Garden Journaling....

Am I a die-hard or what, just had a cataract removed from my left eye this morning and here I am blogging.

I am living proof that flattery will get you any where, at least with me!  When I got home from surgery an hour ago (pretty simple surgery, really), I had a response to a previous post from Fine Craft Guild inviting me to post my garden journal.  You don't have to ask me twice, so here goes.

I'm redoing the original post to make this post specific to the garden journals.

When we moved into this house in 1980, I started keeping some loose notes and plant tags of what I was planting in various flower beds.  Of course, I took a few photos to go with it.

Five years ago, I decided to organize those notes and photos into one book.....thus began the journey of journaling.  Not every page in these books is all "fancy" some are just straight forward notes.

This is last years book.  In the photo above the green book is from 2007-08, the larger book on the bottom encompasses the preceding 15 years or more.  Each book is made up of different types of paper, the big book has heavy, almost cardstock weight pages, the other two are just light weight lined notebook paper.

This is a fold-out page of photos showing the same garden bed at different times of the year.  This is a fun way to see the growth of each plant through a season.

Three years ago, we did a complete re-landscape of the front yard......removing lawn and installing plants and paths.  This page shows some of my process of developing the color scheme.  Mostly, I write with Sharpies of different colors and tip size.  To keep materials attached to pages I use glue sticks, scotch tape and staples.

I keep track of the weather, when I fertilize or spray, even when and what areas I water.  I keep the tags that come with the plants, if I find an article in a magazine, I cut it out and add it, that way I have it for reference.

This is, also, sort of a diary....I'll add things about places we have gone, nursery trips and what I bought....what is really fun is to keep the receipts from purchase....interesting to see how much a rose costs today, as to opposed to 15 years ago.  I record marriages, birth and deaths, visits from special people, stuff I buy for the yard i.e. bird baths, benches.

     The light weight notebook paper will not hold up to painting the background with watercolors, so I use heavier water color paper or you could use scrapbook papers.  I just cut to size and glue the page on top of the book page with a glue stick.

Keep it simple, have fun.....it is your book, you can share with others, only if you want, but you can and should just do it for you.  That being said, I do believe that some day after I am gone, someone will be able to read about the life and times in my garden and life in the 21st Century.

Join me a couple more parties Whatever goes Wednesday and Show and Tell Friday, please read and enjoy......and leave a comment, too!