New to gardening? Quickly grasp essential garden terms and phrases frequently used by gardeners. When I began my gardening journey, I too was overwhelmed by the terminology, so let’s begin with the basics.

1. Harvest – picking and gathering crops at maturity to eat or store away.

2. Annual – plants that grow and die within a growing season. Annuals require replanting the following year.

3. Perennial – plants that grow back season after season. Perennials do not require replanting year over year.

4. Deadheading – removing the flower tops after the petals have fallen to encourage new flowering.

5. Bolting – when a plant prematurely starts producing flowers and wants to go into seed production before harvest, sometimes due to stressors such as drastic changes in temperatures.

6. Mulch – used as planting area cover-up, usually made of leaves, barks, compost to retain moisture around the plants and shade out weeds.

7. Cover Crop – a crop grown in between main crops to protect the soil from erosion. Also, it helps retain soil nutrients until the next growing season.

8. Bumper Crop – a crop that produces an unusually high yield.

9. Raised Bed Garden – an elevated garden bed where the soil is enclosed with wood, brick, or structure. The raised soil can easily be amended with rich compost and nutrients. The bed is small enough to work on it without having to step into the planting area.

10. Amendment – adding compost, fertilizer, topsoil, and any elements to improve the soil’s quality.

Just getting started? Here are ten easy vegetables to start with.

11. Topdressing – adding a nutrient-dense thin layer of soil on top of your raised bed garden or planting area can protect your plants and give it a little boost.

12. Kitchen Garden – a garden near the home, where vegetables and fruits are grown for personal consumption.

13. Potager – a French term for a kitchen garden.

14. Container Gardening – growing plants and edibles in pots, primarily used in small spaces.

15. Blossom End Rot – when calcium deficiency causes the bottom of a fruit’s blossom end to rot.

16. Blight – a fungal disease that causes plants and fruits to form lesions, wither, and break down.

17. Direct Sow – planting seeds directly in the soil. For a start, a great selection of herb seeds include basil, cilantro, chives, and parsley, to name a few.

18. Seedlings – seeds that have started to sprout, also known as a young plant.

19. Transplants – plants that are moved from one place to another, usually from a growing container to the garden.

20. Determinate Tomatoes – a plant that will max out at usually 3 to 4 feet in height and set most of its fruits at once. These are compact plants.

21. Indeterminate Tomatoes– a plant that can grow indefinitely, these are generally very tall and large plants. Requiring some trellis or support.

22. Pollinator Garden – a garden filled with pollen-producing plants, mostly flowers that attract bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects.

23. First Frost Date – an average date when it is the first light freeze in the Fall, where temps drop below 32 degrees.

24. Last Frost Date – an average date when it is the last freeze day in the Spring. Generally promising the kickoff to the growing season.

25. Bush variety – compact small to medium size plant, usually does not trail or vine.

26. Native Plants – plants that are indigenous to a region and naturally found in that particular habitat.

There you have it friend, a garden glossary to fast-track your understanding of common garden terms. If you’re a beginner gardener, discover how gardening can align with your lifestyle.

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