• Deciduous - any plant that lives during the warm months and goes dormant in the winter. It will come back to life in the springtime.
• Semi-Evergreen - if winters are cold, tender plants may not survive, but will come back next season.
• Evergreen - a tree or shrub stays green or maintains its color year around. Evergreen trees provide year around shade or wind breaks. (conifer)
• Annuall - flower lives only one season. ex...a pansy
• Bi-Annual - a flower or herb that lives one and a half seasons. ex...parsley
• Perennial - flowers die out in the winter and emerge in the spring
• Plugs - once seeds have germinated, they are referred to as plugs
• Flats - a tray of plugs - usually herbs and flowers are put in flats. Flat sizes will vary from nursery to nursery.
• Containers - plants are put in pots or containers. Range in sizes - 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 gallon
• Ball and Burlap - the ball of a tree is round and formed from the mother root and the smaller roots. The ball is wrapped in burlap and a wire cage
• Basic Container Garden - One container can have several plants...a variety of herbs. You can have several containers to form a garden. Good for small areas. Take a look at A Basic Container Garden Project For An Apartment, Patio Or Small Landscape Area. This may give you some ideas for planting in small places.
• Beds - a defined area of plants and outdoor features.
• Mass Planting - ex... a group of the same shrubs planted together. (always use an odd number - rule of thumb in designing.)
• Landscape Fabric - a black fabric is put down before planting. The purpose is to hold down the growth of weeds. This material can be made of mesh, plastic or jute.
• Master Gardener - a person that has gone through a classroom course and hours of service work. A master gardener continues to learn through many different activities.
• Aquatic Plants - plants found on or by decorative ponds, bogs, pools. Ex...water lily. Ponds and Water Gardens, Landscaping with Aquatic Plants, Koi Fish and Shrubs explains the basic steps of installing a decorative pond.
• Topiary - a shrub or tree that has been given a defined shape and possibly tiered.
• Hard-Scape - installation of walkways, retaining walls, pools, ponds,etc...
• Excavation - removing sod, grass, trees, etc...for a future landscape or hard-scape area. This process is actually moving earth.
• Grading - this is done with a bobcat or a tiller and once the ground is excavated, the bob cat will come in and level the area for construction, landscape, or creating a hard-scape.
• Variegated - two different colors in a branch, leaf,or petal of a tree, shrub, or flower
• Multi Trunk - a tree having more then one trunk. ex...Crepe Myrtle or a River Birch
• Erosion - is usually on a slope or bank. Rain washes the soil downwards causing the ground to crumble and wash away.
• Tiller - a small machine used to break ground and loosen soil. There are hand tillers also available.
• Mushroom Compost - an organic fertilizer - made from organicmaterial. Put in soil around plants when planting. This is good for a year. (it stinks and don't read the ingredients - truly great for all types of plants.)
• Low Maintenance Shrubs - require very little upkeep. Most of them are evergreen.

I hope this list of basic landscape terms can benefit you when planning any project.

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