Do you have green fingers? When was the last time you weeded the garden? Life’s not always a bed of roses, but if you listen to this podcast about gardening vocabulary, it might sow a few seeds of curiosity and help you on the way to improving your English.

Voice message from Monica from Valencia
I HAVE BEEN learning English for about three years.
Good use of the phrasal verb ‘to come across’
pronunciation of ‘since’
Chocolate – AIRC353
Pronunciation of cinnamon
I had no idea there’s a chocolate museum in Sueca: https://chocolatescomes.com/museo-del-chocolate/?lang=en

Gardening tools & equipment
A shed (toolshed) – cobertizo, caseta
Wheelbarrow – carretilla
Lawn-mower – to mow/cut the lawn/grass
Garden shears/clippers – tijeras de podar
Spade – pala – flat blade with straight edges (To call a spade a spade)
Shovel – pala – slightly concave blade with a rounded/pointed tip
Both can be used to dig – cavar. But shovels are better for cutting things, while spades are better for moving things.
Fork – horca, trinche
Bucket – cubo, blade (Ar.), cubeta (Mx.), tobo (Ven.) Collocation – bucket and spade
Broom – escoba
Axe – hacha
Hatchet – destral
Fertilizer – fertilizante, abono
Rake – rastrillo – to rake up the leaves (to rake up the past)
Hoe – azada
Watering can – regadera (to water the plants)
Pruning shears/pruners/secateurs – to prune (podar) to remove unhealthy/unwanted bits)
Cutter/trimmer – to trim (podar/recortar) to remove bits for aesthetic reasons) To trim back (costs/expenditure etc.) – to make cuts

Other words
Hedge – seto – hedge trimmer (a hedge fund – un fondo de cobertura, to hedge your bets – to play safe, not take risks)
Deckchair – a folding seat
Sunbed – tumbona
Fence – valla, verja, cerca (Good fences make good neighbours. / The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. / Take time to smell the roses.)
Railings (iron fence) reja
Flower bed – macizo, lecho de flores
Compost heap
Bush – arbusto
Vegetable garden/plot – huerto, hortaliza (Mx.)
Greenhouse – invernadero
Pot – maceta (In slang “pot” can mean marihuana!)
Potted/Pot plant – planta de maceta
To water the plants – regar las plantas
Weeds – to weed the garden (In slang “weed” can also mean marihuana!) ‘To weed someone, or something out’ – to remove it/them
Seeds – to sow seeds (To reap what you sow)

Gardening expressions/idioms
To have green fingers
She’s/He’s a late bloomer
As busy as a bee
As fresh as a daisy
Pushing up the daisies
To beat around the bush
She’s/He’s a thorn in my side
To nip something in the bud
To lead someone up the garden path
Life’s not a bed of roses
Come up (smelling of) roses

…and now it’s your turn to practise your English.
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On next week’s episode: Hippies and hippy lifestyle

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’

Photo by CDC on Unsplash