Native
Plants indigenous to a specific area or habitat.
Native Garden
A garden made up of plants that are indigenous to the local area. Some people think its common or daggy to have all natives - but its the best way to get a lot of birds and good bugs into your backyard.
Naturalised
Established as a part of the flora in an area other than the place of origin.
Nectar
Sugary solution secreted by some flowers. Used to attract insects and birds who inadvertently pollinate the flower whilst taking the nectar.
Needle-leaf evergreen
An evergreen plant that has needle-like foliage; usually a conifer.
Nitrogen
Nitrogen assists plants in making proteins which are required to produce new tissue. Nitrogen is often in short supply in nature so plants tend to suck up as much as possible when it is available, even if its at the expense of other necessary nutrients. So if you over-fertilise with nitrogen, the plant may grow masses of foliage but not produce fruit or flowers. Therefore it is very important to ensure nitrogen is always in balance with other elements and applied at recommended rates.
Node
Small swollen spot on the stem of a plant where both leaf and axial buds grow. Internodal cuttings are taken midway between nodes.
NPK
Acronym for the three major plant nutrients contained in manure, compost and fertilizers, and used to describe the amounts of each readily available.' N' is for nitrogen,' P' for phosphorus, and' K' for potassium.
Nutrient
Any substance in the soil or in fertilisers which is essential for promoting the growth of plants. It generally refers to a group of elements including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.