Gardening Poll: Do You Label Your Plants?
Tuesday April 1, 2008
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at a plant poking through in the spring and wondered what I’d planted there (or if it was just a weed). I used to label everything I planted, as I planted it. But after a few seasons, the markers have faded, the plants have been moved and my garden beds have become a source of endless mysteries. I can eventually identify what’s growing. The really big mystery is what happened to all the plants that never returned? Labeling my plants would probably be a useful tool in the long run, but I just don’t like the look of it, especially in the winter when labels are all I see.
Do you label your plants? Not just when you first bring them home, do you keep your plants organized and labeled, so you know what to expect and where to expect it? That’s this week’s poll question. And if you’d like to comment further, either pro or con, please use the ‘comment’ link below to share your wisdom.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.
Comments
I did try labelling plants – but it was a lot of work and expensive to buy permanent markers – money I would rather spend my time and money on plants or garden ornaments! So, now I usually let some “mystery” plant grow without pulling it. It is usually some kind of weed that grows way taller than everything else! People always ask “what is THAT”?
It would be a good idea to label – if only to know what never returned!
I voted yes because I do label my veggies…but I don’t label any of my flowers, bulbs, etc…way too much work!
I don’t use labels in my beds or garden instead I use graphs/grids of my yard, vegetable plot & orchard using keys to correspond to a list of plants I have plantd thru the years. Has worked well for me: helps me keep track of specific details such as when planted, when died,pictures of emerging plants & mature plant plus much more.
I did vote yes since I assume this as a type of labeling.
I keep pencil “maps” of all my garden sections. That way, I know what is (theoretically) supposed to grow there, change them as I rearrange my plants, add new ones, make notes for the next season, etc. It’s a great system.
No labels for perennial beds for the same reasons others discussed. The nice looking markers are more expensive than the plants. I also use planting maps/grids to try to help me remember. But I am forever dividing and transplanting, so my maps are outdated. I vow to update them this year when I know what comes up where.
No, I don’t label the yard, but I do keep the labels in a box to refer back to if a mystery plant shows up or I need to review a care point. Labels are also useful for Latin names, which help with Internet searches, but in the garden proper, I find them, well, a wee bit tacky (vegetable patch excepted).
I’ve tried several labeling methods which faded or disintegrated. The best one, so far, is the Permanent Plant Markers from Spray-N-Grow. Each has enough room for not only compolete identifying info and also room for special care or other pertinent info. Excellent for when people visit and say “What is THAT?”
I do not label my flowers in the garden, but they are labeled in a different respect by my garden book I keep. I tape or glue the label from the nursery into the book, and make a notation underneath which garden bed and where in that bed the plant is located. If it dies for some reason, I enter the year it succumbed. It’s kind of a garden diary as well. However, I have to admit, that I’m a little behind on keeping it up.
In Prince Rupert, we get more than 8 ft of rain per year, so the labels don’t last very well at all. I think that I’ve thrown out a couple of hundred dollars worth of perennials over the last 10 years because I didn’t know what they looked like as ‘babies’… sigh…
That would be a big yes…a minority, I see! Well, when you have collections, it’s a must…can’t possibly remember all those names!
MY NEW PLANTS ARE LABELED BY THE LABELS THAT CAME WITH THE PLANTS BUT THOSE DON’T LAST. THE ONLY THING i HAVE PERMENANTLY LABELED ARE MY ROSES WHICH MOSTLY CAME WITH METAL LABELES ON THEM. OF COURSE THE ONES THAT I GREW FROM A CUTTING AREN’T LABELED BUT I REMEMBER THEIR ANTECEDENTS ALMOST ALL THE TIME. AS LONG AS THEY BLOOM, I REALLY CON’T GET TOO UPSET IF I CAN’T IDENTIFY THEM. BUT THEN I USUALLY CAN.
I label all my perennials (including vegetable perennials) with permanent,arboretum type markers (gardenmarkers.com). They are expensive but let me know exactly what is where. I don’t mind them in the winter as they are black with white letters. I mark all bulbs planted in groups with a plain metal stake and label (no writing)close to the ground. Any label that has no growth the next year gets pulled so I can see where “holes” exist to plant new bulbs; Vegetable seeds get labeled with a plain metal marker & “Sharpie” pen and can be re-used each year.
A trip to a Gardeners sale a few years ago taught me a good way to label plants easily and I’ve been using it ever since. Some of the members use old mini-blind slats to mark their plants accordingly.
Everyone has at least one window blind with a few broken slats, right? Cut the slats into angled strips about 5″ to 7″ and use a Sharpie Permanent Marker for writing names or perhaps a reference number for a book or map. They can be pushed all the way in, or left out, without distracting too much from the plants. I especially like having them in a my new potted plants to help me remember what’s what.
Just beware of new puppies though! My plan was working great, until I adopted a shelter dog late last summer. She took the greatest pleasure pulling up the tips sticking out of the groud, one by one, as she would go running through the yard. I started all over again this year, except this time she’s been here to watch me carefully place and hide each one . . . Here’s hoping she’s grown up and out of that behavior!
The main reason for labling plants is so as to know which failed and which were successful- the variable micro-climates and soil conditions, in every garden impact on the success or otherwise of all plants- even keeping diary (I do both) isnt that accurate ‘cos things move about!
I used to label my plants but now I draw a blueprint of my gardens detailing what is planted where and how to maintain it. After 9 years labeling the plants became too much when adding to much. I will at times label my annuals or vegtables, bu that’s about it.