hele in

verb

1. See heel in
   tr, adverb a dialect variant of heel in

Word History and Origins

Origin of hele in¹

Old English helian hide

More About Hele In

What does hele in mean?

Hele in is a dialect variant of the phrase heel in, which means to insert a plant into soil to keep it moist prior to planting it in its permanent spot, as in I didn’t have time to plant my orange trees immediately so I made sure they were heled in until I was ready to plant them.

A plant would be heled in rather than planted immediately mostly because of poor weather conditions. If a plant with bare roots (no soil on the roots) is planted immediately in very hot or very cold weather, it could die very quickly from dehydration or frozen roots. Instead, the plant is heled in—put in a temporary trench of moist soil until it can be properly planted.

Example: I heled in my new hedges until the weather warmed up enough for proper planting.

Where does hele in come from?

The phrase hele in has been used since at least the 1800s. It comes from the Old English helian, meaning “to hide.” In a manner of speaking, when you hele in a plant, you are “hiding” it from bad conditions until it can be planted in a good spot.

Hele in is much less commonly used than heel in. It hasn’t seen much use in over 100 years and even when it was used in botany or horticulture texts, authors often had to explain what it meant.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to hele in?

• heel in (verb)

What are some synonyms for hele in?

• insert

What are some words that often get used in discussing hele in?

• cuttings
• shoots
• soil
• planting

How is hele in used in real life?

Hele in is a variation of heel in, which means to insert cuttings into the soil before planting in order to keep them moist.

Seed planting in Hele 🌱

— Eloisa Bialba (@ottaliciousz) September 26, 2019

As frozen ground may delay planting this year, its good to make sure that any plants waiting to be planted do not get frozen roots. You can 'heel in', or keep them wrapped up warm indoors before planting.

Find out how to prevent frost damage here: https://t.co/mGhzb4XGXT pic.twitter.com/zOlzdTwjKJ

— The RHS (@The_RHS) January 9, 2021

 

Try using hele in!

True or False?

If you hele in a plant, you are digging it out of the ground because it is a weed or is dead.