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Hardening off is the process of adapting a plant that has been grown in a greenhouse, indoors or under protective shelter to full outdoor exposure.  Over a week or more, the plant is exposed to increasing intervals of time outdoors so that when it is planted in the garden it can make the transition with a minimum of shock.

A plant's hardiness is its resistance to, or tolerance of, frost or freezing temperatures.  The word does not mean though, pest resistant, or disease resistant.   A half-hardy plant is hardy in a given situation in normal years but may freeze in coldest winters.

Herbaceous, the opposite of woody, describes a plant with soft (nonwoody) tissues.   In the strictest sense, it refers to plants that die to the ground each year and regrow stems the following growing season.  In the broadest sense, it refers to any nonwoody plant - annual, perennial or both.

The soft brown or black substance formed in the last stages of decomposition of animal or vegetable matter is called humus.  Common usage, however, incorrectly applies the term to almost all organic materials that will eventually decompose into humus - sawdust, ground bark, leaf mold, and animal manures, for example.

In a single-trunked shrub or tree, the leader is the central, upward-growing stem.

The opposite of "heavy soil," the imprecise term "light soil" refers to soil composed of relatively large particles loosely packed together.  The term is often synonymous with "sandy soil."

Gardeners call loam a soil that is rich in organic material, does not compact easily, and drains well after watering.  It is the ideal soil.

Basic nutrients required by plants in relatively large amounts are called macronutrients.

Mineral elements required in small amounts for healthy plant growth are micronutrients.

Notorious pests in good soils throughout North America, moles have short forelegs pointing outward; large, flattened hands; and claws for digging tunnels.  They are primarily insectivorous, eating earthworms, bugs and larvae and only occasionally nibbling greens and roots.  Click here for methods of control.

Any loose, usually organic material placed over the soil - such as ground bark, sawdust, straw or leaves - is a mulch.  The process of applying such materials is called mulching.  A mulch can serve various functions.  It may reduce evaporation of moisture from soil, reduce evaporation of moisture from soil, reduce or prevent weed growth, insulate soil from extreme or rapid changes of temperature, prevent mud from splashing onto foliage and other surfaces, protect falling fruit from injury, or make a garden bed look tidy.