I have recently been poking around in a gardening newsgroup and have learned that there are some misconceptions about certain garden terms.  This list of terms should help to clear up some confusion:
 

• Gardener - n. A person who likes to garden and have gardens.
• Garden - v. The act of intentionally growing plants. This does not include maintenance of plants that already existed when a home was acquired.  A person who just cuts the grass and hedges cannot be considered to be gardening -- they are doing yard work.  n. The intentionally grown plants of a gardener.
• Flowers - n.. These are plants that you like, usually having a bloom of some kind.
• Grass - n. A type of plant that grows best in flower beds, but is intended to cover large areas of lawn and have a carpet like appearance.  Supposed to be green when not dormant.
• Ground covers -- n. Plants that are not grass that cover an area of ground.  Some ground covers bloom, thus they can be confused with flowers.
• Weed - n. This is a plant you don't like.  A friend of mine says anything growing where you don't want it is a weed.  "If I don't know what it is," he adds, "it's a weed to me!"  Note that the definition of weed in part depends on where the plant is growing.  For example, bermuda grass in your flower bed could be considered a weed.  Likewise ajuga in your lawn is also a weed.  Certain varieties of grass are actually weeds.  Remember, if you don't like the way it looks, it can be a weed.  Crabgrass is a weed, not a grass.  It is difficult to be certain, however:  bermuda is a grass to some and a weed to others.  Remember that if it is growing where you don't want it, it can be considered a weed, if you don't like it.
• Wildflowers - n. Weeds with names that bloom.  Since you like them they are not weeds.  Also, if you apply fertilizer, mulch, and that sort of thing, they are wildflowers, not weeds.
• Volunteers - n..  Plants that you like and know the name of that came up somewhere you did not plant them.  Note that if you don't like them, they are weeds, not volunteers. Example of proper usage:  "I had a Lenton Rose volunteer in my flower bed!"  Example of improper usage:  "I have crabgrass volunteering in my zoysia!"
• Compost - n. This is a pile of yard debris and other stuff that is intentionally left piled up.  Usually situated as far out of sight as possible, the idea is to let this stuff decompose to be added into the soil later.  If a neighbor has such a pile, but does not garden (see above), then it is not compost, but merely debris.  The intention of using it in the soil at some later time changes into compost.  If a gardener takes debris from a neighbor who does not garden with the intention of adding it to the soil later, then it also becomes compost.  v. A process of breaking down into organic parts
• Mulch - n. This is a form of debris specifically designed to prevent weeds (see above) from coming up while enhancing the beauty of the garden.  Often composed of some type tree products (bark, needles, etc.)  v. The act of putting mulch somewhere as in "go mulch the annual beds."  Also, the process of mowing grass with a "mulching" mower, as in "I am going to mulch the grass instead of bagging it."  Note, however, that the clippings of a mulching mower "compost" in the soil.
• Organic - adj. Pertaining to, or derived from living organisms.  The chemistry of carbon compounds.  Alternate -- Being accepted by conservative gardeners as a means to promote desirable plants and control undesirable plants and insects.
• Yard work - n. What people who are not gardeners do when working in their yard.  When gardeners do the same thing it is called gardening.
• Bird feeder - n. A device for storing squirrel food.  Birds will also eat from it too.