The bare bones approach is to simply sketch your garden on paper without worrying about the measurements. These are the two options for making a map of your garden-the bare-bones approach and the advanced approach. And honestly, that was overkill because I never use those measurements. I measured the width and length of each bed and the space between the paths and laid it all out on graph paper. It worked perfectly fine for seven years.Īt my current house, I brought out the measuring tape and drew the garden to scale. The map was more like a rough sketch of my garden space than a precisely drawn map. When I drew my first garden map, I stood outside my garden and drew a quick outline of each of the beds. The good news is that making your map can be as simple or as involved as you’d like. I ran back to my house, grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, and then stood at the entrance to my garden and sketched a quick map of the layout. One day while working in my garden, I was struck by a genius idea: “ I should make a map of my garden!” I exclaimed to myself.

I’d feel frustrated when there was a pepper that I loved and wanted to grow again, or a tomato that didn’t produce well that I would rather not grow next year, but I’d have no idea what they were because the tag was gone.

Of course, by the end of the season, the tag would disappear or fade from the sun and then I wouldn’t know which plant was which variety. When I first started gardening, I’d stick the little variety marker that came with each plant right in the soil next to the seedling when planting. The second important element in your gardening journal template is a map of your garden. The map of my front yard garden – ready to be planted! Part 2: Your Garden Map You’re welcome to click on the image to print it out for yours! When I launched my book, Smart Start Garden Planner, I gifted readers with the below printable cover for their garden binder. The binder I use has a plastic sleeve on the outside where you can insert a cover. My favorite color is turquoise, so I bought this one. There are also lots of binders to be found at thrift stores. My binder has become an essential part of my gardening routine and has helped me become a more observant, and thus better, gardener over time.ĭig In: Your assignment is to start your own garden binder today! If you have an old binder laying around your home office, this is the perfect use for it. My binder is also where I keep handouts from classes and workshops I attend and pages for notes (part 4 below) I want to jot down about the current season. Every time I plant a vegetable I write down the vegetable (or flower or herb), date, variety and amount planted. Over the years, I’ve trained myself to take my binder out to the garden with me when planting so I can keep track of exactly what I’m doing. That was many years ago and I’ve used my garden binder ever since! I dug out an old binder from my home office, grabbed my newly drawn garden map and planting schedule (parts 2 & 3 below), punched a few holes in them, and inserted them into the binder. After thinking about various solutions for a while, I had the great idea to start a garden binder. Many years ago, when I started keeping better records of my garden, I wanted to keep everything in an easily accessible place. Elements of a Gardening Journal Part 1: Garden Binder + Cover Keeping things quick and easy increases the chance that you’ll stick with them.Īs an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. And, I’m a big proponent of simplicity in the garden. I believe that keeping records is an essential part of gardening, especially if you don’t want to make the same mistakes year to year. Too bad, you’d like to grow it again if you knew what it was… What variety of tomato was that orange one in the corner of the garden? It was delicious, but you can’t for the life of you remember its name. How many basil plants did you plant last year and in what bed? What about two years ago? Three years ago? After awhile, the gardening seasons begin to run together in our memories. Recordkeeping also reduces the guesswork from year to year. You train yourself to pay attention to what is happening in the garden and that knowledge assists your learning and skill building. Garden recordkeeping helps you become a better gardener over time. My real life garden journal consists of a few different parts which I’ll explain in this article. One of the easiest ways to start garden recordkeeping is to use a gardening journal template.

Printable planner gardening