Your BluePrint to Garden Success
Keeping written records of your garden is a great way to keep track of how your garden is performing, overtime a garden can become so cluttered that it can be disorganized and confusing. For example, you may sow seeds but not mark or indicate what you had sown and sow the seem seeds in another part of your garden when that was not your plan.
You can even record your success and your failures which can help you greatly when planning for future projects. Having a garden journal is like a blueprint or a map that shows you what you have done, need to do and so much more.
Believe me, having a journal can make working in your garden enjoyable making your garden task easier even giving you some ideas where to save a few dollars.
Keeping your garden journal simple
Although there is no set rule in keeping a garden journal it is best to keep it simple don’t overthink this just keep it simple. Write down or record something new each day, however, write down the most important things right away before you forget.
12 ideas on what to keep in a garden journal
A sketch of your garden layout
1. It is good to have a sketch of your garden layout, this sketch can offer help by saving you time by knowing exactly where irrigation or sprinkler heads are, pipes, ground wire, plants, and other garden features. A sketch layout with plant labeling will give a birds-eye view of what you’re growing.
Plants you have had success with and are easy to grow and maintain
2. It is great to see what works in your garden, keeping a record of what works well will make it easier and will save you a few bucks that can add up over time. What you don’t want is to keep making the mistake of installing plants that are just not working for you which can drain your wallet. Also keep a record of your plant’s growing requirements such as soil type, water, and fertilizer needs, pruning needs, date of pruning and the names of insect pests, and what methods were used to rid your garden of them.
Plants to avoid, for example, plants that are high maintenance
3. Keeping a record of plants to avoid is just as important, what you don’t want is to purchase the seem plants you had brought in the past that were difficult to maintain. You need to remember these plants and a great way is by adding the names of these plants to your journal.
Plants that you’re deciding on giving a try
4. You visit your plant nursery or garden center and see a plant or two that you would love to take home but it’s not in your budget at the time. Get the name of the plant/plants and include those names in your journal so when the time comes to purchase you can go to your journal and access those names.
Track crop rotation
5. Installing the same crop in the same location can encourage diseases and garden insect pests. To avoid this note what you planted in that part of the garden so come next growing season another crop can be planted in that area, a great way to keep track of this is by making a recording in your journal.
When starting your seeds whether in or outdoors
6. Recording when you started your seeds indoors especially during the winter months is important, this tracking will let you know when you planted your seeds to when they emerge, and when to sow seedlings outdoors once the warm weather returns.
Bloom time/Period
7. It is good to know when the bloom period starts for the species of plants that are being grown. Insects that pollinate plants visit gardens at a certain time of the year. If a plant/plants start to flower too soon or late pollination the production of the next generation of garden plants will not happen
Treating garden insect pests
8. We all have these uninvited guest that pays our gardens a visit, take control by eliminating these garden pests as soon as possible. Even though the information may be included on the label of the elimination of these garden pests it’s best to keep a record of starting date of treatment, how much application of whatever insecticides was repeated to eliminate insects, and when they were eradicated
Treating plant disease
9. There are so many diseases that can turn a dream garden into a nightmare, there a several reasons why plants are diseases. Overwatering, using infected tools such as a hand pruner that was not sterilized on healthy plants, certain insects are also responsible for carrying and transmitting diseases.
Some of these insects are scales, thrips, mealybugs, whiteflies, a few beetles, planthoppers, aphids, grasshoppers, etc.. these diseases may include viruses and bacteria.
Keeping garden receipts
10. Keeping garden receipts can help you to keep track of your spending, for example, what you spent on plants, fertilizers, garden tools, insecticides, etc… this will help you to make better buying decisions when you make future purchases, how much did you spend, the name of the product and how long it lasts. This record can help you to compare prices for future purposes helping you to save as you shop around.
Cleanup dates
11. Record cleanup dates so you will have a good idea as to when the next garden cleaning needs to take place so you can be on schedule and not clash with future events you, ve planned.
Garden tools
12. Garden tools play a big role in the maintenance of your garden, recording what you have will give you a fair idea of what you need and don’t need along with how long a tool lasts. This information will help you to spend wisely as the need arises.
The final word on keeping a garden journal
Having a garden journal has its advantages, a journal is like having a budget that shows where you are overspending and how to save those hard-earned dollars. I believe that those of us who take serious spending time in our garden should have a journal, recording all that takes place in your garden may not seem to matter at first but it really does matter and you will see as you begin to record. The results of having a garden journal are a huge help and money saver benefiting in so many ways.
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About the author
Norman loves being in the garden, both at home and for his job....
he is 'Natures Little helper' being outdoors, growing his vegetables and flowers from an early age.
Now having spent over 22 years in the profession he want to give some of his knowledge to others...
his vast array of hints and tips you will find scattered over this site will help you no end growing plants in your garden.
Hello, thank you for your helpful tips. I didn’t think to take notes and keep a journal about my flowers and herbs. I didn’t have a big garden, but I like to cultivate plants on my balcony. I learned a lot from your list of tips. I think that your recommendations are helpful even for balcony plants like in my case. I didn’t know that planting the same plants in the same area can encourage plant diseases.
Thank you for sharing this article.
Best
Alketa
I am so happy to help, wishing you all the best, have a wonderful day!
Nice gardening article. I have a neighbor that does gardening and she does an amazing job of keeping her flowers and plants beautiful. I always wondered how gardening works and what steps should I take to have a garden of my own. During the warm months of spring and summer pests can make starting a garden a challenge.
Anyway, thanks for the tips.
Thanks a million for your kind words, there is a lot that goes on in having garden success and a journal can help greatly. So keep recording to stay ahead of the game. All the best to you and have a good day.
Hi. This seems like such a simple idea and thinking back to all the mistakes we have made in our garden, I can see how a journal would have avoided a lot of them and a lot of wasted expense. I can barely count on the figures of both hands how many times I have gone out and bought another bag of grass seed, or weed and feed only to find a half-used bag lurking behind something in the garden shed. We’ve done so much by trial and error in our garden and worse we seem to repeat a lot of those errors. A garden journal has to be an excellent idea! Thanks and best regards, Andy
Garden journals can help you to save your hard-earned dollars by recording all that goes on in your garden, these journals have so many benefits so I hope that you start one today to keep track of all that goes on in your garden. All the best to you and have a good day!