Hand Stamped Plant Tags
Last summer when we were installing some new flower borders around the front of our house I unearthed a circa 1975 plastic plant tag for petunias. I swore off using plastic plant tags then and there. The only problem was I didn’t come up with an alternative plant ID plan. So when I labeled my garlic last fall I used sturdy cardboard markers with the intent to quickly replace them with something more durable. This was a totally dumb idea. I never got back out there, the cardboard tags have all disappeared, and I now have garden beds filled with mystery garlic. So I’ve gone back to my old, bad habit of cutting up plastic jugs and repurposing nursery labels in my vegetable garden.
Then, yesterday I came across a great post about plant tags at Heavy Petal. Andrea likens plastic tags to little plant tombstones, but recognizes that some plants (like tomatoes) just need labels. So she’s put together a round up of plant tags that are worthy of our gardens. She’s got pictures of sweet little plant tags with birds on them, and lovely metal herb markers, and a whole host of DIY ideas. She whipped up these adorable hand stamped tags in just a few minutes and for just a few dollars. So clever! So cute! I don’t know about you guys, but I’m finding my way to a stamp store and replacing the mismash of plastic tags in my garden with these homemade ones stat.
i am guilty of using plastic tags but instead of writing on them, i use a label maker to make labels for them. at the end of the growing season, i gather up the plastic “tombstones” and save them until the next year. this year, i found myself re-using the tags. for those tags of veggies that i won’t be planting anymore, i remove the label and make a new label for a different veggie.
the stamped tags above are cute but do you think the ink will survive our rain?
April 16th, 2009 at 9:34 amStef–Good idea with the label makers! I’m going to see how the hand stamped tags do. I think they’d be fine for summer crops since it doesn’t rain too much, but I’m sure they wouldn’t last the winter, but that’s okay for me because I know the names of all my perennials. I’m thinking about maybe giving them a little clear coat. We have some left over from a wood floor refinishing project.
April 16th, 2009 at 10:31 amGood ideas! I hate the junky little plastic tags but need something to keep them all identified. Thanks!
April 16th, 2009 at 11:14 amawesome idea!
April 16th, 2009 at 12:09 pmthat’s true, there probably wouldn’t be much rain to wash the ink out. and the clear coat is a good idea.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:56 pmthanks for sharing with us, willi!
When I was a kid my grandfather(who got me started with gardening) had a great plant tag idea. He would let all of us kids pick a Popsicle and eat it. We each got to pick out a packet of seeds and carefully cut off the top of the packet. THEN we used one of the sticks from the popsicle to poke a hole for the seed. Before we used the stick he took his cool folding carpenter’s stick out to mark off the plant depth on the stick with his even cooler carpenter pencil, that he sharpened with his pocket knife. He demonstrated how to push in the stick up to the line, circle it around to make a hole then plant the seed. At the end of the row we would staple the empty seed packet to the stick to mark the row. By the time the packet had disintegrated the plants were up.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:18 pmThose are incredibly cute! Great idea.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:47 pm-Eve
i have been puzzling over a technique i have not yet used. have you tried using copper on the edge of your raised beds to dissuade the slugs? thanks, lorie
April 16th, 2009 at 5:28 pmThanks for the love, Willi!
As for the rain question, I made sure to buy waterproof ink appropriate for stamping on wood. So far, it’s held up quite well through a couple of rainstorms. (I was half expecting the ink to run like crazy.) And I’m not really expecting them to last through to next year – even if the ink holds, the wood will start to rot. C’est la vie!
April 16th, 2009 at 8:52 pmLorie–I did once put copper tape around a raised bed. It did seem to help, but that year we also had a pretty dry spring and summer, so I can’t be sure if it was the copper or the weather. In my garden I now use a combination of Sluggo (it is an organic slug bait made with iron phosphate) and beer traps. The combo works really well!
April 17th, 2009 at 7:45 amI make my own plastic tags by recycling – I cut larger than normal tags, so they do not get lost in the garden, and I can add things like planted date; from empty bottles of heavy plastic, like Bleach Bottles.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:05 amUsing a Grease pencil or “China Marker” I can write on the tags and it will be waterproof, in the fall I pull my tags and wash them with soap which will remove the writting, so I can re-use them the next year. I have many in the herb or perinial gardens that have held up for years through our wet cold and snowy winters.