Keeping Good Gardening Notes

          There is a lot of spontaneity to gardening.  Oh, a plant sale at the local nursery – buy something!  Or, a friend needs to divide an interesting perennial her grandmother gave her and wants to share with you – yes please!  In landscape design school we learn that many of us are plant collectors, whereas a designer plans a plant selection for a garden based on numerous environmental conditions and factors.  Well, there is something to be said in defense of both styles.  But regardless of what kind of gardening style you enjoy, a gardening notebook can be very helpful. It doesn’t have to be a lovely leather-bound journal.  A composition book with pockets and dividers works well.  Useful contents might include:

• Receipts – some nurseries guarantee their stock for a year…if you keep your receipt.  Simply tape them to a page with a note about what you bought and where you planted it.  You won’t have to write much in your notebook if the receipt lists  plant names along with costs.
• Repeat purchases – some kind of begonia grew so beautifully last summer that you want to plant it again…but what was it called and what color was it?  Take the small growers tag that says “Dragon Wing Red” or “Cocktail Vodka” and tape it in your notebook, along with the date and planting site.
• Botanical names.  You join a garden club and want to enter a horticulture exhibit.  You will need the plant variety and the latin botanical name.  The plant tag you saved in your journal has both for easy reference.
• To do list – As you walk around the yard you find yourself thinking…I should have cut this back in February, I’ve got to remember that next year.  Keep a running list in your notebook for “February Reminders,” “To Do Next Fall,” “Spring Cleanup,” etc. 
• Budget.  You call a landscaper to install a 10 foot long bed in your front yard.  He gives you an estimate of $600 for labor.  You check in your notebook to see that last year he installed the same size bed in your back yard and only charged you $400 for labor.  Even if you do all the work yourself, record the project costs so you know how much you spent on a garden project as well as quantities you used.  You’ll find it helpful to be able to look up how many cubic yards of mulch you used last year when you are planning for this year.   
• Planting Site.  Last fall I planted an area of all white spring bulbs and noted the plants and location in my notebook.  A few weeks later I planted purple anemones and yellow daffodils.  When I went to record it in my notebook…oops…I planted them all in the same site.  I should have checked my notebook.

          Keeping notes, saving receipts and keeping tabs on plant names can be very helpful in gardening.  Your method may be very sophisticated, or very simple, like mine.

 

Save plant tags to record the correct name and variety, and note the price and where you planted it.

 

It is helpful to keep the plant tags and receipts.