GARDENING WORDS 

• Acidic soil: Soil that contains a lot of hydrogen gas and smells and tastes sour.
  
  
• Aerobic: [air-robe-ic] Needs oxygen from the air to live.
  
  
• Agricultural lime: Ground limestone (chalk) that is formed by the fossil bones of tiny ancient creatures. It is used to supply calcium to soil.
  
  
• Alkaline soil: Soil that contains a lot of calcium and smells and tastes sweet.
  
  
• Anaerobic: [an-air-robe-ic] Able to live without oxygen.
  
  
• Annuals: Plants that live for only one year.
  
  
• Antioxidant: [ant-E-ox-E-dant] Something that stops damage caused by oxygen.
  
  
• Bacteria: [back-tear-E-a] More than one bacterium, which is a tiny living thing with only one cell.
  
  
• Broadcasting seed: Scattering seed over an area instead of sowing it in holes or rows.
  
  
• Carbohydrate: [car-bow-hide-rate] Sugars, starches and cellulose that form parts of plants, and are an important source of food.
  
  
• Carbon dioxide: [car-bon die-ox-eyed] A greenhouse gas that plants use for energy.
  
  
• Chlorophyll: [claw-row-fill] Green colouring in plants.
  
  
• Cloche: [c-low-sh] A protective cover shaped like a dome or tunnel.
  
  
• Coconut fibre: Brown, stringy material that surrounds coconut shells.
  
  
• Cold frame: A strong structure to improve the growth of young plants iin cold weather.
  
  
• Compost worms: Worms that eat soft, moist organic waste and turn it into worm castings in worm farms.
  
  
• Compost: A balanced mixture of decayed organic waste that holds organic plant food and humus.
  
  
• Corn tassel: The cluster of silky threads that grow from the tip of the corn husk and catch pollen that drifts from the male flower at the top of the corn plant.
  
  
• Cover crop: Plants that are grown to protect the soil surface, and prevent erosion.
  
  
• Crop rotation: [crop row-tay-shun] Not growing the same family of plants in the same patch of soil for some years.
  
  
• Cruciferous: [croo-siff-er-us] A large family of plants that have flowers with 4 petals in the shape of a cross.
  
  
• Cucurbits: [Q-curb-its] A large family of plants whose dried fruits were used in ancient times as containers.
  
  
• Cutting: A piece of plant stalk or stem that can be used to make new plants.
  
  
• Dolomite: Limestone that also contains magnesium.
  
  
• Drought: A long period without rain.
  
  
• Earwig: An organic-waste eating insect that has pincers on its rear end.
  
  
• Environment: The natural world where plants and animals live.
  
  
• Fallow: Soil that is left bare for a season or more, usually after ploughing.
  
  
• Fermentation: [fur-meant-A-shun] Change caused by living organisms such as yeasts, fungi or some bacteria.
  
  
• Fertiliser: [fir-till-eyes-a] Plant food.
  
  
• Foliage: [foal-age] The leafy parts of plants.
  
  
• Friable loam: [fry-able lome] Soil that is easily crumbled because it contains humus.
  
  
• Fungi: More that one fungus, which is a plant without chlorophyll that lives on organic matter.
  
  
• Furrow: [fu-row] A narrow groove in soil.
  
  
• Germinate: To begin to grow. How seeds change into plants.
  
  
• Green manure: Grains or legumes grown to replace organic matter in soil.
  
  
• Humus: [hue-muss] The dark brown remains of decayed organic matter that stores carbon and is essential for healthy soil.
  
  
• Husk: The dry outer covering of some fruits and seeds.
  
  
• Inoculated seeds: Legume seeds that are coated with the special bacteria that they need to fix nitrogen in their roots.
  
  
• Ion: [iron] an electrically charged atom or molecule.
  
  
• Kernel: The body of a seed inside a husk.
  
  
• Larvae: More than one larva, which is a young insect after it has hatched from an egg. The second stage of an insect's life cycle.
  
  
• Leaf axil: The top side of a leaf stalk where it joins a stem or branch: a place where new leaves can form.
  
  
• Legume: Plants that have pods as fruit, and lumps called nodules on their roots.
  
  
• Logarithm: A number that shows how many times another number must be multiplied by itself to produce the correct answer. For example, the logarithm of 8 is 3 because 2 x 2 x 2 = 8.
  
  
• Microorganisms: [mike-row-organ-is-ms] Very tiny animal or plant life that can only be seen through a microscope.
  
  
• Mildew: [mill-due] A plant disease caused by bad fungi.
  
  
• Millipede: A creature with a cylinder-like body with lots of sections and  2 pairs of legs in each section. It eats plants and organic waste.
  
  
• Mulch: Anything, including straw, leaves or stones, that is used to protect the soil surface.
  
  
• Mycorrhiza: [my-core-rise-a] Helpful fungi that stick like hairs to plant roots and feed nutrients to plants.
  
  
• Nectar: The sweet liquid that plants produce to attract insects and birds.
  
  
• Nitrogen: [night-row-gen] A natural gas that can be changed into a form that dissolves in water so that plants can use it for food.
  
  
• Nitrogen fixation: In legumes, how bacteria called Rhizobia change nitrogen gas in the air found in soil, into important food for plants inside nodules on plant roots.
  
  
• Node: A joint in a plant stem.
  
  
• Nodule: A small lump or knob. In legumes, it is where bacteria fix nitrogen.
  
  
  
• Nutrients: [new-tree-ant] Parts of human, animal or plant food that are important for good health.
  
  
• Organic: [or-gan-ic] From living things – grown without man-made chemicals.
  
  
• Organism: Any form of plant or animal life.
  
  
• Pathogen: An organism that causes disease.
  
  
• Perennials: Plants that live for more than two years.
  
  
• Pesticides: [pest-E-sides] Chemicals that kill pests.
  
  
• PET bottle: Clear plastic soft drink or juice bottle with recycling code 1.
  
  
• Photosynthesis: [photo-sin-th-sis] Making things with light. How plants change carbon dioxide into energy.
  
  
• pH scale: [P-H-scale] A set of numbers showing how acidic or alkaline soil or potting mix may be.
  
  
• Pollination: The transfer of pollen from one part of a flower to another, or from one flower to another, to enable plants to grow productive seeds.
  
  
• Punnet:  A shallow container for seedlings or fruit.
  
  
• Pupae: More than one pupa, which is the non-feeding stage of an insect's life cycle between larva and adult.
  
• Rhizobia: More than one rhizobium, which is one of a group of soil bacteria that can fix nitrogen in legume roots.
  
  
• Seed leaves: The first one or two leaves to appear above ground after germination. They may look very different from the usual leaves.
  
  
• Seedling: A young plant grown from seed.
  
  
• Seed-raising mix: A special mixture of ingredients that is easy for seedling shoots and roots to move through.
  
  
• Semi-hardwood: Plant stalks that this year and havehave grown for long toenough this year to become stiff, but not woody.
  
  
• Shrub: A woody perennial plant that is smaller than a tree and often has branches close to the ground.
  
  
• Slater: A small, ridged creature with 7 pairs of legs that eats organic matter.
  
  
• Soil amendment: Something that is added or changed to make soil better.
  
  
• Spores: Special cells that enable ferns to grow new plants, and fungi to multiply.
  
  
• Transpiration: How plants release moisture through the pores in leaf surfaces.
  
  
• Windbreak: Something that provides shelter from wind.
  
  
• Worm castings: Worm manure that is wonderful plant food.
  
  
•  Worm tea: Worm castings dissolved in enough water to make it the same colour as weak black tea.