What’s the difference?

Ever wondered if there’s a di erence between two garden terms, products or ways of doing something? Here are three you asked about…

Can you tell your roots from your rhizomes? We clarify some common gardening tools and terms

1 TIP PRUNING vs DEADHEADING

Tip-pruning is undertaken to increase the bushiness of a plant. It involves pinching out the top couple of leaves of soft new growth. To do this, grasp the stem below these leaves, between your thumb and your middle finger, and pinch it off.

You can also use secateurs.

Deadheading, on the other hand, is the removal of spent flowers from a plant.

This helps to keep the plant looking tidy and highlight the remaining flowers. Removing any spent blooms will also halt seed production, so deadheading will limit a plant’s spread if it has weed potential. Plants are programmed to flower and set seed to reproduce, so in some cases, deadheading will encourage them to repeat flower in an attempt to complete this natural process. As the flower fades, simply cut or pinch it off.

2 DIBBLER OR DIBBER vs BULB PLANTER

Dibblers are those carrot-shaped bits of wood with a pointy end, used to poke holes in the soil. They have graduated markings to show depth, and sometimes have a metal tip. Some have a T-shaped handle, others a rounded knob on top. Dibblers are great for quickly planting up lots of small bulbs and seeds, and for transplanting seedlings. Bulb planters are mainly for bulbs, but especially big ones. This heavy-duty implement acts much like an apple corer, with either a short or long handle. Bulb planters have a serrated edge that can push through hard soil, and they also have a spring-loaded handle that dumps the ‘core’ of soil you pushed through. This feature makes them handy for digging out bulbous weeds, such as oxalis and onion weed, and they can be used to plant small seedlings and tubestock, too. Depth markings on the side take the guesswork out of planting. High-quality carbon-steel ones keep their edges sharp and won’t get coated with rust if you forget to clean your garden tools.

3 ROOT vs RHIZOME

Roots have two main functions: to absorb moisture and nutrients, and to anchor the plant either in ground or above, as seen in epiphytes such as orchids.

The majority of plants have either fibrous roots or tap roots. Tap root systems have a strong vertical root with smaller lateral ones. Fibrous root systems, like those on grasses and azaleas, spread out in a fine, branching network just below the soil surface. Plants can have a combination of both types of root systems.

Rhizomes look a bit like roots, but are actually fleshy modified stems that grow horizontally underground. Being a stem, it has nodes from which new shoots and roots can form. Rhizomes also store starches and proteins, and those that are completely underground can survive harsh winters or a long, dry spell. They can be compact, as seen in ginger, or running, as in running bamboo; they can be completely underground, such as clivias, or partially above ground, like bearded irises.

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