Topic: Create a garden notebook

[barleychown]

This is a great time of year to create a garden notebook. The notebook will help you design your garden, and identify what it is that most appeals to you.

I use a cheap, bound notebook:



In this notebook, I have taped the pictures that I find in magazines or catalogs that I love.

The first page is for statues and tools I would like to have:



This set of pages is for ideas with vines:



This set is a mix of vines, garden layout, and pond pots:



These are just a few pages of mine to give you a good idea of what I'm talking about. I have found the more I put pictures in, the easier it is for me to find what really appeals to me.

When I'm designing a new bed, I spend some time looking through the notebook, gathering ideas, so I can be sure the plan I come up with will be something I love.

Now you have another use for those stacks of garden magazines and catalogs you have piled up.

[patches]

Hey, Sarah, your garden notebok is really neat!   I do something similar, but I keep all the information and photos in my computer, and I just scan in the pictures from catalogs and magazines.  This way, I can even scan pictures from my landscaping and gardening books, since I wouldn't want to cut any pictures from them.  Plus, this allows me to manipulate the size of the photos, and I find that it's a lot easier for me to add different photos or remove them.  Another advantage, for me, is I can print the pages up, put them in plastic protecters and keep them in a binder. 
       

[Patty S]

Great idea, Sarah! I was just looking the other day, at how much room all those garden magazines are taking up on the top of my bookcase, & totally rejected the thought of thinning them out & throwing some away. (There are too many things in them that I want to keep for later, when I need new ideas for my gardens!)  I could free up lotsa space if I gathered up the few pages I want from these dozens of mags! I think it'd be a great rainy day project for BG & I to do together, too!

I also like the "wish pages" you've created! I think our whole book would be WISHES!

[Wrennie]

I have a composition notebook I've had for years. It's part info, such as companion planting and what herbs are good to grow to repel insects or for fragrance and the such. I also have pictures etc from books and mags, and the rest is like a journal. I draw out my veggie garden each yera and note what was planted where and what did or didnt do well. Same with perrenial beds so in the spring I don't weed out something I forgot i put there. I also note who gave me what plants from gift swaps and seed exchanges. Marton looks at the flowers in the spring and summer and is continually amazed at how many are from friends all over the country.
I also note when the first and last date we use the wood stove for heat. When the hummers first arrive. When we have more unusual wildlife visitors.
I'm not right on top of it so it is a bit choppy, but its fun to look back (unless i'm looking for a flower name or who it was from that I forgot to put in there! !!)

[patches]

  also like the "wish pages" you've created!  I think our whole book would be WISHES! 

Geesh, Patty, have you been looking in my garden journal?    I think that takes up about half of mine. 

[duh]

i keep everything on the computer.  My apartment is small and I couldn't manage it if I tried to keep things in journals.  But it is hard to throw away catalogs.  That is until I can't find the top of my dinning room table.

[duh]

I have profiles for all the plants I have, or have had, or want to have, or thought I wanted until I researched the requirements for keeping them.  I keep the last lot for when I forget and have to look at them again to remember why I don't want them lol.

Then I have seed swap information, address lists, a log that tracks who sent what to whom lol (that one is a big database), Friends want lists so I can keep a look out for those things,  and my want list.  Not that there is much on it right now.  People have been so generous. 

Then I have a list of all the nutriments macro and micro that plants need in the soil.  And my garden chores list that includes when to water what, fertilization schedules, when to plant, when to lift, and any other gardening chores that need to be done on a schedule.


Then there are the pretties everything from seed templates to pictures of pretty gardens.

Then there are the diseases to look out for and what they look like and how to cure them.

And last but not least a catalog of all the seeds I have that are ready for the garden. 

I so hope I get a trailer and land.  Or at least some place to garden.

[landofoz]

I have a cheapo composition notebook that I covered with some pretty paper, to serve as my garden journal.  I put large black tabs on the side, so I can find each section easily.  Unfortunately, I don't get any magazines with picture to paste in it - what a great idea though!  I do write down the varieties of whatever that I want and that I've grown with a short description of it.

Patches, what do you use to organize all your info and pics?  I'd love to use something that I can merge my digi pics and info together, instead of relying on "bright orangish red med. large bloom."

[patches]

Geesh, Sarah, I'm really not sure what it is you're asking?   

[landofoz]

I was wondering if you have a program that helps you keep all the pictures and info organized?

[patches]

No, Sarah, I just do it in Word the same way I used to do the Girl Scout newsletter for my granddaughter's troop.  I'm sure there is some program that would make it easier, but I was used to doing it this way and it works for me.  I put my pictures in there and use text boxes which I can resize if I have less or more information I want to add.  This is sample of one of my first pages for a certain plant.  The next page doesn't have all the general information or picture (but can add an updated one if I want), so there is room for two, three, four, etc. years of data.  I do the same thing for my Wish pages but just scan in a picture and use that and I can get two on a page. 

I don't know if this is going to turn out by taking a picture of it, but it looks great on photobucket.

[landofoz]

That looks great and I love all the info you've tucked into that page, Patches!  My biggest problem with keeping a journal is that I never leave enough space to include all the info that I add later.  Drives me nuts.

[patches]

Well, it sure didn't turn out here like it looks in real life,  with the full page it's much clearer and easier to read. 

Actually, Sarah, that's way I like doing this way!  Since I already have the text boxes saved on the sheet, I can just click on them and increase or decrease the size of the box as needed.  Years ago, someone gave me a bound Garden Journal for my birthday and it was beautiful, but I found it very limiting with the way it was set up. 

[Hillhound]

I took over what is now my garden in 1988 when my dad passed away.
One of the most useful things he left up there were Diaries, many years worth of them....

He recorded everything from when the Dahlia tubers went onto heat in the greenhouse to when the tubers were lifted in the late autumn. Everything was there, feeding routines, bedding out etc. Here in the UK we cannot guarantee being free from frosts until early June so everything was started off under glass and it was all there. Chrysanthemum cuttings, the time they took to root and when stopping and disbudding started. When seeds and bulbs were planted and pricked out etc.
He also made some comment every day about the weather and temperatures and by reading these you could see patterns as to why certain jobs were done at slightly different times each year. It was a great help to me in my efforts which never matched his but did give me a great deal of pleasure for many years until my disability caused me to give up the more rigorous parts of gardening and move on to more self contained things.

I did for a few years carry on with the diaries and they are stored away somewhere and may some time in the future help some other green fingered person.

I guess what I am trying to say is that as well as being of great practical use to yourself you could also aim to create something for posterity!

Too many young people have no time for this great hobby and when they get older they could learn a great deal from your experiences.

Just a thought!
 

[MassMama]

what a great thought ... I never keep a journal or anything of the type.. I really don't know much about nothing nor can remember things.. No I am not old but have short term memory disorder and cant seem to even remember my childs birthday at times  NO I AM NOT KIDDING! I thought nick was born on the 4th for near 3 years  I know horrible! He was born on the 3rd its in the brain now ... But I think Ohhh I should write that down and forget.. ummm send seeds for the swap forgot as well..  Which reminds me I should really start that journal when I remember too.. I should write down all the info that is given to me by My friends here and PP and all the Other tips and advice ... OR Copy paste and print.. I think that is the only way .... when I remember I will do just that

[duh]

I keep a journal the first two years but for some reason when I write I leave out the important bits.  I don't mean too but I do.  So when I read back it kind of stopped me in my tracks because the information I thought I had put down I really hadn't.  So now I have an entire branch of my hard drive tree devoted to the garden and all the plants I love. 

[christy]

i keep a folder with all my stuff n info, it needs updated, i still got stuff in there from a few years back 
i love your idea of word patti! with the pitchures. i cant figure out word but i could do it in paint n print it out for my folder     im gonna redo my folder this year
i make my to do lists in paint,  just click past from n add lil pics on them to pretty em up. dont know why i never thoought to do my garden notebook with it   
haveta get hubs to hook the printer up to this puter

[Tonya]

I have a 3-ring binder that has a list of all the veggie seeds(and when to start the seeds) and a wish list for flowers, shrubs, and veggies..... I plan on adding to that as I can with where I plant things, what the requirements are, etc. I love the ideas I am getting from you guys. OH! I also have lists of how long until harvesting and a guide for "companion" planting and rotation guides for veggies. My flowers are more "hit and miss" I guess....I tend to focus more on the garden because it is a money saver....

[patches]

Actually, Tonya, even though I have everything on my computer, I use the three-ring binders, too!    I really like doing it this way because I can move the pages around as needed and it gives me unlimited room.     This was if I get a new coneflower, hosta, etc. I can just insert it with my other coneflowers or hostas and that makes it much easier to locate things.   I also use those plastic sheet protecters like I have for my lecture notes and that keeps everything clean and neat.  I think when I tried using the the bound journal I felt so confined with what I could do  and didn't have the freedom I do now.    

[landofoz]

I feel confined by my garden journal too.  I like everything neat and organized and that is just so difficult to do with paper and pen!!  I think I am going to use your excellent idea of creating word documents - thanks so much for the tip and posting a pic!

[MassMama]

I have to say I garden with wreckless abandon.. I do try and companion plant as best as possible but... I don't follow no rules

[patches]

I feel confined by my garden journal too.  I like everything neat and organized and that is just so difficult to do with paper and pen!! 

Sarah, I'm so glad to hear you say that,    because I was beginning to think maybe it was just me who felt that way. 

You're very welcome!    I'm so glad you liked the idea!    Actually, I took me a little while to get it exactly the was I wanted, but it was worth it.    I'm sure you're going to enjoy doing it this way.   

[christy]

   i learned how to do the word!  so ill start a garden folder with it in my puter, n maybe print em out for my folder [binder]     my folder has the 3 big rings so guess its a binder,
i would like mine to be neat too but aint gonna happen,  i change n add stuff to much. i also will come in n jot somthing down with dirt still all over my hands, so smuges are gonna happen 
   a creative mess is better than tidy idleness   

[duh]

nice saying Christy.  I think I'll get out the wood burner and make a plaque with that saying on it.  It so matches my apartment lol. 

[christy]

   thats me too! i always say my homes to live in not to look at.  between my kids, hubs, n me theres always a mess somewere. ya clean one mess up just to turn around n see another,

my binder folder had a plastic thing on it, i like to slide my garden pics in it,    i keep a list of what all i have n info on em also i have topics like the front yard, pond n shade area, backyard, n vegies. with drawings of the area n lists in em like what i have, todo's, n wants.