Landscaping Lingo
Want to become more informed about what might be going on in your own yard? To truly understand your landscaping and what your plants may experience as they grow and flourish in the face of environmental challenges, it is important that you know a few things beyond merely what kind have plants you have in the yard. We created the small “dictionary” below to help you become more familiar some of the key ideas and concepts related to plant life, plant care, and landscaping.
Amendment
Any organic material added to native soils to provide more nutrients for plants is called an amendment. Adding amendments to your soil greatly improves the growing conditions for plants. A favorite amendment of ours is Cotton Burr Compost, which contains the leaves and stems from cotton plants. These materials are a rich source of organic nutrients that mix easily with native soils and will help your plants get the nourishment they need after planting. Left: Our bulk Biocompost.
Annual
An annual is any plant that lives for only one growing season. These plants come in a huge variety of colors and sizes as well as an equally large variety of characteristics such as sun tolerance, deer resistance, drought tolerance, and ability to grow at different elevations. Some annuals are highly attractive to bees and butterflies and are a great way to add visual appeal to your yard. Right: Pansies.
Ball and Burlap (B & B)
Balled and burlapped trees are trees that have been dug with their root ball intact. Once the tree is extracted from the ground it is usually wrapped in burlap, which is held together with wire and twine. Compared to containerized trees, B & Bs are generally larger and heavier, and thus specialized equipment is usually needed for transporting and planting. Left: Colorado Blue Spruce in B & B.
Budset
Bud set refers to the development of buds on the branches of plants. Bud sets, often referred to as terminal bud sets, develop in the last months of the growing season in preparation for dormancy. Bud set is believed to be caused by decreased light and decreasing temperatures as the summer morphs into fall. Stress can also induce bud set. Right: Bud set on aspen—notice the buds (brown) at the end of stems.
Caliper
We use the term “caliper” to refer to the measurement of the diameter of balled and burlapped trees, including fruit trees, at about 4 inches off the ground. This measurement is the "size” of the tree for pricing purposes in terms of inches, such as 2,” 2.5,'' and so on. The larger the caliper, the more expensive the tree. In contrast, all of our B & B conifer trees are measured in terms of height rather than caliper. Left: Using a caliper to measure the size of a B& B tree.
Candle
In the spring, small protrusions called candles, appear at the tips of conifer branches. Candles are new growth that will extend the reach of the tree’s branches by up to several inches. You can actually control the rate of growth and shape of conifers by selectively pinching back some or all of the candles. Right: Candles (in yellow) on a Bristle Cone Pine.
Canker
A canker is an infectious disease, either fungal or bacterial, of the outer bark (phloem and cambium) on a tree’s trunk, limbs or stems. A wound in a tree caused by a weedeater or lawn mower, or for that matter, anything else, often provides an opportunity for canker pathogen to enter the tree. Cankers are unsightly and can cause trees that have them to die. Shade, ornamental, and fruit trees are more like to suffer from canker problems than are conifers.
Clump
A clump can actually refer to two different things. First, it refers to the grouping of plants in a landscape setting—as in a clump of trees, a clump of perennials, and so on. In the Tree and Shrub Yard at Brady’s West, a clump also refers to a container with two to four aspen rather than only a single aspen. These clumps of aspen have intertwined root systems, and should be planted as a whole, and not separated into individual trees.
Compost
Compost is made of decomposed plant materials such as leaves, shoots, stems, and twigs. These organic materials are mixed in with native soil to enrich it and to help it retain moisture. In our area, mixing compost in with our native soil is a must because it lacks organic material necessary for plant growth and development. Right: Bulk composted being loaded onto trailer.
Conifer
Conifers are evergreen trees and shrubs with needles and cones. Pine trees, firs, and spruces are all examples of conifers. Conifers are often used as “specimens” and stand alone in a landscape, or they are placed close together to form windbreaks or privacy screens. However, not all conifers grow tall and wide like the Blue Spruce—some varieties stay quite small—only 5-8’ tall and 2-3’ wide. Right: A newly planted Piñon pine.
Containerized Tree or Shrub
A containerized tree or shrub is any tree or shrub sold in a container. Containers come in a variety of sizes, and so hold trees and shrubs of commensurate sizes. Any containerized plant is usually root bound. Thus, at planting, containerized plants must be removed from the container, and the roots broken up to stimulate their growth. Left: Containerized Baby Blue Spruce.
Deciduous
Any tree or shrub that sheds their leaves is called deciduous. Maples, aspens, oaks, crabapples, and box elders are all examples of deciduous trees. Potentilla, ninebark, willows, spirea, and chokecherries are all examples of deciduous shrubs. Deciduous trees and shrubs vary a bit as to when they will drop their leaves fall—and in when they will begin to form leaves in the spring. Right: Chokecherry tree in mid-November.
Deer Resistant
Probably the most common question we out in the Tree and Shrub Yard is, “Do deer like this __________?” Fill in the blank with any tree, shrub, or flower. Our answer will vary depending on type of plant we are discussing. There is no such thing as a deer proof plant, but there are many kinds of deer-resistant plants —deer tend to stay away from them under most circumstances. Regardless of the tree or shrub, it is always a good idea to protect newly planted items by spraying it with a deer repellent or fencing it.
Desiccation
Desiccation occurs when a plant’s loss of water through its foliage is greater than its ability to uptake water through its roots. Desiccation is especially a problem for conifers during winter because its needles lose water when there is not much water available to its roots. This problem is precisely why you should water your plants, especially conifers, during winter. Give your conifers and other plants a slow, deep, and penetrating watering every 3-4 weeks when the temperature is above 40 degrees . Right: You can also spray your conifers with an anti-desiccant such as Wilt-Pruf, which we carry at Brady’s West.
Dormancy
Dormancy is the temporary shutdown of a plant’s metabolic processes in order to conserve energy. For most plants, it occurs from late fall through late winter when temperatures fall below freezing and there is little water available. In dormancy, perennials die back, and deciduous plants loose their leaves. Conifers retain their needles, but like perennials and deciduous plants, stop growing. However, the root systems of all these plants continue to be active and to uptake water when it is available. Left: Aspen in dormancy.
Drip Line (Watering)
A drip line is a system for outdoor watering . It consists of a timer attached to your house’s outside faucet, heavy duty plastic tubing running from the timer to plants, emitters that control the amount of water each plant gets, and distribution “spaghetti” lines that run from the emitter directly to the plant. Right: Water dripping from the spaghetti line; note the red emitter (2 gallon) and distribution in the background .
Drip Line (Trees & Shrubs)
When applied to trees and shrubs, a drip line is the widest reach of the plant’s branches and leaves. In the photo to the left, the drip line is represented at the bottom of the tree. For many plants, the drip line reflects, more or less, the width of the plant’s root system, and that is why it is important to make sure this area receives receives maximum water when watering the plant. Left: Drip line of a White Fir outlined by snow.
Drought Tolerant
Drought tolerant plants are those plants that have very low water requirements for their survival. Drought tolerant plants can grow in arid climates, like ours, and manage through long periods of drought. However, remember this: When you bring a drought-tolerant plant home from Brady’s West, and plant it, you will need to water it regularly in order for it to become established. Once established you can back off the watering. Right: Mountain Mahogany.
Evergreen
Evergreen trees and shrubs keep their needles or leaves year round. Planting these kinds of trees and shrubs is an excellent way to provide color in your landscape even during winter. Evergreens shed their leaves or needles slowly over time but never all all at once. Fallen evergreen leaves and needles provide a rich source of nutrients that help sustain these plants. Left: A newly planted Globosa Spruce, one of many kinds of evergreen shrubs we sell at Brady’s West.
Focal Point
A focal point is any aspect of your or landscape design that you wish to be its primary feature—around which all other aspects of your yard or landscape design is built. What is the first thing that you want people to see when they look at your yard? A tree? A clump of shrubs or grasses? A large rock? A water feature? A focal could could be just about anything you want it to be. Right:
Fungicide
Fungicides are substances used to prevent fungi from growing on plants. It is best to apply fungicides to your plants prior to the appearance of fungi. For example, if last season you noticed fungi on your aspen, then you should apply a fungicide to your aspen just after their leaves appear in the spring. Left: Fertilome Liquid Systemic Fungicide II.
Gall
A gall is an abnormal growth that appears on the leaves, twigs, and branches of trees and shrubs. Galls are caused by insects, such as mites and wasps, in the spring when they are laying eggs. Galls are unsightly but generally cause little or no harm to plants unless they appear over nearly 100% of the plant. The best way to treat gall is through prevention with miticides or other insecticides prior to infestation. Right: Oak gall on a Gambel’s Oak leaf.
Girdle
When a plant’s trunk or limbs are stripped of its outer bark (and the cambium and phloem) around its circumference, it is said to be “girdled.” Girdling kills the plant at and above the girdle. Deer often girdle trees and shrubs by rubbing their antlers on them from late summer through winter. That’s why it is a good idea erect fences around trees and shrubs or periodically spray a repellent on them. Girdling can also be caused by leaving arbor ties on too long, and by cutting into the tree trunk with a string trimmer or by its own roots when those roots are not broken up at planting. Left: Girdling caused by deer on a young Rocky Mountain Juniper.
Ground Cover
Ground cover refers to spreading or creeping plants that can be used to cover the ground when other alternatives are not practical, perhaps because the area you wish to cover is a steep slope. Many different kinds of perennials and shrubs can be used as ground cover. Generally speaking, ground covering plants are low-growing, provide excellent soil retention, and require little maintenance. Right: Humming Bird Trumpet.
Hardiness
A plant’s ability to survive adverse environmental conditions such as cold temperatures, little or no water, and high wind. The greater a plant’s ability to survive harsh conditions, the greater its hardiness. Brady’s West serves customers living in Hardiness Zones 4a through 6b. Because of this wide range of zones, we use elevation as a primary expression of a plant’s hardiness. Left: Bristlecone Pine—one of the hardiest trees on the planet.
Hardscape
When we think about landscaping, we think about the trees, shrubs, and flowers in our yards. When we add inanimate objects to our landscape, such as boulders, dry river beds, pathways, pergolas, benches , and decks, then we have created a hardscape. Combining these sorts of features with trees, shrubs, and flowers creates a high degree of visual appeal. Right: Dry river bed (hardscape) combined with Blue Spruce in the background.
Herbicide
Herbicides are used to kill weeds and unwanted grasses. Some herbicides are selective and will kill ONLY weeds. whereas others are nonselective and will kill weeds, plants, and grass indiscriminately. Some herbicides are called preemergent herbicides be they are applied in very early spring and will prevent weeds from growing; other herbicides are postemergent and are applied during the growing season. Left: Fertilome Weed Free Zone herbicide, which can be used on lawns and in other areas for killing weeds without killing grasses.
Insecticide
Got bugs? Insecticides are used to kill creepy crawlers in yards, gardens, shrubs, and trees. Insecticides can be applied to treat an infestation that is in progress or used to prevent one. For example, an insecticidal drench can be applied to a tree and if a bug, say a borer, comes along, the drench will kill it when it bores into the tree. Right: Fertilome Triple Action—which kills insects, including mites, as well as acting as a fungicide.
Invasive Plant Species
Invasive species are plants that grow or spread into areas where it might harm the environment by competing with native or more desirable plant species. Colorado has a variety of invasive species that it is actively trying to eliminate including yellow toadflax, white top, several types of thistle, and Russian olive. If you see these plants, or other invasive species on your property you should pull or otherwise kill them immediately. Left: Thistle.
Microclimate
A microclimate is a small area having unique characteristics in terms of precipitation, temperature, and wind that differ from the larger climatic zone. Microclimates are caused by specific environmental features such as, elevation, lakes, and mountains. For example, although Buena Vista is only about 20 miles from Salida, it often has cooler temperatures and more snow than Salida. Right: Fall in the Rockies near Salida.
Mulch
Mulch is most often natural organic material, such as bark or wood chips, that is placed around the base of plants to control ground temperature, retain moisture, reduce weeds, and to contribute to soil nutrition. Brady’s West sells mulch in bulk or by the bag. Pro tip: Keep mulch a few inches away from the base of plants to reduce chances of mold formation and insect infestation. Left: Western red cedar (gorilla hair) mulch from our bulk yard.
Mycorrhizae
MYKE is an organic compound that contains the beneficial fungus, mycorrhizae, which enhances plants’ ability to uptake nutrients from the soil. It is applied directly to the root system during planting. We HIGHLY recommend using Myke when planting ANYTHING. Right: Containers of MYKE at our store.
Native Species
A native plant species is any plant species that has been present within a state prior to European colonization. Here in south central Colorado, we are fortunate to have a large variety of native flowers, shrubs, and trees to beautify our yards. Many native plants grow hardily at elevation and possess some degree of drought tolerance. Left: Bloom on an Apache Plume.
Natural Needle Loss
Many people come into Brady’s West worried about dead needles they see in the interior of their conifers. This needle loss is simply the conifer’s way of shedding is older needles. There is nothing to worry about. However, if you see a lot needle loss toward the outer portions of your conifer, your tree may be stressed in some way—perhaps it is not getting enough water or it has a fungus—problems that need to be addressed right away. Right: Natural needle loss in Ponderosa pine.
Organic
An organic product, such as an organic fertilizer, is one that is made from materials occurring naturally. In other words, anything that is organic does not contain any human-made substances. Thus, an organic product might contain animal, plant, or mineral matter. Left: An example of one of our many organic products.
Ornamental Trees
Ornamental trees are deciduous trees, such as crabapple trees, that are especially interesting due to their beautiful blooms, strong and pleasant fragrance, unique shape, eye-catching bark or some combination of these characteristics. These trees tend to be smaller (20-25’ tall) although there are some notable exceptions, such as the Chanticleer Pear tree. Ornamental trees often serve as a focal point in many landscape designs. Right: Blooms on a Snowbird Hawthorne tree.
Perennials
As opposed to annuals, perennials return to life each spring after dying back in the fall. However, like annuals, perennials come in a huge variety of colors and shapes as well as an equally large variety of characteristics such as shade tolerance, deer resistance, drought tolerance, and ability to grow at different elevations. Perennials have lifespans from 3-4 years to 10 years or more. They form the centerpiece of most garden beds and rock gardens and as a bonus many perennials are attractive to bees and butterflies. Left: Penstemon in rock garden.
Pollinators
Pollination is how many plants reproduce. Although some plants self-pollinate, many plants become pollinated when pollen molecules from one plant are transferred by wind, insects, and animals to another plant (more technically, from the male anther to the female stigma). In addition to the wind and honeybees, butterflies, moths, and and hummingbirds are also prolific pollinators. Pro tip: When choosing fruit tree, make sure to know if it is self-pollinating or if it needs a partner tree for pollination. Right: A bee about to land on a flower.
Privacy Screens
A privacy screen is a tightly packed row or staggered rows of trees, most often conifers, that effectively blocks an unwanted view. Depending on the nature of the view you want blocked, you can choose shorter (such as junipers) or taller (such as pine and spruce) conifers to accomplish your purpose. Left: Young Ponderosa Pine set up bowling pin fashion to create a privacy screen between two homes.
Pruning
Pruning is the selective and careful removal through cutting of branches and stems, to improve the health or the appearance of a plant. Depending on the type of plant you wish to prune, pruning is carried out at a particular time of year. Most trees should be pruned in March and April, spring flowering shrubs should be pruned after they have bloomed, and summer flowering shrubs should be pruned, like trees, in March and April.
Raised Garden Bed
A raised garden bed is simply dirt that has been mounded and generally, but not always, enclosed in a wooden or metal frame. Raised garden beds reduce weeds, provide a controlled environment for raising vegetables, herbs, and flowers in which the root systems can grow deeply and spread out. Left: Raised garden bed built by our Brady’s West Landscaping team
Repellent
Repellents are nontoxic chemicals used to prevent animals from damaging plants. Repellents may be a liquid that is sprayed on the plant or granules that are sprinkled on the ground near the plant’s stem or trunk. Because deer are such a problem in our area, we always recommend that our customers use a deer repellent on all trees and shrubs that are planted in unprotected areas (outside of a fenced area). Right: A sample of our Brady’s West repellents.
Root Stimulator
A root stimulator is a compound that promotes early root development and acts as a very mild fertilizer. We recommend that all plants, from annuals to trees, receive an application of root stimulator at planting. By promoting root growth, particularly among the fine hair roots, root stimulators reduce shock, getting your new plants off to a healthy start in their new environment. Left: Fertilome Root Stimulator at our store.
Shade Tolerant
Shade-tolerant plants have lower sunlight needs than plants that need full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight). These plants usually have broad, thin leaves to gather up available light. You will hear shade-tolerant plants described in terms of being “part sun” plants. These plants are ideal for those areas in your yard that receive only filtered light through the leaves of trees. A plant described as being “full to part sun” is a plant that tolerates both shade and direct sunlight. Right: Glow Girl Spirea.
Shock
Shock, sometimes called transplant or plant shock, is caused by the stress plants undergo when they transplanted: Oftentimes, the root system is not capable of keeping up with the demand for water and nutrients. Common signs of shock are wilting, yellow or browning, and curling of leaves. Leaves may eventually die as may the plant. To reduce shock, Brady’s West strongly recommends the application of both Root Stimulator and MYKE at planting. Both products promote vigorous root growth. Left:
Sod
Sod is grass that is available in specially cut and rolled sheets that is unrolled and placed over carefully prepared bare ground. In a sense, laying sod is like putting down a carpet of grass in your yard. Once installed, it takes about a month for sod to become established and ready for regular daily use. Brady’s West carries Blue Grass Sod which comes in rolls measuring 18” wide and 5’ long. Right: Rolls of sod on pallet in our tree and shrub yard.
Specimen
In the landscaping world, a speciman is any plant, usually a tree, that is featured alone (as opposed to being grouped) because it possesses some particularly unique or especially beautiful characteristic. In other words, a specimen is the focal point of the yard. It could be the plant is particularly large and attractive, or that it has a unique shape, interesting bark, or particularly colorful blooms/flowers. Left: White Fir
Sunscald
Some trees, especially young trees with thin bark such as cottonwoods and maples, sometimes suffer from sun scalding. During winter, direct sunlight or reflected sunlight off snow warms tissues just below the bark’s surface causing them to awaken from dormancy. Freezing temperatures at night then kill these tissues, leaving the bark cankered and cracked and susceptible to insects and disease come spring. Sun scalding can be prevented by wrapping the tree with a protective material that should be removed in spring. Right: Growth split caused by sunscald.
Variegated Leaves
Some plants have variegated leaves: Part of the leaf is green and another part of the leaf is another color, such as yellow or white. Fun fact: Only the green areas of these leaves can photosynthesize—the yellow or white colored areas have no chlorophyll. Planting plants with variegated leaves adds interest to your yard even when these plants are not flowering. Left: Variegated leaves of the Gold Pothos.