With wind and snow around the corner, it might seem silly to start planning your summer garden now; but what better way to cope with the cold than to cozy up with a warm cup of tea and start a garden journal?
What is a Garden Journal?
A garden journal is a diary—a place for you to keep all the important information about your dream landscape and all the components that go into it. You can use it to hold pictures, sketches, layout maps, notes, and plant lists—anything and everything that will help you make the garden of your dreams in 2022!
Whether you operate by lists or mind-maps, your journal is entirely customizable to you and your garden.
How Do I Start a Gardening Journal?
Find a blank notebook of your choice. It doesn’t have to be fancy! You could even use a document on your computer or your favorite note-taking app on your tablet. Whatever feels best for you and how you like to work is the right choice!
If you had a garden this past summer, start by taking some notes on what you would like to improve or do differently next year. Were there some plants you’d like to transplant? A corner of your yard you’d like to improve? A favorite flower you want to buy way more of next year?
If this is your first garden in your outdoor space, you have a blank canvas! Jot down some preliminary ideas, landscaping notes, color schemes and flowers you’d like to incorporate. Does the area need some trees or shrubs? Is there anything preexisting that you want to remove?
The key to starting a garden journal is to just start. Regardless of whether you keep these initial ideas or not, get the creative wheels turning and jot down whatever you can think of!
What Can I Include in My Garden Journal?
As you use your journal, think about it like a garden diary—you can write down your thoughts and ideas as you think of them, paste pictures into it, and plan out landscaping.
Consider the following questions and write down the answers in your journal:
- Is there a specific theme you want to emulate, such as a Japanese tea garden or vegetable garden?
- What are the sunny and shaded areas of your landscape?
- Do you have pathways that you’ll need to leave room for?
- What colors do you want to include?
- What textures are you looking for?
- Do you have enough variety in plant height?
- Would any of your plants do better in a raised garden?
- Do you want to do any landscaping before you plant?
- Which plants need to be seeded inside?
- Which plants will you buy directly from the nursery?
- Do you want to grow vegetables?
- Do you want to buy new furniture or lights?
- How much room will fruit-bearing trees need when the fruit drops?
- Which fertilizers will you use?
You can also include things like:
- A harvesting schedule for vegetables
- A budget specifically for your plants, supplies, landscaping, etc.
- A shopping list for the spring
- A planting schedule for seedlings
- Lists of compatible plants
- A vision of what your garden will look like in five years once all the plants have had a few seasons to get established—perfection takes time!
How Do I Use My Garden Journal in the Spring?
Once spring arrives, use your garden journal as a reference point for your whole summer! It is now your shopping list, planting schedule, budget tracker, map, and anything else you need it to be!
Throughout the summer, you can also take notes in the same book that can contribute to your next garden journal, noting how well your plants grew, anything you learned, or ideas for the next year. Soon, you’ll have a documented history of your garden!
We’d love to help you make your gardening dreams come true. If you want to get started on your garden journal and look for inspiration, come visit us at Plant Perfect —we’d be happy to help get your ideas going!