In my last gardening blog La mia battaglia col giardino I had intended to give you a bit more gardening vocabulary … but full of enthusiasm, after what seemed like an interminable prigionia invernale (winter captivity), I got a bit carried away, and ran out of space!

Dunque, in compensation, this is going to be a very practical blog. Let’s have a look at il linguaggio del giardinaggio (the language of gardening):

Il giardino = the garden, il giardinaggio = gardening, and il giardiniere, plural i giardinieri, = the gardener/s (masculine or feminine).

Here are some of the main tasks that il giardiniere carries out:

vangare = to dig, from la vanga = the  spade: bisogna vangare l’orto (the vegetable garden needs digging)

zappare = to hoe, from la zappa = the hoe: si usa la zappa per fare i solchi (the hoe is used to make furrows)

rastrellare = to rake, from il rastrello = the rake: in autunno le foglie vanno rastrellate (the leaves have to be raked in the autumn)

potare = to prune, potatura = pruning: per la potatura bisogna avere le forbici da pota (for pruning you need to have pruning scissors – secateurs)

concimare = to fertilize, from concime = fertilizer: è meglio concimare il giardino in primavera o in autunno (it’s best to fertilize the garden in the spring or the autumn)

piantare = to plant, n.b. people often use the colloquial expression ‘mettere giù’ = ‘to put down’, instead of piantare: hai già messo giù le patate? or hai già piantato le patate? (have you already planted the potatoes?)

trapiantare = to transplant: ho trapiantato i cespugli di rosmarino e di salvia (I transplanted the rosemary and sage bushes)

rinvasare  = to re-pot, from il vaso = the vase or flower pot: potresti rinvasare quella pianta grassa per favore? (could you re-pot that succulent plant please?)

seminare = to sow, from i semi = the seeds: oggi ho preparato il posto dove voglio seminare le carote (today I prepared the place where I want to sow the carrots)

tagliare l’erba = to cut the grass, or mow: se si ha il prato inglese, bisogna avere un tagliaerba (if you have a lawn you need a lawnmower), noi invece usiamo il decespugliatore per tenere pulito l’orto (we, however, use a strimmer or brushcutter to keep our vegetable garden clean)

annaffiare = to water: per annaffiare il giardino si può usare la canna o l’annaffiatoio (to water the garden you can use a hose or a watering can), noi preferiamo usare l’acqua piovana perché dà risultati migliori (we prefer to use rain water because it gives better results).

In my next gardening blog I’ll give you an update about what’s going on in our garden, with a few photos.