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Also known as a slip, a cutting is taken from a healthy plant by means of scissors or a knife, and placed in a growing medium in order to create a new plant.

The process of acclimatising plants to lower temperatures, usually following their raising under cover, such as in a greenhouse, prior to planting out in open ground.

The practice of planting two or more plants that bloom at different times of the year, or which have complementary characteristics, to create year-round interest in the garden.

Symptom of a variety of viral diseases that attack the leaves of many plants, but particularly roses. The spots can be of various colours. Afflicted plants will need to be treated with a fungicide.

A large tray divided into cells in which seeds may be planted. The cells train the roots downwards, strengthening them and causing limited disruption to the plant when transplanted outside.

A hermaphrodite plant, ie, having both male and female flowers on the same plant. An example of this is the hazel, where the catkins are male and the buds are female.

1) When a cultivated plant reverts to its original form. 2) A viral disease that affects blackcurrants, reducing the quality of the plant and its yield.

A loosely climbing plant, ie, one that climbs without using tendrils. Instead it uses intertwining long, supple stems that grow through other plants.

A plant that's unable to produce fruit without the pollen of another. A plant that cannot be fertilised by its own pollen.

A group of microscopic organisms that reproduce inside plant cells, thereby destroying them and causing disease. Viruses that attack plants are often transmitted by sap-sucking insects.