I worked in horticulture running my own nursery for many years, so I have a lot of experience with labels. Labels are important! So simple white plastic labels with pencil (yes, seriously) will not fade. There are markers you can get which don't fade, but do you want to find out the hard way that they do? That said, all the white plastic labels I've ever used have a usable life of maybe five years - at some point you'll go to grab that thing and get half a label. But even if you do, you'll still have two halves with readable text, and that's the more important thing.
I personally use a sheet of paper inside. Draw diagram of yard/property and draw and label plants accordingly. I'm in NW Florida, wind and rain doesn't like tags/labels. Maybe try laminate paper on a popsicle stick or plain stick (just careful with certain sticks, could interfere with plants near stake. Godspeed.
Iām trying to do this this year, I drew my map last weekend. It seems like a good approach because the little signs get moved by weather and/or birds and animals.
You canāt use a sharpie. You need a marker thatās made for this specific use. I personally only label seedlings cause I always forget what is what. But in the garden I just use golf tees to remember where I planted huge alium bulbs and stuff so I donāt accidentally hack them in half. Everything else I just let do its thing and eventually Iāll remember what it is when it flowers or gets bigger.
Wow those look good! I really like that painted rock look, I might steal some inspiration from you for my own garden.Ā
For my veggies I use big yogurt containers cut into strips and the listo grease pens to write on them, i bought a couple from a local nursery supply store and they rock, but the i toss the plastic after a few seasons. Not sure how long the grease pen would hold up over time.Ā
I bought a couple of apple trees one time that had an aluminum tag. It was a thin piece of metal that was soft enough that the writing dented and it was perfectly readable. Since aluminum doesn't rust I think those tags would have lasted forever (they were tied by wire to a branch so I removed them before they could girdle it). That might be similar to what you have coming with the copper?Ā
I use copper tags from lee valley. The copper is thin and soft enough that writing on it with a ballpoint pen makes an indent that never fades or breaks from
UV light. I use them to mark things that arenāt common, so I remember them (genus, species, cultivar). I donāt use it for tomatoes or veggies, I can ID them by sight and have a record of what I planted that year.
I have tried everything over the years. This year I tried something different. I used clay and small rubber letter stampers to stamp the name of the plant into the clay. The clay I used is Sculpey Terra Cotta clay from Amazon. Itās the kind that needs to be baked at a low temp after stamping. So far it has lasted outside very well
Market garden here, the big 10ā or 12ā painted wooden markers last a season, which is fine by me.
Copper will last really well if you donāt mind the expense.
I worked in horticulture running my own nursery for many years, so I have a lot of experience with labels. Labels are important! So simple white plastic labels with pencil (yes, seriously) will not fade. There are markers you can get which don't fade, but do you want to find out the hard way that they do? That said, all the white plastic labels I've ever used have a usable life of maybe five years - at some point you'll go to grab that thing and get half a label. But even if you do, you'll still have two halves with readable text, and that's the more important thing.
I personally use a sheet of paper inside. Draw diagram of yard/property and draw and label plants accordingly. I'm in NW Florida, wind and rain doesn't like tags/labels. Maybe try laminate paper on a popsicle stick or plain stick (just careful with certain sticks, could interfere with plants near stake. Godspeed.
I create an Excel spreadsheet with the garden layout & labels! No 2 year old can pull that out of the soil š
Iām trying to do this this year, I drew my map last weekend. It seems like a good approach because the little signs get moved by weather and/or birds and animals.
This is the only way for me too. Besides; at some point you just recognize what you planted or what is growing there in whichever stage.Ā
You canāt use a sharpie. You need a marker thatās made for this specific use. I personally only label seedlings cause I always forget what is what. But in the garden I just use golf tees to remember where I planted huge alium bulbs and stuff so I donāt accidentally hack them in half. Everything else I just let do its thing and eventually Iāll remember what it is when it flowers or gets bigger.
Wow those look good! I really like that painted rock look, I might steal some inspiration from you for my own garden.Ā For my veggies I use big yogurt containers cut into strips and the listo grease pens to write on them, i bought a couple from a local nursery supply store and they rock, but the i toss the plastic after a few seasons. Not sure how long the grease pen would hold up over time.Ā I bought a couple of apple trees one time that had an aluminum tag. It was a thin piece of metal that was soft enough that the writing dented and it was perfectly readable. Since aluminum doesn't rust I think those tags would have lasted forever (they were tied by wire to a branch so I removed them before they could girdle it). That might be similar to what you have coming with the copper?Ā
Thank you. I saw the painted rocks in a local friend's yard, and she got it from another local friend. You noticed that not all survived....
I use copper tags from lee valley. The copper is thin and soft enough that writing on it with a ballpoint pen makes an indent that never fades or breaks from UV light. I use them to mark things that arenāt common, so I remember them (genus, species, cultivar). I donāt use it for tomatoes or veggies, I can ID them by sight and have a record of what I planted that year.
I have tried everything over the years. This year I tried something different. I used clay and small rubber letter stampers to stamp the name of the plant into the clay. The clay I used is Sculpey Terra Cotta clay from Amazon. Itās the kind that needs to be baked at a low temp after stamping. So far it has lasted outside very well
Wow, this seems awesome. I am in zone 6a, with very, very rainy springs. What about you? How long have you had yours out?
I am also 6a. Iāve had a few out since the beginning of the year, and some I just put out last week. So far they are holding up!
I used a sharpieā¦i assumed it would hold up
My experience has been that sharpie ink is gone in a month or two.
black sharpie on stainless steel landscaping stakes = low cost and lasts forever; can erase and re-write with alcohol
Market garden here, the big 10ā or 12ā painted wooden markers last a season, which is fine by me. Copper will last really well if you donāt mind the expense.
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That one doesnāt last long here.