Yard and Landscaping Glossary

Catch Basin

A catch basin is a box or pit with a grate on top that collects surface runoff, lets sediment settle in a sump below the outlet pipe, and passes the clearer water on through a pipe.

Channel Drain vs. French Drain

The difference between a channel drain and a French drain is where each one catches water: a channel drain takes in water running across a hard surface through a grate, while a French drain collects water from soaked soil through perforated pipe set in gravel.

Compost vs. Topsoil

Compost vs.

Cool-Season vs. Warm-Season Grass

Cool-season and warm-season grasses are the two main groups of lawn grass: cool-season types grow most in spring and fall, while warm-season types grow most in summer heat and turn brown in winter.

Critical Root Zone

A critical root zone (CRZ) is the area of ground around a tree, measured out from the trunk, that holds the roots the tree needs to stay healthy and upright and that digging, grading, paving and heavy equipment must not disturb.

Deck vs. Patio

The difference between a deck and a patio is height and structure: a deck is a raised platform built on posts and framing, while a patio is a hard surface laid on the ground, such as pavers, stone or concrete.

Downspout Drainage

Downspout drainage is the way roof water is carried from the bottom of a gutter downspout to a safe place on the ground, using extensions, splash blocks, buried pipe or a planted area, so it does not soak the foundation or flood the yard.

Drip Irrigation

Drip irrigation is a watering method that sends water through tubing to small emitters, which release it slowly onto the soil at the base of plants instead of spraying it through the air.

Drought-Tolerant Plants

Drought-tolerant plants are plants that can get through a dry period with little or no extra watering once their roots are established, because of traits such as deep roots, small or waxy leaves, or summer dormancy.

Dry Well

A dry well is an underground pit or shaft, filled with stone or fitted with a perforated chamber, that takes in water from a roof or drain and lets it soak slowly into the soil around it.

Erosion Control in Yards

Erosion control in yards is the set of practices that keep soil from washing or blowing away, mainly by covering bare ground with plants or mulch, slowing and redirecting runoff, and anchoring slopes with blankets, mats or terraces.

Fall Yard Cleanup

Fall yard cleanup is the autumn round of outdoor work in which leaves, spent plants and tools are dealt with before winter, and in which a yard owner chooses what to remove, what to chop and return to the soil, and what to leave standing.

Fence Post Rot

Fence post rot is the breakdown of a wood fence post by decay fungi, which feed on the wood when it stays wet enough, warm enough and supplied with air, and which usually strike first at and just below the ground line.

Fence Staining and Sealing

Fence staining and sealing is the work of coating the boards, rails and posts of a wood fence with a water repellent, a stain or a paint to slow sun and water damage and, with some products, to add color.

French Drain

A French drain is a trench filled with rock or gravel, usually with a perforated pipe along the bottom, that collects water from the soil and carries it downhill to a safe outlet.

Gazebo vs. Pergola: see Pergola

Gravel Path vs. Paver Path

Gravel path vs.

Ground Cover Plants

Ground cover plants are low-growing plants that spread to cover bare soil with dense stems and leaves, used in beds, on slopes and in shade where grass is hard to grow or hard to mow.

Hardscape Drainage

Hardscape drainage is the planned route rain and meltwater take across, under and off a patio, walkway, deck or other hard surface, so the water leaves without pooling, softening the base or reaching the house.

Integrated Pest Management for Landscapes

Integrated pest management for landscapes, or IPM, is a step-by-step way to deal with weeds, insects and plant diseases that relies on monitoring, set tolerance limits and prevention first, and uses a pesticide only when those steps are not enough.

Interlocking Concrete Pavers

Interlocking concrete pavers are solid, factory-made concrete units that are laid in a pattern on a bedding-sand layer over a compacted aggregate base, with sand-filled joints and an edge restraint holding the field together.

Invasive Plants in Landscaping

Invasive plants in landscaping are non-native plants, often sold for yards, that spread on their own beyond where they were planted and cause or are likely to cause harm to the environment, farming or health.

Irrigation Controller

An irrigation controller is the timer that tells a sprinkler system when to water, which zones to run and for how long, by sending a low-voltage signal that opens one zone valve at a time.

Irrigation System

An irrigation system is a set of pipes, valves, controllers and emitters that delivers water to a lawn or garden on a schedule. Most home systems are built in zones, each zone watering one area with one kind of head or drip line.

Irrigation System Winterization

Irrigation system winterization is the process of removing water from sprinkler pipes, valves, heads and backflow devices, usually by gravity drains or compressed air, so freezing water cannot expand and crack them.

Irrigation Water Pressure

Irrigation water pressure is the force that pushes water through your sprinkler pipes and out the nozzles, measured in pounds per square inch (psi), and each sprinkler head is built to spray well only inside a certain pressure range.

Landscape Architecture vs. Landscape Design

Landscape architecture is a state-licensed profession that plans and documents outdoor sites, while landscape design is yard and planting planning that usually needs no license, so the two differ mainly in legal authority, training and the drawings each may prepare.

Landscape Bed Preparation

Landscape bed preparation is the work done to a patch of ground before planting: clearing grass and weeds, correcting drainage, loosening compacted soil, testing it and mixing in lime, fertilizer or organic matter only as the results call for.

Landscape Design

Landscape design is the plan for how an outdoor space will look and work: where plants, paving, structures, water and lighting go, drawn to scale so that each company bidding prices the same job.

Landscape Edging

Landscape edging is a cut line or a border of metal, plastic, stone, brick or concrete that separates a lawn from a planting bed or a walkway, keeping grass out of beds and mulch and soil in place.

Landscape Grading

Landscape grading is the shaping of the ground’s surface so that it slopes in planned directions, which sends rain and irrigation water away from buildings to a safe place and sets lawns, beds and paving at the right levels.

Landscape Lighting

Landscape lighting is the set of outdoor fixtures that light paths, steps, plants, walls and entries for safety and appearance, powered by low-voltage wiring, by the sun through solar cells, or by line voltage from the house.

Landscape Maintenance Contract

A landscape maintenance contract is a written agreement for recurring yard work: what is done on each visit, how often, what is included or charged extra, how it renews and how either side ends it.

Landscape Privacy Screening

Landscape privacy screening is the use of plants, a fence, a wall or another structure, alone or together, to block or soften views into a yard, patio or window from neighbors, streets or other sight lines.

Landscape Renovation

Landscape renovation is the rework of an existing yard that has outgrown or outlived its original plan: removing failed plants and hardscape, correcting grade or drainage, and replanting to a new design.

Landscape Steps and Garden Stairs

Landscape steps and garden stairs are a short run of level treads and risers that carry people over a grade change in a yard, made from stone, concrete, pavers, timber or other materials.

Lawn Aeration

Lawn aeration is the process of making small holes in turf, usually by pulling out plugs of soil, so air, water and nutrients can reach the roots of grass growing in soil that has become packed down.

Lawn and Landscape Water Restrictions

Lawn and landscape water restrictions are rules set by a local water provider or government that limit when, how often or how much a property may irrigate, usually during drought or peak summer demand. They differ by place and change often.

Lawn Dethatching

Lawn dethatching is the removal of thatch, a dense, spongy layer of living and dead grass stems and roots that builds up between the soil and the green leaves, using a rake or a machine such as a vertical mower.

Lawn Dormancy vs. Dead Grass

Dormant grass is living grass that has stopped growing and turned brown to survive heat, drought or cold, while dead grass has lost the crown and roots it needs to grow back.

Lawn Fertilization

Lawn fertilization is the practice of adding plant nutrients, mainly nitrogen and sometimes phosphorus or potassium, to turf and its soil so the grass grows and stays dense.

Lawn Scalping

Lawn scalping is cutting a lawn so short, or removing so much leaf in one mowing, that the grass turns brown and stemmy, and in a few cases it is done on purpose to clear dead growth from a warm-season lawn in spring.

Lawn Soil pH

Lawn soil pH is a number from 0 to 14 that shows how acidic or alkaline the soil under a lawn is, with 7 neutral, lower numbers acidic and higher numbers alkaline.

Lawn Thatch vs. Soil Compaction: see Lawn Aeration

Lawn Topdressing

Lawn topdressing is the practice of placing a thin layer of compost, topsoil or sand on top of an established lawn and letting it work down into the grass over time.

Leaf Mulching vs. Leaf Removal

Leaf mulching vs.

Low-Voltage Landscape Lighting

Low-voltage landscape lighting is a yard lighting system in which a transformer plugged into a household outlet steps power down to about 12 to 15 volts, and a cable carries that power to the fixtures.

Mulch Types

Mulch types are the materials spread over soil to protect it, and extension sources sort them into four families: living, organic, inorganic and synthetic.

Mulch vs. Compost

Mulch vs.

Native Landscaping

Native landscaping is the practice of building a yard mainly from plants that have lived in your area for thousands of years, generally before European settlement, so they are adapted to the local climate, soil and insects.

Outdoor Drainage Around Patios and Decks: see Hardscape Drainage

Outdoor Living Space Planning

Outdoor living space planning is laying out a yard for use: where people sit, cook, walk and play, how big each area needs to be, and how the areas connect to the house, shade, privacy and drainage.

Overseeding

Overseeding is the practice of spreading grass seed over an existing lawn, without tearing the lawn up, to thicken thin turf or to add a second grass for part of the year.

Paver Base and Bedding Layer

The paver base and bedding layer are the buried layers under a paved surface: compacted crushed-stone base for strength and drainage, topped by about an inch of leveling sand or stone chips the pavers sit in.

Paver Joint Sand

Paver joint sand is the fine, dry sand swept and vibrated into the narrow gaps between interlocking concrete pavers, where it locks the units together and lets the surface carry load.

Paver Patio

A paver patio is an outdoor surface made of individual pavers laid on a compacted aggregate base and a thin bedding layer, with joints filled by sand and an edge restraint holding the field in place.

Pergola

A pergola is an outdoor frame of posts and overhead beams, usually open on top and sides, that gives partial shade and marks out a patio, walkway or seating area.

Permeable Pavers

Permeable pavers, or permeable interlocking concrete pavement (PICP), are concrete pavers laid with open joints filled with small stone over a stone reservoir, so rain passes through the surface and soaks into the ground or drains slowly away.

Plant Hardiness Zone

A plant hardiness zone is a band on a map that groups places by the average coldest winter night of the year, so you can judge whether a perennial plant is likely to survive the winter where you live.

Plant Nutrient Deficiency

A plant nutrient deficiency is a shortage of an element the plant needs, such as nitrogen, iron or potassium, that shows up as odd leaf color, slow growth or small leaves.

Plant Spacing

Plant spacing is the distance left between plants when you set them in a bed, usually measured from the center of one plant to the center of the next and chosen to fit each plant’s mature size instead of its size at planting.

Rain Sensor for Irrigation

A rain sensor for irrigation is a small device wired to a sprinkler controller that stops scheduled watering after a set amount of rain has fallen, then lets watering resume once the sensor dries out.

Raised Garden Bed

A raised garden bed is a growing area filled with soil and held above the surrounding ground by a frame or a mound, so plant roots sit in a soil you chose rather than in the native ground beneath.

Retaining Wall

A retaining wall is a structure that holds back soil where the ground changes level. Its height, the soil behind it, water pressure and what sits on top decide whether it needs a permit or an engineer.

Rotor vs. Spray Sprinkler Heads

The difference between rotor and spray sprinkler heads is rate and reach: a spray head fans water from a fixed nozzle over a small area quickly, while a rotor sweeps streams across a larger area slowly.

Seasonal Landscape Maintenance: see Yard Maintenance Checklist

Segmental Retaining Wall

A segmental retaining wall (SRW) is a retaining wall made of manufactured concrete units stacked dry, without mortar, that holds back soil by its own weight and, in taller or loaded walls, by layers of geogrid buried in the backfill.

Shrub Pruning

Shrub pruning is the cutting of selected stems, branch tips or old wood to control size, open a shrub to light and air, and keep it healthy and flowering, using a cut and a month chosen for that plant.

Smart Irrigation Controller

A smart irrigation controller is a sprinkler timer that changes how long, or whether, your system runs by reading weather data or soil moisture instead of repeating one fixed clock schedule.

Softscaping vs. Hardscaping

Softscaping is the living part of a yard, such as lawn, beds, shrubs, trees and ground cover, while hardscaping is the built, non-living part, such as patios, walkways, walls, decks and gravel.

Soil Amendments

Soil amendments are materials mixed into or applied to topsoil to change its properties and improve plant growth, such as compost for structure, lime to raise pH and sulfur to lower it.

Soil Compaction

Soil compaction is the squeezing of soil particles together, which shrinks the number and size of the pores between them, so less air and water can enter and roots meet more resistance.

Soil Drainage and Infiltration

Soil drainage and infiltration means how fast water enters the soil surface, usually in inches per hour, and how it then moves down through the soil profile or fails to leave it.

Soil Moisture Sensor

A soil moisture sensor is a probe buried in the root zone that measures how much water the soil holds and tells a sprinkler controller to run or skip a watering cycle based on a preset threshold.

Soil Organic Matter

Soil organic matter is the part of soil that comes from living and once-living things: plant roots and residues, soil organisms and the dark, stable material left after they decay.

Soil Structure

Soil structure is the way sand, silt and clay particles clump into larger units called aggregates or peds, and the pore spaces that those clumps leave for air, water and roots.

Soil Testing for Lawns and Gardens

Soil testing for lawns and gardens is a lab analysis of a mixed soil sample that reports pH, nutrient levels and often organic matter, so you can choose lime, fertilizer or amendments based on what the soil actually holds.

Soil Texture

Soil texture is the weight share of sand, silt and clay particles in the part of a soil finer than 2 millimeters, and USDA sorts every mix into one of twelve texture classes, such as sandy loam, loam or clay.

Spring Yard Cleanup

Spring yard cleanup is the first round of outdoor work after winter, in which leaves, stems and storm debris are cleared from lawns and beds, matted turf is raked, and beds are tidied before the growing season.

Sprinkler Irrigation

Sprinkler irrigation is a way of watering a lawn or landscape by pushing water through buried pipe to sprinkler heads that spray or throw it over the ground, usually in sections called zones that run one at a time.

Stormwater Runoff Management

Stormwater runoff management is the set of practices, from rain gardens and downspout disconnection to city storm sewer programs, that slow rain, let it soak in near where it falls and keep pollutants from washing into streets, storm drains and waterways.

Sun Exposure for Landscape Plants

Sun exposure for landscape plants is the amount and timing of direct sunlight a spot gets in a day, usually grouped on plant tags as full sun, part sun, part shade or shade, so you can match a plant to the light it needs.

Surface Drainage vs. Subsurface Drainage

Surface drainage moves water off the ground by shaping the land so it runs away, while subsurface drainage removes water from inside the soil with buried pipe so the water table drops below the roots.

Sustainable Landscaping

Sustainable landscaping is a way of designing and caring for a yard so that it uses less water, fewer chemicals and less waste, keeps rain on the property and supports local wildlife, rather than a single product or a certification.

Swale vs. Berm

A swale is a shallow, wide channel that carries runoff across a yard to an outlet, and a berm is a low ridge of soil that slows, blocks or redirects water; the two are often built together across a slope.

Transplanting Landscape Plants

Transplanting landscape plants means digging up an established plant with as many of its roots as you can keep, then replanting it in a new spot, so a shrub, perennial or small tree can be moved instead of replaced.

Tree Cabling and Bracing

Tree cabling and bracing are supports that an arborist adds to a tree: cables limit how far weak branches or leaders can move, and threaded brace rods pass through a weak union or split to hold the parts together.

Tree Crown Thinning vs. Crown Reduction

Tree crown thinning versus crown reduction is the choice between removing small branches to lower a canopy’s density (thinning) and removing larger branches, cut back to side branches that can take over, to lower a tree’s height or spread (reduction).

Tree Mulching

Tree mulching is the practice of spreading a layer of organic material, usually wood chips or bark, on the soil under a tree in a ring that leaves the trunk and root flare uncovered, so the roots stay cool, moist and protected from mowers.

Tree Pruning

Tree pruning is the selective removal of branches from a tree for a stated purpose, such as removing dead wood, improving structure or clearing a path, using cuts placed just outside the branch collar so the tree can seal the wound.

Tree Risk Assessment

A tree risk assessment is a structured inspection in which a trained arborist judges how likely a tree, or part of it, is to fail, what it could hit if it does, and how serious the harm would be, then recommends ways to lower that risk.

Tree Root Zone: see Critical Root Zone

Tree Staking

Tree staking is the use of posts and soft ties to hold a newly planted tree upright for a short time while its roots anchor it, and it is meant only for trees that cannot stand alone or sites where wind or traffic would topple them.

Tree Transplant Shock

Tree transplant shock is the group of stresses a newly planted or moved tree shows while its damaged, reduced root system struggles to supply the crown with water, often seen as wilting, scorched or yellowing leaves and slow growth.

Weed Prevention in Landscapes

Weed prevention in landscapes is the set of steps that keep weed seeds from sprouting or establishing in lawns and planting beds, including a thick plant cover, mulch, barriers, and pre-emergent herbicides that act on seeds before they emerge.

Xeriscaping

Xeriscaping is a way of landscaping that saves water by combining seven practices: planning, soil preparation, limited turf, well-matched plants, efficient irrigation, mulch and sensible upkeep, rather than by replacing a yard with rock.

Yard Drainage

Yard drainage is how water leaves a property: across the surface by slope, or below it through soil and buried pipe. A yard drains well when water moves away from the house and does not collect on the lot or onto a neighbor.

Yard Maintenance Checklist

A yard maintenance checklist is a recurring list of lawn, bed, tree, irrigation and equipment tasks, sorted by season, so each job is done when your grass, plants and local climate make it work.

Yard Ponding and Standing Water

Yard ponding is water that collects on the ground and stays there after rain or watering instead of soaking in or running off, usually because the soil is slow, compacted or saturated, the grade has a low spot, or roof water lands in one place.

Yard Waste Composting

Yard waste composting is the controlled breakdown of leaves, grass clippings, plant trimmings and similar garden debris by microbes into dark, crumbly compost that can be worked into soil.