1. ROP Nursery/Greenhouse & ROP Landscape Maintenance
Pruning lingo 101
ROP Nursery/Greenhouse & ROP Landscape Maintenance
By: Mrs. Deanna Cargill

2. Pruning lingo 101

3. 1. ROOTSTOCK
is the base of the plant, below the
union

4. 2. Sucker
A shoot which grows from the
rootstock.

5. 3. Heading Back
Cutting back branches to buds or
side branches .

6. 4. Evergreen
Plants that have leaves on them
throughout the year.

7. 5. Deciduous
Plants which shed their leaves
yearly.

8. 6. Terminal Buds
Growing point of the stem.

9. 7. Lateral Buds
Side branches

10. 8. Bud Union
Point at which the rootstock and
top of the plant unite

11. 9. Stub Improperly pruned branch which leaves a protruding hook; bad
because it allows for entry of disease
and pests

12. 10. Watersprout
Long, vertical shoots arising from
branches

13. 11. Primary Scaffold Branch
First main branch from trunk

14. 12. Secondary Scaffold Branch
Limb branching from primary
scaffold

15. 13. Spur
Short lateral that bears the fruit in
many species

16. 14. Leader
The central stem in a plant

17. 15. Lateral
Those branches growing from
primaries and secondaries

18. 16. Thinning Complete removal of branches to the
trunk or to the ground

19. 17. Node or bud A small swelling or projection on a
plant where a shoot, cluster of leaves
or flowers

20. 18. internode
Distance on stem between leaves or
buds

21. 19. pinching Most basic pruning technique, using
thumb and forefinger to remove the
stem tips of new growth

22. 20. shearing
Method of clipping the surface of densely foliaged plants using hand or
electric shears

23. 21. Espaliering The practice of training a tree or
shrub to grow flat either on a trellis
or against a wall

24. 22. canopy Refers to the top, shade-producing
structure of a tree or shrub, made
up of branches and foliage

25. 23. Crotch The angle formed between the trunk
and the scaffold branch or between
a pair of trunks

26. 24. Double leader When two trunks or main stems
compete for the dominant, leading
position

27. 25. pollard Shearing off the top of a tree so that
it puts out a dense head of slender
shoots

28. 26. standard A plant, not naturally growing as a
tree, that is trained into a small tree-
like form with a single, upright
trunk and rounded crown

29. 27. topiary The technique of shearing trees and
shrubs to geometric or animal-like
shapes

30. 28. conifer Cone-bearing trees and shrubs,
primarily evergreen with needle- or
scale-like foliage

31. 29. bonsai
To dwarf a shrub or tree by various
means in a container

32. 30. Pleaching Weaving together or intertwining of
upper branches of several trees

33. 31. framework The basic branch structure of a tree
which gives it its shape

34. 32. One-year-old wood Growth that develops during the
previous growing season

35. The End