Keeping things organized in a garden can be challenging, but it’s very rewarding. For instance, you need to check the seeds, sowing, harvesting, good soil, and planting. A planner or journal simplifies these tasks as it helps you jot down your ideas and note your observations in your garden.
We’ve compiled a small buying guide to help you choose the best gardening journal for your needs. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert gardener, who wants to experiment with your garden, a gardening journal is the best thing to start with. So, if you plan to go forward with this fun and satisfying activity, read more!
What Are Gardening Journals?
A gardening journal is a valuable tool that keeps a written record of your garden. It helps you keep records, make plans, note observations, and much more related to your garden. To make a gardening journal, you can use any notebook or diary, but most people use ring binders because of their usefulness. A ring binder is handy because you can add extra pages, plant tags, and seed packets. You can also use a gardening journal app if you prefer using a gadget.
A gardening journal assists you in recording successes, challenges, and details about what grows when and where. For instance, if you plant something in your garden, you can keep a note or add plant tags in the journal. Further, you can note all the various names of your plants and record their care instructions. Above all, make notes throughout the year such as ‘amazing color’ or ‘best performer.’ In short, with a gardening journal, you can record and see how your garden is progressing throughout the season.
Why Do You Need a Gardening Journal?
The main reason you need a gardening journal is that you don’t forget what and where you’ve planted anything. It helps you track your gardening activities as a reminder for your upcoming gardening season. With the help of a gardening journal, you can keep track of gardening issues to take preventive measures for the next season. In addition, it provides you with a permanent record if you want to reflect on your past activities.
When you start tracking and noting all the details in your journal, you’ll start seeing the connections and patterns between challenges and achievements. For example, a note about wet and cool weather just before a disease attacks your flowers will help you determine the cause. This way, you’ll be able to take preventive measures for the next rainy season. Also, a quick note on insect activity and its controls will help recall when the subsequent infestation is due.
Benefits of a Gardening Journal?
Keeping a gardening journal is beneficial and is a rewarding part of the overall gardening process. You might not observe, but there are so many minor details that you can forget at the beginning of a season. Keeping a garden journal makes you realize its importance and keep track of all the cool things you’ve been doing throughout the year. Following are the main benefits of a gardening journal:
- Make Wiser Plant Choices
Whether you’re going to plant a potato or choose a flowering tree, you’ll want it to thrive in your garden. However, to do so, you need to provide it with sunshine, water, fertilizer, and much more. To make your gardening successful, you must observe and record all the activities and stages in your gardening journal. From flowers opening their buds to leaves changing their colors, keeping a check on everything will help you make smarter choices.
- Saves Time and Effort
Having a garden journal saves a lot of time as it tells you what and when to do things in your garden. You can keep records of important dates and procedures that can be super helpful for gardening. For instance, if you note what caused a particular plant not to grow, it will save your time and effort next time as you’ll be able to take preventive measures.
- Keep Track of Your Successes and Failures
The main advantage of using a gardening journal is learning from your failures. Did you try a new method that turned out to be a flop? Maybe you used a lot of fertilizer or planted the seed incorrectly? Whatever the challenges are, be sure to note them down.
- Helps You Note Weather Patterns
One significant benefit of a gardening journal is that you can track the weather patterns. For instance, you can keep notes if the weather is dry or wet. This will help you plan the types of plants you’re willing to grow.
- Keep Notes of Specific Seeds
Do you remember when you planted tomato seedlings? What type of soil do they need for proper growing? Did you start the seeds too early or too late? Keeping track of specific sources will help you learn from your gardening habits and plan accordingly.
Top Gardening Journals
There are many options available for gardening journals, but we’ve jotted down the best ones. Following are our top picks for the best gardening journals and apps:
- The Green Conspiracy Garden Journal
- Antonia Fraser’s Garden Notebook
- Moleskine Passions Gardening Journal
- Garden Answers (App)
- Leafsnap (App)
What to Record in a Gardening Journal?
You can record the following things in your gardening journal:
- Pictures of your garden
- Plant sources
- Garden layout or sketch according to season
- List of best-performing plants and those to avoid
- Blooming times
- Harvest times
- Solutions for pests or diseases
- Techniques or methods
- First and last froth dates
- Receipts and expenses
- When you planted the seeds or transplanted the plants
- Location of seeding or plantation
- Daily, weekly, and monthly observations
Conclusion
Whatever your approach and plans are for gardening, the gardening journals serve as amazing records for your garden. You’ll be able to learn new techniques and manage problems more efficiently and improve your harvests. Furthermore, you can learn about the living creatures, insects, and pests that can affect your yields differently.
The best thing is that, whether you’re a pro or an experienced gardener, you’ll get all types of gardening journals in the market. An organized structure or layout in this journal will give you the most profound satisfaction, especially when you reap the rewards of a beautiful garden.