Also – a form of propagating bulbs. (We do love our gardening vocabulary to have double meanings!)
Chipper-shredders are machines that are very useful to use if your garden and landscape produces a lot of woody plant debris (after pruning, for instance). These machines chip the wood into smaller pieces for faster breakdown during the compost process.
Chipping as a form of propagation: Some bulbs are not easy to divide to create new plants. Chipping is one way to create new bulbs and thus new plants. Have you ever dug up an older bulb and noticed that there are many new, baby bulbs forming? Those new, baby bulbs can be separated from the parent bulb and planted to start a new stand of plants identical to the parent bulb plant.
When the bulb is dormant, cut off the tip of the bulb (the area where new leaves emerge) and remove any roots without cutting the base or basal plate of the bulb. With a clean knife, cut down through the basal plate of the bulb to make 6–14 equal pieces or “chips.” Apply fungicide to the chips and then dry the chips before placing them in a clean, plastic bag with a moist mixture of 50 percent perlite and 50 percent peat or vermiculite. Do not squeeze the air out of the bag before sealing. Place the bag in a dark, cold space (about 20 degrees Farenheit). In 12 weeks, you should see roots emerging from your chips. The chips are now ready for planting in a temporary growing medium of potting compost and grit (tiny gravel) in a 50/50 mix. Grow the bulbs in a cool, shady spot for the summer and then a cold frame for the winter. Repeat this process until the bulbs have reached mature planting size and are ready for garden installation. Daffodils are an example of a bulb propagated by chipping.
CHLOROPHYLL
The pigment in plants that give leaves, fruits and sometimes flowers their green color.
CHLOROSIS
A yellowing of a plant or plant foliage due to insufficient production of chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll gives leaves their green color; chlorotic leaves may appear yellow or pale yellow, oftentimes with dark green veins remaining. Many factors may cause the condition, so it is imperative to determine the cause before a proper treatment plan can be put in place.
Plants that are subjected to compacted, waterlogged or extremely dry soil may show signs of chlorosis. Plants that have damaged roots or have been treated with pesticides may also become chlorotic. The pH level of soil may also contribute to the condition, particularly for plants that don’t grow well in soils with a high pH. Quercus palustris (pin oak), for instance, will have iron chlorosis if planted in akaline soils. The iron may be plentiful in the soil but unavailable for plant uptake due to soil pH. The best way to prevent iron chlorosis is to select the right plant for the location.
CLAY
One of the three mineral ingredients of ideal soil that gardeners strive to have in somewhat equal parts – the other two minerals being silt and sand. (See: Soil)
Technically speaking, clay soil differs from other fine-grained soils by particle size and mineralogy. Silt, a fine-grained material, tends to have larger particle sizes than clay, but smaller than sand. To put this in perspective, sand is about the size of a softball, silt is about the size of a baseball, and clay is the size of a golf ball.
To gardeners, clay is a substance that bonds well to itself, holds water, does not allow for adequate air and water movement, but is rich in nutrients. When gardeners say they have clay soil, they do not mean their soil is all clay, but that it is rich in clay and rather tricky to work and dig.
Chlorophyll gives these basil leaves their green color
CLIMBING
Plants that require a structure to support their growth habit.
Climbing plants rely on rocks, walls, arbors, and other plants to support themselves; otherwise, the plant is not able to hold itself up and will collapse and become trailing. Climbing plants use sucker-like roots and/or tendrils (think fingers) to attach themselves and wrap around a branch, twig or other element for support. Some “climbers” can be extremely woody and heavy, so be sure to know the mature habit of the plant that you are thinking about purchasing for an arbor or other structure. Examples include grapevines, Clematis and ivy.
CLOCHE
A bell-shaped glass cover that is placed over a seedling in the early season to protect it from cold temperatures and to encourage growth.
Cloche is French for “bell,” as in a bell jar or dish cover. In the garden, think of it as a mini-glass greenhouse over a tender plant.
CLONE
An identical reproduction of the parent plant.
A clone is the result of asexual reproduction in which a new plant is produced without the use of seeds or spores and can be achieved any number of ways, either naturally or by gardeners. For example, strawberry plants send out runners, which take root and produce new strawberry plants identical to the parent plant. Gardeners take cuttings or leaves (such as from succulents), treat them with hormones and grow a new plant identical to the plant from which the cutting originated.
COIR
A fiber that is extracted from the husk of coconuts.
Coir has a number of uses in gardening, one being a soil amendment alternative for peat moss. Coir can be used in the garden or in container and hanging basket soilless mixes. Long coir fibers are woven into mats or liners and then used to line wire hanging baskets.
COLD FRAME
A structure, usually covered with glass or plastic, that provides a favorable environment for growing cool-weather crops, protecting them from freezing temperatures; also used to harden-off seedlings that are started indoors.
COLD HARDY
(See: Hardiness/Hardy)
