BBC Home


23 November 2009
Accessibility help
Text only

how to be a gardener - The complete online guide

BBC Homepage
Lifestyle
Gardening
Part One
Part Two


Are you signed in?
Go here for more information

Understand plants

Plant types

Annuals and biennials

Perennials and bedding plants

Woody plants

Evergreen and deciduous plants

Bulbs

Climbers

Plant names

Test your knowledge

Go further

Plant lists

Interactives

Glossary

Credits

Programme information

Help with plugins

Gardening newsletter

Site map


Contact Us

Like this page?
Send it to a friend!
 



home

Module 1

Module 2

Module 3

Module 4

Module 5

Module 6

Module 7

Module 8

2 - Plant types

Print page

Woody plants
In the immortal words of Monty Python: "We want a shrubbery!". Basically, they were asking for a bed filled with those plants that have a permanent, above-ground, 'woody' structure. But there are subtle differences.

Mature shrubs
©

Shrubs
Shrubs such as roses, lavender and gorse have woody branches but no trunk.

The mighty oak
Trees
Trees such as oak, beech and holly always have branches (and normally a single trunk) - however small.
Exceptions


Many woody plants have a range of attributes - lovely flowers, coloured leaves, attractive bark or berries, (autumn colour) - that 'do their thing' at different times of year, which means you get an ever-changing garden.

Gardening links
Find out more about growing shrubs in tubs on the main site

Previous

Next

2. Understand plants

Introduction
Plant types
  Annuals and biennials
  Perennials and bedding plants
  Woody plants
  Evergreen and deciduous plants
  Bulbs
  Climbers
Plant names
Test your knowledge
Go further


Highlights

Plant lists

Plant lists

View plant list on:




Find thousands more plants in the BBC Gardening database .


Video

Video

Watch video clips on:




Interactive

Interactive
Find out more about Latin naming with our fun game!
(External) Requires Flash 5


Useful links



About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy
 

Explore the BBC

Change Text Only Settings

Graphic version of this page