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A Message from Margaret Roach

The Urgent Garden Question Forum is part of A Way to Garden, but there is a difference between it and the blog itself. Stated simply:

On the blog, I choose the topic and post about it, and readers may wish to comment in response.

On the forum, the subject matter is driven by you. You initiate the conversation, and (hopefully) chime in to help one another and just get acquainted. I will stop in, but not answer every question; this is a place for community-driven discussion about anything reasonable that interests gardeners.

To post on the forum, you must register. The process is simple (link above). To get a photo to accompany your posts, called a Gravatar, go here.

Four overall things will enhance the experience:

Search before asking a question to see if there’s already a thread (and even maybe an answer!) on that subject.

Scan the list of forums within the system to see which one is the place for your post.

If you want to have general conversation, the General forum would be the best place to begin.

When you do post something, give it a good subject line (title) – so not “A Perennial Question” but “How to Divide Daylilies” or “When to Transplant Peonies.” This makes the topic more accessible to others who may have your answer. For important etiquette rules, please read “Getting Started” at the top of the Forums. Thanks for your visit.

Garden Notes

Tagged: garden journals, Garden Notes

This topic contains 7 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by Margaret K. 1 year, 7 months ago.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

Author	Posts
Author	Posts
October 23, 2010 at 10:19 pm #18181
kk	Does anybody have a really inspirational way to keep Garden Notes? I have tried everything I can think of – and nothing really ‘does it for me.’ Have tried Moleskin journals – with and without lines. But there is not enough space to tape in pictures and plant tags. Also hard to find entries year to year. Tried a 5-year calendar and had the same problem with space for things I wanted to tape in. Have a 3-ring binder – but there are SO MANY sections – Notes, Articles I want to save, Plants I NEED (aka want),….. Also 5 x 7 cards. What does everybody else do.? This year I am putting the notes on the plants themselves – with a Sharpie and orange tape – won’t forget to look at those in the Spring!
October 24, 2010 at 8:31 pm #18182
Leslie	I am also always struggling with this. I have tried writing the notes on tags, but I usually just lose the tags. I also use a palm pilot to help me keep track of planting dates (when I should be planting-not when I actually do), so I thought I might also be able to use it for notes, but it takes too long to write things down in it. I would love to hear about other people’s note taking methods. Does anyone have a particular brand of 5-year diary or other notebook that they like? Does anyone use the computer?
October 24, 2010 at 9:42 pm #18183
Normand	How bout one of those index card boxes. Divide the box into sections by months. As the gardening season progresses, you take notes on index cards and put pictures of plants and parts of the garden into the sections. Next year, you can flip though the previous year’s section and see exactly what you wrote down and took pics of. You can even stuff news clippings and magazine photos in there.
October 25, 2010 at 11:26 am #18184
ayo	I have never been good about this—always relied on a great memory but it’s not what it used to be. Garden journals have been inconsistent at best, and photos are unlabeled and undated. Someone (Margaret?) should develop some really cool gardener’s software for just such a purpose.
October 25, 2010 at 12:21 pm #18185
margaret	I asked about this today on the blog, too, where there are some answers brewing: http://awaytogarden.com/from-the-forum-how-do-you-keep-garden-records Thanks for raising the topic.
October 4, 2011 at 10:06 am #18186
kjbaker	I’ve never been able to find just one solution to keeping garden notes because sometimes I want to write two pages of information on one plant, and sometimes I just want to make a quick note about where and when I bought a plant. I have multiple spiral notebooks where I keep detailed notes. That works pretty well, but it’s hard to look things up. I also use yearly calendars where I can record exact dates like when I put down the lawn fertilizer or the rose food. I recently bought a garden scribe plant organizer. My mom got one as a gift and liked it, so I decided to give it a try. So far I like it.
October 5, 2011 at 6:52 pm #18187
Margaret K.	I have always struggled with this too but I started a blog and I’ve actually been able to keep up with it pretty well. I use it to keep track of favorite web sites and garden blogs too. I’ve added a page for favorite garden quotes and poems that I was never able to save in one spot. I am currently working on adding a garden calendar. I can upload pictures directly from my iphone. I garden at my home and also at our vacation/future retirement cottage in Northern Wisconsin so I love being able to access it from anywhere…I can’t ever lose it! I’m not quite ready to share it with the world but so far it’s working great for me. I also have started using the website Pinterest, an online, virtual bulletin board. If you haven’t heard of it yet it’s definately worth a look.
October 5, 2011 at 10:01 pm #18188
Margaret K.	OK, so now that I was thinking about it I played around with adding a calendar to my blog. It was super easy with Google Calendar. They actually provide you with the code based on the settings you choose. I added a calendar tab/page to my blog and Voila…now everytime I update my google calendar it appears on my blog. Of course I will only use this calendar for my garden chores. Take a look…it’s easy to set up. Go to Google Calendar.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

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