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The network of roots and the soil clinging to them when a plant is lifted from the soil or removed from a container is called its root ball.

When a plant grows for too long in its container, it generally becomes root-bound.   With no room for additional growth, roots become tangled, matted, and grow in circles.  Root-bound plants placed in the ground without having their roots untangled often fail to overcome their choked condition and don't grow well - or don't grow at all.

A runner is a slender stem - sent out from the bases of certain perennials - at the end of which an offset develops.  In common usage, however, the term "runner" has come to refer to either offsets or stolons.

Soil pH is a measurement of one aspect of the soil's chemical composition: the concentration of hydrogen ions (an ion is an electrically charged atom or molecule).   The relative concentration of hydrogen ions is represented by the symbol pH followed by a number.  A pH of 7 means that the soil is neutral, neither acid nor alkaline.  A pH below 7 indicated acidity; one above 7 indicates alkalinity.   The best way to determine your soil's pH is to have the soil tested.

A soil analysis will disclose your soil's pH and also can reveal nutrient deficiencies.  

Subdivisions of genus; the second word in the plant's botanical name

Various mosses native to bogs are called sphagnum.  Much of the peat moss sold is composed partly or entirely of decomposed sphagnum.  These mosses also are collected live and packaged in whole pieces, fresh or dried.  They are used for lining hanging baskets and for air layering.

Technically, staking is the practice of driving a stake or rod into the ground close to a plant to provide support for its stems.  Whenever you stake a plant, make sure ties are loose enough so they don't restrict growth or girdle plant stems. 

A plant that does not naturally grow as a tree can be trained into a standard - a small treelike form with a single, upright trunk topped by a rounded crown of foliage.  The "tree rose" is the most familiar example of a standard.

A systemic is any chemical that is absorbed into a plant's system, either to kill organisms that feed on the plant or to kill the plant itself.  There are systemic insecticides, fungicides and weed killers.