting started with flower beds, borders, vegetables, trees, shrubs, lawns, and more. Packed with step-by-step advice, illustrations, resources, and suggested plantings, this friendly guide covers all the tools that make gardening today easier than ever before!
Easy for Beginners
Oh dear, this sounds so tempting for the novice gardener, doesn't it? It's true that there are many plants that are extremely well behaved, grow well without throwing tantrums or sulks, don't droop or drop their leaves at the slightest excuse and don't make a bid for world domination.The picture on the right shows Russian Vine. It is a viciously invasive plant, although of course it's easy for beginners to grow but it should never be planted anywhere. In fact, it is illegal to do so in some places. 'Easy to grow' isn't necessarily a good thing.
The shrub buddleia is easy to grow. It's also vigorous and strong growing. I found a tiny buddleia plant, just 3 inches high, growing out of the mortar between bricks in a wall. I potted it up and it grew into a massive shrub within three years that needed strong pruning annually to prevent it growing far too tall and bushy for its position. It's one of my favourite shrubs, in fact, but it has to be kept under control.
Luckily it is easy for beginners because you can hack away at it with shears or secateurs without it dying if you don't prune it well. It's easy to grow because it is extremely difficult to kill, try as you might. It's great for pollinating insects and will attract bees and butterflies to your garden. Its nickname is the butterfly bush.
My definition:
Easy for Beginners: You will need a flame thrower to kill it.
Picture above right: Copyright © Georg Slickers - Creative Commons License
Buddleia Davidii - also known as the Butterfly Bush
Copyright © Jeff de Longe - GFD License
Get the Right Tools for the Job
The Rumford Gardener Garden Pro Trowel #GPT1000
The Rumford Gardener Garden Pro trowel features an ergonomic design and a comfortable non-slip grip. It's constructed from polished, die-cast, single piece aluminum with a molded handle.
Attracts Insects
With the current emphasis on green gardening, you would think that plants that attract insects must be a good. Well, they can be great like the buddleia I mentioned above but it depends on the insects. There are some insects like aphids that you really don't want to attract and that, if you do have plants like lupins or roses that do attract the horrible little creatures, you will spend a lot of time waging war on them.Just as bad are the creatures, not insects, I agree, that are the thugs of the garden - slugs and snails. Hostas, for example, will attract every slug and snail for miles so good luck if you decide to grow them.
My definition:
Attracts Insects - every pest within 5 square miles will home in on it and then chomp their way through the rest of your garden.
Hosta - A favourite with slugs and snails
Garden Plants
Sunjoy Gold Pillar Barberry -Berberis-Outside or Bonsai
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 12/28/2009) 
Strawberries and Cream Wax Plant
Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 12/28/2009)
Picotee Blue Morning Glory 10 Seeds
Amazon Price: $3.99 (as of 12/28/2009)
Asiatic Star Jasmine Plant
Amazon Price: $4.99 (as of 12/28/2009)
Jasmine Maid of Orleans Plant
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 12/28/2009)
Drought Resistant or Moisture Loving
It should be really easy to give your fussy plants the conditions they like, shouldn't it? If you know that lavender, for instance, likes to keep its feet dry, you don't put it in your bog garden, do you? Nor do you put your Gunnera Manicata (see picture, right) in a dry, well drained position.Unfortunately, sometimes the weather doesn't co-operate. That beautifully well-drained spot you chose for your lavender might not be so successful if you have a summer like we had last year here in the UK. It rained all the time. We didn't get a nice tan, we went rusty. Under conditions like this, even the best drained soil can become water logged and your drought resistant plants might decide to die instead of suffering from wet roots.
Similarly, if the weather is relentlessly hot and dry for weeks, even your bog garden can dry out especially if water restrictions are put in place. If that happens, it's bye bye to your moisture loving plants.
My Definitions:
Drought resistant: The plant dies when it rains.
Moisture loving: It dies when it doesn't rain.
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Patio and Garden Furniture
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Earthjustice
Environmental law defender Earthjustice, the top American ecological law firm, because the earth needs a good lawyer. Formerly Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund.
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Do you agree with my definitions?
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Reply
- Upon-Request Upon-Request Oct 20, 2009 @ 10:02 am
- Great lens - Love your definitions!
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Reply
- Stazjia Stazjia Sep 11, 2009 @ 5:47 am | in reply to BarbRad
- These thorns might be brambles (also called blackberries). If they are, then my bet is that not mint nor any other strong growing plant will choke them out. You'll just have two uncontrollable plants instead of one. Without using a herbicide, I would suggest you keep the thorns cut down all the time. Every time a bit pokes its head above the soil, cut it off. Eventually, this should starve the roots but it will take persistence, vigilance and a long time. Good luck.
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Reply
- BarbRad BarbRad Sep 11, 2009 @ 5:12 am
- I love this lens. I have favorited it, lensrolled it, and given it five stars. I love your touch of humor in your definitions. And I guess I'd better cut back that butterfly bush this season. I'm seriously wondering if I should plant some mint in the orchard to choke out the thorns. It had certainly taken over my mom's backyard. I need something invasive and short to choke the weeds, but the orchard gets no water but rainwater, and I doubt if mint would like it. Any great ideas for a good drought resistant ground cover that will grow -- but not too high-- under fruit trees?
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- susannaduffy susannaduffy Aug 13, 2009 @ 7:01 am
- Blessed by an Angel today (squidoo.com/more-angel-blessings)
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Reply
- jasmineann jasmineann Jun 5, 2009 @ 4:54 am
- Love your own definitions here ! I love gardening however had made a few errors along the way. When I was a beginner I did my fair share of "pruning" "vigorous" plants. However I always knew that Mint is much better in its own individual pot! Wonderful lens :)
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About Me
Lensmaster Stazjia has been a member since September 26 2006, has rated 1,436 lenses, favorited 868, and has created 129 lenses from scratch. Carol Fisher donates their royalties to Dolphin Communication Project. This member's top-ranked page is "Traditional Christmas Pudding". See all my lenses
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