The Gardening Jargon You Can't Live Without

If other hobbies have dictionaries to explain terms then so does gardening. The gardening dictionary series presents to you the gardening jargon you need to know about. Yes, there are some gardening expressions and words you need to know about when it comes to starting out as a gardener. RunnersNo, these aren’t the people you see running in a marathon. Runners are instead the stems of plants that grow horizontally giving new stems or nodes for plants to multiply.

TilthTilth does sound so new that’s because it isn’t so commonly used. Tilth simply means tilled or prepared soil best suited for planting.

Companion plantingCompanion planting is synonymous with multiple cropping which is a practice among gardeners to plant more than just one type of crop in their garden. This is also a way to prevent the occurrence of pests in the area.

Green ManureSome gardeners commonly mistake green manure for composting. There is some truth to that but green manuring does not involve composting any scraps from the kitchen. Instead, green manuring involves plowing manure and green leaves into the soil to build soil nutrients and stability.

HumusSounds familiar right? But this humus isn’t quite what you think. First of all, it isn’t edible. Humus is the organic part of the soil that is formed by the decomposition of leaves and other biodegradable plant materials by soil microorganisms.