Garden Glossary - T
Here you will find a glossary of garden terms that start with the letter T.
- Tall fescue - a coarse, clump-forming turfgrass that tolerates low fertility, heavy wear, heat and drought and has good insect and disease tolerance. Young seedlings are not cold tolerant, but mature plants survive most Ohio winters.
- Tapestry hedge - a mixture of differing shrub species planted in a row.
- Taproot - a stout, tapering primary root that has limited side branching or fine roots.
- Taxonomy - the science of plant classification and nomenclature.
- Temperate - moderate; the zones between the tropics and the polar regions of the earth.
- Tender plants - plants which cannot tolerate frost or freezing temperatures.
- Tendril - a slender, coiling modified leaf or leaf part. These help plants climb.
- Tepal - sepals and petals that are similar in size, shape and color.
- Tepee - a tripod of stakes used to support climbing plants.
- Terminal bud - large, vigorous buds at the tips of stems.
- Terrace - a series of flat platforms of soil on the side of a hill, rising one above the other.
- Terrarium - a partially to entirely closed glass container, with high humidity, used to grow indoor plants.
- Testa - Latin word for the thick or hard outer coat of a seed.
- Texture - in garden design this refers to the relative coarseness or fineness of foliage and flowers; in garden maintenance this refers to the coarseness or fineness of the soil.
- Thallus - a flat leaf-shaped part in the beginning of a ferns seasonal cycle.
- Thatch - an intertwined layer of dead and living roots, stems and blades of grass plants. It holds water, pesticides and fertilizer like a sponge, preventing them from reaching the roots.
- Thinning - reducing (pulling) excess seedlings or plants, to prevent overcrowding and aid in air circulation and light.
- Thorax - the middle of the three major divisions of the arthropod body.
- Thorn - a hard, woody, pointed modified branch, originating from the vascular cambium of a plant.
- Throat - the inner mouth-like opening of a tubular flower; ie: honeysuckle.
- Till - to work the soil by cultivation or digging; either by hand or using garden tools or equipment.
- Tip bearer - a tree or shrub where most of the flowers and fruit are at the end of the branches.
- Tip cutting - a propagation method which takes a cutting from the top end of a shoot.
- Top - removal of the top of a tree or plant.
- Top dressing - applying fertilizer, mulch or organic matter around a plants base without digging it into the soil.
- Topiary - training, cutting and trimming of plants into ornamental shapes.
- Topsoil - uppermost layer of soil, usually darker and richer than the subsoil.
- Toxicity - intensity of a poison.
- Trade name - an arbitrary name created by a nursery or organization, and used to legally distinguish it from others.
- Translocation - movement of water and nutrients through a plants vessels.
- Transpiration - the loss of water from plant tissues in the form of vapor.
- Transplant - digging up a growing plant from one location to plant it in another location.
- Transplant shock - when a plant does not adjust well and suffers when planted in a new location, or from container into the ground.
- Treated seeds - seeds that have coated to protect them against insects and diseases.
- Tree - a woody plant with a distinct central trunk that grows taller than 15-20 feet to maturity.
- Tree line - the line marking the upper limit of tree growth in mountains or northern latitudes.
- Trellis - a frame of latticework used as a support for climbing plants.
- Trench layering - propagation using long branches rooted in a man-made ditch.
- Trenching - digging a shallow ditch around the border of a planting.
- Tricolored - a plant with three colors on each leaf or petal.
- Tropical - regions of the earth lying between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn extending around the equator where the temperature and humidity are high.
- True leaves - the first hardy leaves, usually the second pair, on a new plant.
- Trunk - the main stem of a tree, shrub or vine.
- Tuber - an enlarged, underground stem that stores food.
- Tuberous - having tubers or parts that resemble them, ie: roots.
- Turf - a dense mat of lawn grasses that are usually cut very low.
- Turgid - the condition of a cell, tissue or plant when it is filled with water so that it is firm; not wilted.
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