Garden Labels

Now that my garden is finished and everything is growing, I wanted a way to remember what each plant was. I know what it will bear will make it obvious but between now and then, I needed a way to keep me informed. Each plant came with the little plastic info card but I think those are tacky and with the amount of wind we usually have, they weren't going to last long in the ground.

I saw on another blog where someone had used items such as spoons, wine corks, and even small chalk boards. The spoons were also tacky, I don't drink so the wine corks were a problem, and the chalk boards didn't seem like a good idea because when I watered the garden, it seems like the chalk would rinse right off.

I finally found another blog that came up with a perfect way and one that was exactly what I needed. They used the paint stirring stick that you can get from just about anywhere that sells paint. I set out to Lowe's and was given a handful without even buying paint. I was still a few short and decided to give Home Depot a try on another trip to Brunswick. Once I had the amount I needed, I used some old green spray paint to give these some color and cover up the logos on them. Each side needed a few coats because the wood absorbed the first few. Next came the task of putting the labels on them. I decided to use the end opposite of the handle and used a white marker that I bought at Michael's. This seems to be permanent and looks like it will hold up throughout the Summer.

When the marker dried, I went ahead and put them in the ground. When doing this, I realized I had misspelled Cantaloupe but at this point it was the least of my worries! Because of the length of the stirring stick and the heighth of the garden, these can be put at any level you want them.

Because I went with green, they blend in with the garden and do not take away from the plants. This is exactly what I wanted and it was basically free and can be used over and over each year.

And FYI, the stirring sticks from Home Depot seemed to work a bit better and took a few less coats of paint!