Looking to start gardening but don’t know all the lingo? Don’t worry, here’s a crash course:

Alkaline soil: a pH (potential of hydrogen) level higher than the neutral setting of 7.0 on a scale of 0.0 to 14.0. Colorado soils tend to be higher than neutral; 6.0 to 7.5 is an acceptable range for plants to grow here.

Aerate: any method to loosen or puncture soil to relieve compaction and improve water penetration. Turf lawns are recommended for aeration or core cultivation when the lawn isn’t frozen, generally spring or fall or both, but not during hot, dry periods.

Amending the soil: the addition of any material to existing soil to help the roots grow better and to improve the soil structure to help retain water (often in sandy soils) or for better water drainage (clay soils). To work effectively, amendments must be mixed into the soil.

Amendments: either organic or inorganic. Organic materials were once living and include grass clippings, wood chips, sphagnum peat, straw, compost, sawdust, wood ash and biosolids. Not all are recommended for use in Colorado. Wood ash is high in salts and pH. The practice of adding wood ash is often recommended in the east, where soils are acidic. Inorganic materials include pea gravel, sand, perlite, vermiculite, expanded shale and tire pieces. Sand is not recommended because it may create a concrete soil structure.

Annuals: plants that complete their entire life cycle in one season, from seed germination, flowering, setting seed to death. Zinnias and tomatoes are annuals. The expression “treated or grown like an annual” in our area means the plant may live longer than one season in other areas, but its best growth for bloom or culinary use is our spring-to-fall growing season.

Backfill soil: When soil is removed from the planting hole, it is reserved and used to refill the hole during planting. When planting trees, the correct use of backfill soil is to stabilize the bottom of the rootball in the planting hole plus in and around the rootball as the backfill soil is returned to complete the planting. Never cover the top of the rootball with backfill soil. Whether to amend the planting hole with compost material is complex. Too much amendment may restrict tree roots to grow and reach beyond the planting hole. Avoid amending the planting hole to more than 5 percent organic matter.

Balled and burlapped: the protective material used to wrap soil and the rootball of a field grown tree or shrub once it is dug up to be moved, sold or transplanted. Materials for wrapping include burlap, plastic, wire and twine.

Bareroot: Plants with no soil medium around the roots are bare. Bareroot plants are dormant, meaning they are not actively growing so they are not leafed out or blooming. They start out as actively growing plants in the ground at a wholesale nursery or grower for the retail market and online sales. Plants are then dug from the ground in the fall after they have gone dormant. Once removed from the ground, surrounding soil around the roots are shaken away, plants are refrigerated and stored until shipping begins to garden centers or directly to the customer. Bareroot plants are much lighter in weight, which saves on mailing or freight costs.

Bedding plants: nursery grown plants (mostly annuals) that are sold to be planted in the landscape and containers.

Beneficial insects and animals in the landscape: There are way more good insects and animals in the garden than bad ones. Beneficials can serve as natural enemies to pest insects or pollinate or bring visual grace to the garden. The good short list includes animals like bats and birds, insects like spiders and ladybeetles (ladybugs). Beneficial insects and their larvae target and prey on pest insects by laying eggs on them or eat them as prey. Soldier bugs, preying mantids and soil-dwellers like beneficial nematodes are also beneficial in the garden. Consider eliminating or minimizing insecticide use; they will kill beneficials as well.

Biennial: a plant with a two-year life cycle. It grows from seed to producing foliage the first year. During the second year following more foliage growth, it flowers and sets seed. Examples include parsley and vegetables like carrots, celery and parsnip (grown as annuals).

Blossom end rot (BER): a physiological disorder caused from factors that may include calcium deficiency, weather swings and watering practices, often seen on early ripening tomatoes, peppers and melons that look like the flower end of the fruit is brown and leathery looking.

Bolt: occurs when a plant goes from flowering to producing seeds prematurely as a result of day length or temperatures. This is common on cool-season lettuce, arugula and broccoli when summer temperatures (80s or higher) take over from spring weather in the 60s and 70s.

Broadleaf weed: any weed that isn’t a grass. Examples include dandelions, clover, bindweed and plantain. Weeds like crabgrass, foxtail grass, goose and barnyard grass are summer annual grasses.

Bulb: the underground storage units for seasonal growth. Mostly perennial, bulbs include daffodils, tulips, grape hyacinth and ornamental onions.

Buttoning: mostly an environmental stress (water, temperature swings, insects) that results in vegetables like cauliflower forming their main head prematurely or producing small heads, known as curds.

Cole crops: common name for plants in the Brassicaceae family. Also called crucifers and include kale, collards, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, Brussels sprout, kale, mustard, turnips and watercress.

Cool season plants: grow best during cooler temperatures between 60 to 80 degrees. In Colorado, this is the spring and fall growing window. Vegetables include leafy greens, cole crops, onion, peas, radish, potato, beet and carrot. Popular ornamental cool season plants include alyssum, pansy, nasturtium, snapdragon, sweet pea and osteospermum.

Compost: completely decomposed soil made from decayed organic matter from leaves, dead plants, vegetable scraps or aged animal manures used to condition and improve soil structure. The act of composting for the home gardener is collecting and combining raw, organic materials in piles or structures to allow naturally occurring microbes to break down over time resulting in finished compost.

Cultivar vs. variety: plants are given at least two botanical names — genus and species. Example, Echinacea (genus) purpurea (species) is commonly called purple coneflower. Often the plant has a third name, either a cultivar or variety, which is more information about the plant’s characteristics or how it came to be in existence.

Variety is a naturally occurring plant that grows without breeding, it exists in nature and will have the same characteristics as the parent plant. Variety names are written in Latin, have no quotes and are preceded by the lower case, abbreviation var. for variety. Example, a white flowering redbud tree found growing anywhere in nature is called Cercis canadensis var. alba.

A cultivar is the result of plant breeding from plant cuttings, tissue culture or grafting. Cultivar names are often in English (named after the person who bred the plant), capitalized and placed in single quotes. The popular, mildew resistant Phlox paniculata “David” is an example. You’ll notice more and more cultivars on the market to reflect new and often times superior traits such as bloom color, disease resistance or other characteristics.

Deadheading vs spring cutting back: a technique of pruning using scissors or fingers to pinch and remove faded flowers on blooming plants during the growing season. This encourages the plant to flower more, plus it removes seed heads (if unwanted) and tidies up the plant. Cutting back dead foliage on perennials from last summer is one of the first early spring chores to allow for new growth.

Deciduous: plants that shed their leaves each fall.

Floating row cover: reusable plant sheets made of a spun polyester fabric (gauze-like material) that serve many beneficial applications in the garden. They conserve heat, which helps with earlier spring planting or extending the season in the fall. FRCs can keep out pest insects and aid in seed germination with the extra humidity created under the sheet. They are generally sold in three weights (light, medium, heavy) which allow varying percentages of sunlight transmission, rain penetration and freedom of plant growth underneath (if given slack or head room). Sold in retail locations in packages or cut to size on rolls.

Herbaceous: plants that grow above ground with soft stems instead of woody growth and die back to the ground with frost.

Heirloom: often used to describe fruits and vegetables about the plant’s number of years in cultivation — before 1951 when hybrid plants were introduced. All heirloom plants are open-pollinated meaning their seeds will always grow “true to type” and look and grow exactly like the parent plant in color, flavor and size.

Hybrid: plants created by cross-pollination within the same species (happens naturally in nature) or on purpose by plant breeders by crossing two different parental types of a plant to achieve a plant with more desirable characteristics. Seeds saved from hybrid plants will not come true like heirloom plants.

Hardening off: the procedure of gradually acclimating indoor and greenhouse grown plants to outdoor growing conditions. This is carried out over several days by placing them outside and increasing the time, sun and wind exposure. Bring them indoors or a garage at night during this adjustment period.

Indeterminate: used mostly to describe tomatoes that grow, bloom and produce fruit from planting until frost. They can grow quite large and tall. Examples include “Early Girl” and “Brandywine.” Determinates, commonly called bush tomatoes, are smaller plants that produce their entire crop over a set period of time and then harvested over two to three weeks. Great for containers, small space gardening and canning large batches of tomatoes at once. Examples include paste types like “San Marzano” and the popular all-purpose “Celebrity.”

IPM: stands for Integrated Pest Management, often used mutually with Plant Health Care. Both are sensible and wholesome landscape practices of growing and managing plants that minimize pest issues and plant stress to give plants the best opportunity for being happy and healthy. The strategies include placing plants in the correct location in the landscape, improving soil conditions, reducing compaction and improving fertility if needed (many native plants don’t require nutrient rich soils). Other procedures include planting correctly, watering appropriately and encouraging beneficial insects. Accurate identification of plant issues helps gardeners make good choices for control or intervention if warranted.

Leaching: adding water to soil to move and rid excess salts and other nutrients commonly found in bagged soil products. A good practice if a soil test finds excessive properties in the soil profile.

Mulch: materials such as grass clippings, wood chips, straw, leaves or rock that are spread over the soil surface and around plants to hold in moisture, stabilize soil temperatures and help control weeds.

Native: a Colorado perennial plant that has been growing here before European settlement is called a native. They are naturally adapted to Colorado’s climate and growing conditions, making them great choices for landscapes. For additional native plant lists and information, check cmg.colostate.edu/pubs/NativePlants.html

N-P-K: stands for nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K), the three main ingredients found on fertilizer packages.

Plant Select®: is a nonprofit brand of plants chosen by Colorado State University, Denver Botanic Gardens and professional horticulturists that provide superior attributes to thrive in wide-ranging growing conditions, with long-lasting, non-invasive beauty for intermountain and high plains regions. Check out the entire list of plants (new ones are added each year), along with detailed growing information and where to purchase and downloadable designs at plantselect.org/

Perennial: a plant that grows from year to year. Many flowering perennials die back from fall frost, but their roots survive the winter and put on new growth each spring. Plants listed as “tender perennials” may not survive past one growing season and are usually grown as annuals.

Soil test: a great tool to establish a baseline on soil properties and measure the growing potential of any area of the landscape. It measures the nutrient value of the soil (too much or too little N-P-K and more), percentage of organic matter, salt level, pH and possible lead concerns. It will not indicate poor cultural care like improper planting, watering practices, weed issues or general neglect. Early spring is a great time to do a soil test before the busy outdoor planting season. For more information on taking samples and pricing visit soiltestinglab.colostate.edu/

Warm season plants: grow best during warmer daytime and nighttime temperatures between 70 and 95 degrees. In Colorado this is after the final spring frost when nighttime temperatures remain above 55 degrees to fall frost, unless using season extending covers. Vegetables include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, pumpkin, beans, corn, squash and many more. Ornamentals include geraniums, petunias, marigolds, sunflowers and more.

Xeriscape: zer-i-scape, not zero-scape, was coined close to 40 years ago by Denver Water to use water conservation as the objective for planning, planting and caring for a low maintenance landscape. It comes from Greek “xeros” meaning dry and scape for landscape. The Front Range receives around 15 inches of moisture per year, compared to Boston with 44 inches. The seven steps involved in creating a xeriscape garden will save water, time and resources. Xeriscaping is not just rocks and avoiding lawns. Read more here: extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/xeriscaping-creative-landscaping-7-228/

Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in Colorado. Visit her at gardenpunch list.blogspot.com/ for more tips.