This lesson suits upper-intermediate to advanced learners. After listening, scroll to the bottom of this page and take the quiz to test your learning.
Learning notes
Lesson language objective:
Phrases to talk about plants and gardening
Different questions to ask when talking about gardens
- Do you have natives or mainly introduced plants in your garden?
- Do your plants need full sun or part shade?
- Is your garden bed in a partially or fully shaded spot?
- Is your garden flower, vegie or ornamental?
- Do you prefer seedlings or seeds?
Different phrases we can use when talking about gardening
- My natives will make a lovely ornamental garden.
- I need to buy a trowel and one angled shovel.
- I’m looking for some easy-to-care perennials.
Colloquial expressions:
To ‘spring into action’ – means to become suddenly very active and energetic.
To ‘beat around the bush’ – This means to discuss a matter without coming to the point. So, if you say to someone, “Please, don’t beat around the bush,” it means you are asking them to be direct and stop talking about many unimportant things.
Green thumb – A person who is good at growing plants. Eg: “She has a green thumb, she can grow anything!”
Vocabulary:
Seedlings - a young plant, especially one raised from seed and not from a cutting.
Pull out the weeds – removing the weeds from the garden bed by loosening the soil around the weed and pulling the entire weed up from the root.
Dig a hole – making a hole in the ground.
Mowing the lawn – to cut the grass on a lawn with a lawn mower.
Watering the plants – to pour water on to plants or the soil that they are growing in.
Growing a seed - to grow by planting seeds rather than by some other method.
Planting a tree – the process of transplanting tree seedlings.
Cultural information:
connects city farms and community gardens around Australia. It is a community-based organisation linking people interested in city farming and community gardening across Australia.
is an SBS Learn English video and podcast series in which you can learn about Australia’s furry, feathered, and scaly animals, not found anywhere else in the world.
Senior Asian woman gardening at her home in Perth, Australia.
Different phrases we can use when talking about gardening
- My natives will make a lovely ornamental garden.
- I need to buy a trowel and one angled shovel.
- I’m looking for some easy-to-care perennials.
Colloquial expressions:
To ‘spring into action’ – means to become suddenly very active and energetic.
To ‘beat around the bush’ – This means to discuss a matter without coming to the point. So, if you say to someone, “Please, don’t beat around the bush,” it means you are asking them to be direct and stop talking about many unimportant things.
Green thumb – A person who is good at growing plants. Eg: “She has a green thumb, she can grow anything!”
Vocabulary:
Seedlings - a young plant, especially one raised from seed and not from a cutting.
Pull out the weeds – removing the weeds from the garden bed by loosening the soil around the weed and pulling the entire weed up from the root.
Dig a hole – making a hole in the ground.
Mowing the lawn – to cut the grass on a lawn with a lawn mower.
Watering the plants – to pour water on to plants or the soil that they are growing in.
Growing a seed - to grow by planting seeds rather than by some other method.
Planting a tree – the process of transplanting tree seedlings.
Cultural information:
connects city farms and community gardens around Australia. It is a community-based organisation linking people interested in city farming and community gardening across Australia.
is an SBS Learn English video and podcast series in which you can learn about Australia’s furry, feathered, and scaly animals, not found anywhere else in the world.
In your area, is it natives or mainly introduced trees and plants?
Susie has a special corner in mind for her native plans.
Susie
They need partial sun, and they’ll make a lovely ornamental garden.
Do your plants need full sun or part shade? Is your garden bed in a partially or fully shaded spot? If you don’t have a garden, what kind would like to have, flower, vegie or ornamental?
An ornamental garden is designed because of how it looks than the production of crops like vegetables or herbs.
They will often include plants with flowers or colourful foliage (that means leaves).
You could also describe your garden as low maintenance if it doesn’t need a lot of work like weeding, pruning.
Your garden may be drought tolerant if it doesn’t require a lot of water or thirsty if it’s the opposite.
Native Australian plants are often low maintenance and drought tolerant.
You can use the word ‘tolerant’ to describe other things related to plants as well. Next time you are buying plants, look out for the phrases ‘sun tolerant’, ‘pest tolerant’ or ‘wind tolerant’.
And how are you as a gardener?
Do you have a green thumb?
I don’t have a green thumb unfortunately.
To have a green thumb means to have an unusual ability to make plants grow well.
I hope Susie does! She gave Allan a big list and sent him shopping for some garden tools. Let’s check on him,
Allan
Ah, there it is. Susie’s list. …What does it say?... A trowel, secateurs, an angled shovel… l wonder if I can get her an angled shovel at a good price. What else? Pruners, watering can, and shears. Wait a second, she added a hose here at the bottom of the page as well.
Allan is buying some gardening tools. First, he mentioned,
A trowel, secateurs, a shovel.
A trowel is a small, handheld tool with a curved scoop for lifting plants or earth.
Secateurs are a pair of pruning clippers for use with one hand.
Allan had a specific shovel in mind.
I wonder if I can get an angled shovel at a good price.
An angled shovel is a shovel with a blade that makes it makes it good for digging.
Then we heard Allan mention,
Pruners, a watering can, shears and a hose.
Pruners, watering can, shears, a hose and let’s add lawnmower and fork. These are the names of some of the gardening tools.
Now Allan is talking with Susie, who, for the purpose of this dialogue. is a horticulturalist, an expert in gardens.
Allan
I’m looking for some easy- to- care perennials.
Susie
Do you prefer seedlings or seeds?
Allan
I’m not sure, what would you suggest?
Susie
Well… seedlings are quicker and easier. If you want to sow seeds, this will save you money but it will take longer.
Ok, let's not beat around the bush. We have a lot to explain.
By the way, to “beat around the bush” means to discuss a matter without getting to the point.
So, if I say to someone, "Please, don't beat around the bush," I'm asking them to get to the point and stop talking about many unimportant things.
So, Allan is buying some flowers. He said,
I’m looking for some easy-to-care perennials.
A perennial plant, or simply perennial, is a plant that can keep growing over many seasons. This is different to annual plants that only last for one season.
Susie then asked,
Do you prefer seedlings or seeds?
Seedlings are young plants developing from seeds. Basically, seedlings are seeds that have already sprouted.
They will save you some time, which comes at a price. Just like Susie said,
Susie
Well… seedlings are quicker and easier. If you want to sow seeds, this will save you money but it will take longer.
Sowing is another way to say planting, but only if you are talking about seeds. You can sow seeds but you can’t sow plants. You have to plant plants! Confusing, right!
My guest today is Anh Vu from SBS Vietnamese. Hi Anh, thanks for joining the show.
Anh
Hi, Josipa; it's great to be here.
Josipa
You've been telling me how gardening and the Vietnamese community go hand in hand with each other.
Anh
Yes, gardening and the Vietnamese community are closely linked together. For Vietnamese people, gardening is a way to reconnect with positive memories of homeland as well. So many culinary and medicinal Asian herbs you can plant in your very own backyard like coriander, basil, mint, lemongrass, ginger.
Josipa
I used to love herbs from my mum's backyard, but since I moved to Sydney, my garden has been made of two pots on my windowsill. You suggested I search for a community garden near my home?
Anh
Yes. There are over 600 community gardens and city farms in Australia, where people come together to grow fresh food, learn, relax and make new friends.
Josipa
Thanks for sharing, Anh. Now, I need to find a community garden near me.
Anh
website, and you can join Australia's thriving community garden community in a second.
for previews, updates and to provide feedback.
A big thank you to our educational consultant Shirley Glaister, our guests Anh Vu, Ioane Lafoai, and to Paul Nicholson and Clair Drew who voiced the characters of Allan and Susie.
