Accent: The use of a plant or object to draw attention to a specific place or area.

Acidic Soil: Acidic soil is referred to any soil having a PH level of less than 7.0 on a PH scale.

Acidity: The relative pH level of soil below 7.0; the higher the acidity, the lower the pH level.

Adonis Garden: Adonis was the nourisher of seeds in Greek mythology. This led to the making of 'Adonis gardens' which were small gardens in terracotta pots. They were placed outside Adonis temples during festivals.

Alcove: An alcove is a recess in a wall or hedge, often curved and often used to house a scultpure, a seat or a fountain.

Alkaline Soil: Soil having a PH level of more than 7 on the PH scale is refered to as Alkaline soil.

Alle: An Alle is a walk bordered with trees or clipped hedges.

Alpine Garden: A garden used to grow Alpine plants ( though many of them do not come from the Alps). Rocks are often used in Alpine gardens and can help to keep the roots wet and the leaves dry.

Alternate: Leaves, shoots or a single bud that occur at the plant node.

American Garden: An American garden is an area of a Mixed Style garden used to grow plants from North America. Repton favoured the idea and designed American gardens for Ashridge and Woburn Abbey.

Amphitheatre: The etymology of Amphitheatre is from amphi (both, or both sides + theatron (theatre). It means a circular theatre with seating on both sides. Garden amphitheatres are made with landform, planting or stonework.

Anglo-chinois: The French term for the Serpentine Style of garden layout is Anglo-Chinois. The term originated with the belief that the 'English' style of garden layout was inspired by the Chinese. Walpole argued against the term.

Annual: Flowering plants that last only one season.

Apiary: An Apiary is a place where bees are kept (from the Latin apis = bee). Bee hives have been placed in gardens at least since Roman times.

Appadana: Method of construction using a flat roof and columns (but not arches).

Arbor: An open framework designed to offer shade and a resting place in a garden. Arbors are often made of rustic wood or latticework that also serve as a trellis on which climbing plants can grow.

Arbour: An Arbour us a garden shelter, usually curved and made with vegetation.

Arcade: A series of arches that form a walkway with a ceiling. Most often formed by rows of trees, but can also be formed by other plants or be man-made.

Arch: An Arch us a structure of wedge-shaped bricks, stones or other material, which lock together and can be supported from the sides.

Architect: Architect derives from the greek arkhos (meaning chief) and tekhne (meaning the art of doing something).

Armillary Sphere: An Armillary sphere is a type of spherical sundial.

Art Nouveau: Art nouveau was a decorative movement which reached its zenith in the period 1893-1907.

Atrium: Atrium (Latin) the central court of a Roman house.

Aubreuvoir: A drinking place for animals, sometimes treated as a garden ornament.

Automata: An Automata is an Italian renaissance term for a mechanical device, usually powered by water, windpower or clockwork. The best surving examples are at Schloss Hellbrunn outside Salzburg in Austria.

Axial: Axial is an adjective describing a design which is structured on a straight axis.

Back Yard: Back Yard is an American term for a back garden (usually more functional than ornamental).

Bagh: Persian word for 'garden'.

Bailey: Open area of a fortified castle. Some of the space was used for castle gardens during the middle ages.

Balustrade: A baluster is a short pillar with a curved outline and a balustrade is a barrier made with pillars of this type and topped with a coping or rail. The word comes from the Greek word (balustion) for a pomegranate flower which resembles the shape of a baluster.

Baoli: Baoli (or Baori): a stepwell or tank, as built throughout India. The word is equivalent to hauz.

Bark: Woody surface layer of a tree or woody plants.

Baroque: The term Baroque is applied to the late Renaissance period (1600-1750) when all the arts were combined to produce dramatic effects. It is said to derive from the Portuguese word for a rough pearl.

Basin: The word Basin is used in French gardens (pronounced 'bass-an') to mean a geometrical pool of the type made in Baroque gardens.

Bastion: The term Bastion comes from military architecture, meaning the projecting part of a fortification (from the Italian word 'bastire', build). In gardens it means a projecting point (usually octagonal or circular) in a walled garden.

Beautiful: In general use, the word Beautiful means 'possessing beauty'. In the eighteenth century the term was given a specific use (eg by Edmund Burke), in contrast with the word 'Sublime', so that Beautiful meant 'soft, gentle and smooth' while Sublime meant 'dramatic, awe-inspiring and almost frightening. Picturesque was used as an intermediate term.

Bedding Plant: Bedding plants are used in displays of colorful plants. Usually the plants are annual or biennial and start their life in conservatories,.

Belt: Strip of trees, usually planted to define a space or a view. The term came into use with the Serpentine Style in the eighteenth century.

Belvedere: Any structure, such as a gazebo or other roofed edifice, that provides a good view of the landscape.

Berceau: Vaulted trellis, used to grow climbing plants.

Biennial: Plants that grows for one year without flowering, then produces flowers/fruits in the second year before dying.

Bleeding: In landscaping terms, bleeding is a term used to define the oozing of sap through a cut.

Bonsai: Japanese word (derived from the Chinese word penjing) meaning a tray garden.

Border: Long flower bed, usually beside a path a wall or a hedge.

Bosco: Bosco is an Italian word, usually applied to a wood of evergreen oak (Quercus ilex) with a mysterious air. The Sacro Bosso at Bomarzo is, literally, a sacred wood - inspired by the ancient idea of making a Sacred Grove in association with an Egyptian temple.

Bosquet: French word, used for a block of trees and shrubs pierced by paths. At Versailles the bosquets are defined by geometrical paths and many contain elaborate features (eg sculpture and fountains) hidden in the trees.

Bostan: Bostan (or Bustan) is the Persian word for 'orchard' or 'fruit garden'.

Botanic Garden: The idea of making a collection of plants is found in Egyptian and Mesopotamian gardens. In classical Greece and Rome, such plants were used for medicinal purposes. This practice was continued in the monasteries of medieval Europe and flourished anew with the scientific concerns of the renaissance. The world now has a large number of botanic gardens most of which are used for the scientific study of plants.

Bower: Garden seat protected by foliage.

Bowling Green: Flat lawn for playing the game of bowls.

Branch Collar: The thick ring that forms at the bottom of a branch.

Brownian: The adjective Brownian is used to mean 'in the style of Lancelot Brown', meaning the romantic Serpentine Style of the mid-eighteenth century.

Bubble Diagram: Bubble diagram involves making use of round structures to represent different materials in a landscape.

Bud: A condensed shoot that contains a leaf or flower.

Burj: Fortified tower, as found in Indian gardens.

Buttress: From the French bouter=to bear against, and used to describe a mass of brick or masonry which resists the outward pressure of a wall, arch or vault.

Cabinet: A hedged enclosure at the end of a walkway or path.

Canal: The term Canal is used in garden design to describe a long thin body of water, which is usually rectangular but may be curved.

Canker: Fungal disease that can affect shoots .

Capital: Crowning feature of a column (from the Latin caput=head).

Carpet Bedding: The nineteenth century practice of using bedding plants to create carpet-like patterns. The idea derives from the older ideas of knot gardens and parterres. At the end of the nineteenth century 'carpet bedding' became a term of abuse for annual displays of plants, but it remains popular in show gardens and public parks.

Cascade: A fall of water over rocks or steps, often accentuated with an arch.

Chabutra: Sitting platform in an Indian garden (or elsewhere in an Indian town).

Chadar: Water chute or cascade in an Indian garden (the word means 'sheet' or 'shawl').

Chahar Bagh: Chahar Bagh (pronounced' ch-haar-bah') describes the 'four square' plan of a Persian paradise garden. The term is used in connection with Iranian and Mughal gardens. The oldest example of a rectangular canal pattern is at Passargadae, in Iran, and the oldest example of a square garden with symmetrical crossing canals is at the Alhambra.

Chanoyu: Chanoyu (or Cha-no-yu) is the Japanese tea ceremony, performed in a chashitsu (teahouse).

Chenar: Chenar: is the oriental plane tree (Platanus orientalis).

Chhatri: Chhatri (or Chatri): an umbrella - and thus an umbrella-shaped pavilion in an Indian garden. Chhatris were built over funnerary sites and are common in India.

Chinosierie: The term Chinosierie means 'imitation of Chinese' and in gardens is applied to the type of garden houses, bridges and other structures which became popular in the eighteenth century.

Clairvoie: Gate, fence or grille placed in an otherwise solid barrier to provide a 'clear view' of the outside scenery.

Classic: The word Classic means 'of the first class' and was first applied to the civilisation of anceint Greece and Rome. It then came to include renaissance art and is now used for anything of good quality 'eg a classic left jab'.

Cloister: Cloister derives from the Latin clostrum= lock. It desscribed the part of a monastery to which the public had no access and then became used to describe a rectangular lawn surrounded by a covered walk.

Clump: Group of trees (or shrubs) planted together to form a group. The word 'clumping' was used in the eighteenth century to describe the practice of converting an avenue into clumps.

Coade Stone: Composite material made by Mrs Eleanor Coade to give the appearance of stone at a lower price. The formula was kept secret but is thought to have been based on the use of fragments of previously-fired ceramic material with a blend of clays in a firing process. It has great strength and durability.

Colonnade: Row of columns.

Column: Post or pillar used for support or decoration (from the Latin columna=post).

Compost: Rich, nutrient filled soil formed by decaying organic matter. Used as an additive to gardens and beds and when planting trees and shrubs to enrich pre-existing soil.

Conceit: The noun Conceit is derived from the verb 'to conceive' and used for a fanciful idea (eg an ornamental structure with little or no use).

Concrete: From the Latin concretus=compounded. The Romans made concrete with pozzolana and lime. The modern use of reinforced concrete began with the making of flower pots.

Conservatory: Glazed structure for conserving (protecting) plants from cold weather. Originally the term was also used for non-glazed structures used for keeping food (eg apples).

Coppice: From a French word meaning 'to cut', a coppice is a wood maintained by periodical cutting. It the middle ages this was an important means of growing wood for fencing and kindling.

Corinthian Order: The Corinthian Order of Architecture has bell-shaped capitals decorated with acanthus leaves.

Coronary Garden: A Coronary Garden is used to grow flowers which could be used for wreaths and garlands ('like a crown').

Court: Court derives from the Latin cohors meaning a company or retinue or persons (who gathered in an enclosed place). The word thus gained a range of Uses: the people associated with a king; the place in which legal judgements are given; a place in front of a palace; an enclosed rectangular space within a building. It is ironic, given this derivation, that many courtyards in twentieth century buildings are used only as lightwells.

Courtyard Garden: Rectangular space surrounded by walls or buildings. See the entries for atrium, peristyle and xystus.

Crinkle-crankle Wall: Crinkle-crankle is a serpentine wall - which crinkles and crankles.

Cross-pollination: When pollen from the flower of one plant fertilizes the flower of another plant.

Deciduous Trees and Shrubs: Trees and shrubs that shed their leaves/foliage in the fall.

Deciduous Trees: Deciduous trees are those that shed foliage/leaves at the end of growing season.

Deciduous: Deciduous is an adjective used for a tree or shrub which sheds its leaves in winter.

Decking: The construction of decks out of wood or composite materials to create a recreational area.

Deer Park: A Deer Park is used for keeping deer. The idea of making hunting parks originated in Mesopotamia. Specialised deer parks were made in the middle ages.

Defoliation: The loss of leaves from trees and shrubs.

Dipping Pool: A Dipping Pool has convenient access for drawing water, usually for garden use.

Dipping Well: A Dipping well has convenient access for drawing water, often in a medieval town or monastery garden.

Doric Order: Doric is an Order or Architecture in which the capitals have a fluted shaft and plain capital.

Dormancy: Temporary cessation of growth during winter seasons.

Dovecote: Building in which doves are kept for food (eggs and meat).

Dreamstone: Dreamstone, in Chinese garden design, is a a translucent stone in which mineral deposits have formed pictures of woods and water (also known as a Journeying Stone). Dreamstones were hung from pavilion walls or set into the backs of chairs.

Drip Irrigation: An irrigation system that allows passage of water through emitters placed right underneath the plant's root under slow pressure.

Edging: The use of strong lines of division to accentuate the separation of one area from another in a landscape.

Elysium: In Greek mythology, Elysium is the place where the blessed go after death (the Elysian Fields). An elysium is a place of ideal happiness.

Espalier: A series of fruit trees formed into a hedge by training them on a framework of lines and stakes.

Etoile: From the French etoile=star, used to describe a point where straight walks cross (see Rondpoint and Patte d'oie).

Eurythmy: Eurythmy derives the Greek eu (meaning good) and rhuthmos (meaning proportion or rhythm). According to Vitruvius 'good rhythm' is one of the aims of design.

Evergreen: Plants that remain green throughout the year.

Exedra: The Greek word 'exedra' originally meant a building standing apart from a dwelling. Later, it was used for a hall with seating, attached to a peristyle, gymnasium, palaestra or private house. In gardens, it usually means an area with a semicircular area backed by a wall or hedge.

Exotic: A plant species which is not native to the country in which it is being grown (eg a Eucalyptus tree in India or a Cactus in England) is described as being Exotic.

Eyecatcher: An Eyecatcher is a distant feature, often outside the owner's propety, used to catch the eye (eg at Rousham in England).

Ferme Ornee: Ferme Ornee, from the French=ornamented farm, and used, mainly in England, to describe a farm which is treated aesthetically, somewhat in the manner of a garden.

Fernery: Collection of ferns, either indoors or outdoors.

Finial: A Finial is an ornament on a column, gate pier, balustrade, wall or building (from the Latin finis=end).

Flowery Mead: Medieval name for a lawn rich in wild flowers.

Folly: Garden structure which can be seen as a folly (by its owner or by visitors) because of its appearance, cost or lack of utility (eg a sham castle, an artificial ruin or a hermit's cell).

Formal: The term Formal is applied to gardens which emphasize straight lines, right angles and circles. It makes most sense in relation to Plato's Theory of Forms and as a contrast with 'informal'.

Frost Line: The layer of soil that freezes during winter season.

Garden Archaeology: Scientific study of the physical evidence of gardens recovered through the excavation.

Garden: Yard and Garden and Garth derive from the OE geard, and older languages, meaning an enclosure. Dr Johnson gave the following definition of Garden: "A piece of ground, enclosed, and cultivated with extraordinary care, planted with herbs or fruit or food, or laid out for pleasure". The key point, as Johnson emphasises, is that a garden is an enclosed place.

Gardenesque: The term Gardenesque was coined by J C Loudon to mean 'like a garden' and 'recognizable as a work of art, as distinct from a work of nature'. He recommend that when using the irregular lines of the Picturesque style, all the plants should be exotic to ensure that the garden cannot be confused with a wild place.

Garten: German word for garden.

Gazebo: Garden pavilion with a good view, often placed at the corner of a garden.

Gestatio: As described in Pliny the Younger's letters, a gestatio was an avenue set apart for exercise either on horseback on in a horse-drawn vehicle. It was generally laid out in the form of a circus (see hippodrome).

Giardino Segreto: Italian for 'secret garden'. During the renaissance this described a secret enclosure within a garden.

Giardino: Italian word for garden.

Giochi d'Acqua: Giochi d'acqua (Italian = 'water joke') Typically, a concealed fountain which sprayed water on unsuspecting guests in renaissance gardens.

Gloriette: In medieval gardens a gloriette was a summerhouse, often in the woods near a castle. It might be used by the ladies to take a meal while watching a hunt.

Grotto: A cave.

Ground Cover: Ground covers are plants that grow horizontal to the ground. Ground cover is often the best solution for shady and high traffic areas.

Gulistan: Gulistan, in Persian, means a rose garden or any flower garden.

Gymnasium: Gymnasium derives from the Greek gumnos, (meaning naked). It was a place where people exercised naked. The modern word gym derives from gymnasium.

Ha-Ha: Sunk wall with a ditch outside, used so that the garden boundary is not visible from within.

Hardscape: Sidewalks, patios and walkways.

Harmony: A pleasing combination of all the elements present in the landscape.

Hauz: Hauz means a stepwell or tank, as built in India and many parts of Central Asia The word is equivalent to baoli and baori.

Herbaceous: Plants that have soft rather than woody tissue.

Herbal: Book with descriptions of herbs and of their properties.

Herber: Medieval word for a planted garden (from the Latin herba=grass, or a herbaceous plant). The herber could be used for medicinal plants or flowers. Later the word came to be used for an arbour.

Herm: Representation of a head of Hermes, rising from a columnar pedestal.

Hermitage: Garden building which looks suited to use by a hermit, usually with a rustic appearance. Houses (eg the Ermitage outside Bayreuth) were designed like monasteries.

Hippodrome: (Greek hippos=horse + dromos=course) In ancient Greece, a hippodrome was course for chariot racing. The word was then used by the Romans for a garden space shaped like a racing track but most likely to be used for walking.

Horticulture: Horticulture derives from the Latin hortus. It meant a 'garden' space, in contrast to an 'agricultural' space.

Hortus Conclusus: Latin for enclosed garden.

Hortus: Latin word for garden.

Hybrid: A plant that is result of crossing two different plant species.

Ichnographia: An Ichnographia is a ground-plan.

Impervious: Soil that has become tightly packed because of foot traffic, construction etc.

Improver: The process of converting a farm to a designed landscape was described as 'improvement' during the eighteenth century.

Informal: Informal is used as a contrasting term to Formal, meaning a layout not characterised by straight lines and right angles.

Integrated pest Management: Process of predicting pest infestations in order to take early measures to prevent outbreaks .

Ionic Order: The Ionic is an Order of Architecture which has slimmer columns and voluted capitals.

Island Bed: Flowering beds that are set apart from the landscape surrounding them.

Jardim: Spanish word for garden.

Jardin: French word for garden.

Karesansui: Japanese Dry Garden, with water represented by sand or gravel [note that a Dry Garden is increasingly described as a Zen Garden].

Kiosk: Pavilion in a Islamic garden.

Knot Garden: Small rectangular plot with an intricate design. The were called 'knot' gardens because the patterns were based on the type of knot pattern seen in carpets.

Labyrinth: The name comes Labyrinth comes from the maze of passages where, in Greek mythogy, Theseus had to escape from the Minotaur. In gardens it network of paths designed as a puzzle to entertain visitors.

Landscaping Fabric: A synthetic landscaping material that blocks out sun, soil and weeds, but allows water to pass through.

Limestone: Compound that contains calcium. Generally used to increase the PH level of the soil.

Lion Dog: Characteristic form of Buddhist and Chinese statue. The lion is a symbol of majesty and the dog is a symbol of loyalty. Buddha's teaching was described as the 'Lion's Roar' and the the Lion Dog, began as a Buddhist symbol. It was placed in temples, then outside buildings and in gardens. See Elsie P. Mitchell The Lion-Dog of Buddhist Asia(1991).

Logia: A Logia is an open-sided arcade for sitting and dining, often attached to a house.

Mahal: Mahal is an Indian word for temple, as in Taj Mahal (Taj means crown).

Mali: Indian word for gardener.

Mausoleum: Tomb, usually of fine architectural quality. The Egyptian pyramids were built as mausoleums and many rich garden-owners have made them (eg at Castle Howard).

Maze: Network of paths designed as a puzzle. Garden mazes can be designed using turf, paving, hedges or other materials. The idea is ancient.

Menagerie: A collection of wild and exotic animals. The idea appeared in Western Asia in ancient times and was common until the nineteenth century. The Wilhelmina in Stuttgart is still managed as a combined botanical garden and zoo.

Mirador: A Mirador, from the Spanish mirar=to look, is room or tower, usually on the edge of a garden, from which there is a good view ( a mirador is similar to a Belvedere).

Mixed Border: Flower bed with a mix of different plants (eg herbaceous plants and shrubs).

Moat: Originally a defensive feature, moats came to valued for ornamental reasons. A canal placed round a garden for decorative reasons can also be described as a moat.

Moon Gate: A Moon Gate is circular aperture in a wall. The idea comes from Chinese gardens.

Moorish: The adjective Moorish is used for the design style characteristic of the inhabitants of North West Africa and Southern Spain, of mixed Arab and Berber descent.

Mosaiculture: French term for the use of bedding plants 'like a mosaic' to form patterns. The patterns could be geometrical or representational (eg butterflies).

Moss House: Garden building with moss pressed between the wall slats.

Mossery: Collection of mosses.

Mount: Characteristic feature of English gardens in the Middle Ages. It is a mound, often with a summer house on top, used to provide a view out from an enclosed garden. Sometimes, a circular path led to a seat or bower on the summit.

Mulch: Layer of either in-organic or organic material which is placed around plants to enhance moisture retention of the soil and control weeds.

Multi-stemmed: Plants that have several main stems growing out of the ground.

Natural: The Platonic axiom that 'art should imitate nature', which comes from Plato's Theory of Forms, has had a profound influence on garden design. But the meaning of the term 'nature' has varied. Sometimes it has meant 'the world of the forms' and sometimes it has meant 'the everyday world'.

Neoclassical: In architecture, Neoclassicism led to the work of the Adam brothers in England, Ledoux in France and Jefferson in America. In music, Neoclassical refers to a twentieth century reaction to the excesses of Romanticism.

Neoplatonism: The term Neoplatonism ('New Platonism') is used for a school of philosophy which developed in the 3rd century AD. The most influential figures were Plotinus and St Augustine, both of whom were born in Roman North Africa. They took the Theory of Forms, embeded in many of Plato's books, and transformed it into a more specific theory. It came to have a major influence on religious thinking and also on what became known as the Ideal Theory of Art.

Niche: Shallow recess in a wall or hedge, for placing a sculpture or for decorative effect.

Niwa: Japanese word for 'garden'. The word derives derives from ni, clay, and ha, place. In the Chronicle of Japan (Nihon Shoki) a niwa was a place purified for worship of the gods.

Node: Point on the stem from which leaves, shoots or flowers arise.

Nymphaeum: Place for nymphs. A nymph was a semi-divine maiden. They were believed to like water, caves, rivers and fountains.

Obelisk: An Obelisk is column carved from a single block of stone, with a square (or rectangular) cross-section and a pointed top. The form came from Egyptian temples.

Orangery: An Orangery is a conservatory made for the cultivation of oranges. They were common in renaissance and baroque gardens.

Orchard: An Orchard is a place for growing fruit trees, derived from the roots hortus+yard.

Pagoda: The word Pagoda came into English from Portuguese and may derive from the Persian butkada=temple for idols (a stupa). It is now used for a sacred Chinese or Indian building, or an imitation of such a building in a garden.

Palace: Palace derives from the Latin palatium, which derives from the name of the Palatine Hill in Rome on which Augustus built his house.

Palaestra: Palaestra derives from the Greek palaio (meaning to wrestle) and describes a wrestling school.

Pale: Pale comes from the Latin palus=stake, and means a pointed wooden stake driven into the ground to make a paling fence.

Palissade: French term for a fence made of pales.

Pall-mall: Pall-mall (from the French Paille-maille, and originally from the Italian pallamaglio, palla, ball, and maglio, mallet) is a game, rather like croquet, which led to the making of 'malls' in parks and gardens. This was the original use of The Mall in London.

Palladian Bridge: Roofed bridge in the style of the great renaissance archietct Andrea Palladio.

Papyrus: Papyrus is an aquatic plant (Cyperus papyrus) used by the Egyptians for many purposes, including the making of columns and a thick paper-like substance.

Paradise: Paradise was originally a Persian name (paradeisos) for a park stocked with exotic animals, the word Paradise was used by the Greeks to mean 'an ideal place'.

Park: Piece of land enclosed by an imparkment (a fence or wall). It could be woodland or pasture.

Parterre de Broderie: Paterre with a pattern resembling embroidery.

Parterre: A Parterre (From the French par=on + terre=ground). A level space, usually rectangular and on a terrace near a house, laid out in decorative pattern using plants and gravels.

Patio: Paved area meant for recreation purposes, usually situated in the backyard area.

Patte d'Oie: A patte d'oie, from the French 'foot of the goose': a point where straight walks radiate from a point (see Rondpoint and Etoile).

Pavilion: The word Pavilion derives from the Latin papilio (butterfly). Originally the word meant a tent, in gardens it is used for an airy and light building.

Pavimentum: Pavimentum, from the Latin pavire=to ram down, is used to describe a pavement made from from pieces of stone or ceramic which have been rammed down to make walking surface. [See stabilize].

Pedestal: Block used as a stand for a vase, an urn or a statue.

Penjing: Chinese word for a tray garden (the word came into Japanese as 'bonsai').

Perce: Perce derives from French and means a walk 'pierced' through a wood.

Percolation Test: Test conducted by landscapers or gardeners to find the rate at which the water gets absorbed by the soil.

Perennial: Any flowering plant that returns year after year, as opposed to annuals which die after one season.

Peristyle: Group of columns round a courtyard, or temple, and often used to support a roof (the Greek word derives from peri=round + stilus=column).

Perspective: Perspective drawing is the art of delineating a solid object on a flat surface. Once the art had been perfected, during the renaissance, it was used to create perspective effects in gardens.

Physic Garden: Special garden used for growing medicinal plants.

Piazza: Piazza, Plaza, Place, Platz, deriving from Italian, describe a public open space surrounded by buildings.

Picturesque: In general use, the word Picturesque means 'suitable for making into a picture'. In the eighteenth century the term was given a specific use as an intermediate quality between Beautiful and Sublime. It meant 'rough and shaggy'.

Pier: Pier, deriving from the Latin petra=rock, means a column made with blocks of stone.

Pinery: A Pinery is conservatory for growing pineapples.

Pinetum: Collection of coniferous trees.

Piscina: Stone basin used as a fish-pond or a bathing-pond (Latin picis=fish).

Planter: A Planter is an ornamental container for growing plants.

Plat: Flat area (plot) of ground, usually a rectangle of grass.

Pleaching (or Plashing): The practice of bending and inter-twining plants. Pleached trees grow together to form a hedge on stilts.

Pleasance: A Pleasance (or Pleasuance) is a pleasure ground attached to a castle or mansion, usually outside the fortifications.

Plinth: Square base of a column or of a building.

Podium: Continuous projecting pedestal or speakers' platform. The word derives from the Greek podion, meaning a little foot.

Pollard: Tree that has been cut 2-3 metres above the ground.

Pomarium: Medieval term for an apple orchard.

Portico: Colonaded entrance space (doorway).

Potager: French word for a vegetable garden.

Praeneste: Praeneste was a Roman town (now called Palestrina) 38 km from Rome. It had a series of great terraces linked by ramps and inspired later designers to make terraces (often arcaded).

Privy Garden: Privy means 'private' and thus a private garden, usually made for the sole use of a king or queen.

Promenade: Public walk.

Prospect: View. Architects and garden designers debated the importance of 'prospect and aspect' in placing a building (eg is it better to have a sunny place to sit, or a place with a good view?).

Pruning: The process of controlling the growth of a plant or tree to give it a pleasing shape, to maintain its health, encourage growth and optimize space.

Public Park: Piece of land provided for public recreation, sometimes defined as a such a piece of land which is also owned by the public and designed for recreational use.

Pulhamite: Reconstituted stone devised by James Pulham in the 1840s. It was used to make artificial rocks.

Pumice: Pumice is an igneous rock derived from lava. It is light and porous. Pumice was used as a building stone by the Romans and has been much-used in making grottos because it favour the growth of plants.

Pyramid: Pointed form with square base. Stone pyramids, topiary pyramids and turf pyramids have been used in garden design.

Quincunx: A Quincunx is planting pattern with five points (four to mark a square and one to mark the centre point).

Renaissance: Renaissance derives from the French for 're-birth' and is used for the re-introduction of classic Greek and Roman designs in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Rill: Small water course.

Rocaille: Rocaille is rockwork, shellwork or pebblework.

Rock Garden: Place for growing mountain plants (eg from the Alps and Himalayas).

Roji: 'dewy path' to a tea house in a Japanese garden.

Rondpoint: Circular area where avenues meet (eg in a Baroque garden).

Root House: Garden building made with roots, trunks, stumps, branches and other parts of trees.

Root Pruning: Root pruning involves cutting off certain parts of the root system in order to restrict plant growth.

Rosarium: Rose garden, often circular.

Rotunda: Any circular, domed building. Often used in landscaping to create a shaded area suitable for rest and relaxation.

Rustication: Rustication is stonework with roughened surfaces and recessed joints.

Sacred Grove: In Ancient Egypt, Sacred Groves were placed within temple compounds. In Homeric Greece they were places of resort, outside citadels, often dedicated to specific gods and associated with a fresh spring or grotto. In Classical Greece, sacred groves were used for physical and intellectual exercise. They became academies, lyceums and gymnasia.

Shakkei: Shakkei is borrowed scenery (eg a mountain) in a Japanese garden.

Sharawadgi: Word of unknown origin, used in connection with the supposed Chinese influence on irregularity in early-eighteenth century gardens.

Shin-gyo-so: Shin, gyo and so are terms (derived from calligraphy) and used to describe, respectively, a formal, semiformal and informal style of Japanese garden design.

Shinden-zukuri: Sleeping Hall (Shinden) Style (Zukuri) of laying out a Japanese garden during the Heian period.

Shoin-zukuri: Study (shoin) style (zukuri) style of laying out a Japanese garden.

Shoin: A Shoin os a study with a low writing desk. The shoin can either be a room in a house of a separate building in a garden.

Stabilise: Stabilise, pronounced 'stabil-ezay', the word is used to describe a type of pavement, used in French parks and gardens, formed by ramming gravel or broken stone (see Pavimentum).

Stacking: Process to supporting a tree using ropes or wooden stacks to hold it in place.

Stewpond: Fishpond in a monastery garden.

Stoa: Portico or detached colonnade.

Stroll Garden: Japanese garden planned to reveal a sequence of views as the the visitor strolls along the path.

Sublime: In general use, the word Sublime means 'of exalted status'. In the eighteenth century the term was given a specific use (eg by Edmund Burke), in contrast with the word Beautiful (meaning 'soft, gentle and smooth') so that Sublime meant 'dramatic, awe-inspiring and almost frightening.' Picturesque was used as an intermediate term.

Sundial: Device which uses the sun to tell the time, much-used as a garden ornament.

Terrace: Terrace derives from the Latin terre=earth and describes a flat area of earth, often supported by a retaining wall.

Terracing: Process of building walls to hold the soil in place on a sloped site.

Terracotta: Terracotta, from the Latin for earth+burnt, is the traditional material for flowerpots and tiles and also describes their characteristic color.

Theatre: Theatre derives from the Greek theaomai=to behold). In gardens a theatre can be an a place see a theatrical performance or place which is like the set for a play.

Topiary: A garden where plants or shrubs are shaped and trimmed into geometric or animal forms.

Torii: Gateway at the entrance to a Japanese Shinto shrine, and in other derivative locations, sometimes in gardens.

Tortoise Island: The tale of islands supported by tortorises (the Isles of the Immortals) came from China and led to the making of islands with rocks representing tortorises in Japanese gardens.

Transpiration: Process by which water absorbed by the roots is given off into the atmosphere through water vapor .

Treillage: Treillage is elaborate trellis-work, used to support plants in gardens.

Trellis: Lattice for the support of climbing plants.

Triclinium: Roman dining room with couches on three sides (from the Greek for 'three couches').

Trompe L'oeil: A Trompe l'oeil is an illusion which 'deceives the eye' (eg a wall-painting which resembles a real garden feature).

Tufa: Soft volcanic stone, used in making grottos.

Urn: An Urn is a vase, originally used for storing the ashes of a cremated body. Empty urns have been popular garden ornaments.

Variegated Leaves: Leaves that have different patters and colors.

Vault: A Vault is an arched covering in stone or brick or other material.

Villa: Latin word for a country estate. It refers to the land itself and to the buildings upon it.

Volute: Volute derives from the Latin voluta=scroll, and is is used for the scroll decoration in the classical Orders of European architecture.

Weathering: Process which changes a material in time. Or, in architecture, the slope on a buttress to shed rainwater.

Wilderness: Wood, kept for pleasure, with walks.

Winter Garden: A Winter Garden can be either (1) an outdoor area used for winter-flowering plants, or, (2) a conservatory.

Wrought Iron: Wrought Iron is iron which has been worked ('wrought') by hammering on a forge (though the word is often used for gates etc made by bending mild steel bars).

Xeriscape: landscaping that is designed specifically for areas that are susceptible to drought, or for areas where water conservation is practiced.

Xystus: Xystus derives from the Greek xustos, meaning smooth, and describes a place for exercise. In the gardens of Pompeii, the xystus was a place for horticulture.

Yuan: Chinese word for 'garden'. Originally, a 'yuan' was an imperial hunting park, bounded by a mud wall.

Ziggurat: Pyramid-shaped tower.