Helpful Hint Friday: The Benefits of Keeping a Garden Journal

Hi all!  I am a little late today in getting off my Helpful Hint Fridays post.  It has been a very busy week and I am not even on vacation anymore.  I just never got around to creating a helpful hint for today so, I am going into the archives and sharing something I posted years ago.  But I still think it is pertinent today.  I you find this post interesting and informative.  Happy Friday!!!

Anyway, enough about that!  Today I want to discuss garden journals or gardening journals, if you prefer, and the benefits of them.  I have always wanted to keep a garden journal for various reasons over the years but, because of mostly time management or laziness, I have never gotten around to starting one.  THIS YEAR I decided was the year!

So, I visited a few stores trying to find a journal notebook that might work for the job at hand.  I first went to JoAnn Fabrics but, came out empty handed.  If I wanted a 'tween journal I could have found one there but, that wasn't what I was going for :).  I ended up at CVS and found this really cute one on sale, no less!  For some reason, I thought it was perfect!  It looked gardeny to me.

Next it was onto starting my garden journal!

I gave my journal a title page...primitive as it is...but it works :)

Next, I started sketching the various gardens around my yard.  Obviously, I am not a trained artist but, I did well enough to know which garden was which.

For this garden, I gave it a color-coded legend.  I think I should have drawn the garden larger so as to fit in the many flowers I wanted to add.  Next time I'll know.  That is the great thing about keeping a journal, it's all yours and you can do what you want with it!

Next, I took a few corresponding photos to have more documentation for future reference on my gardens.  One of the reasons I decided to start a journal this summer was because I am continually forgetting what flowers I have placed in each garden year to year.  My memory, as it turns out, isn't as good as I thought it was so, journaling should help out in that regard~

Keeping a record of where you have planted your perennials is a great idea too.  This way when sprouts appear in spring you'll know what they are!

It is also helpful to write down what annuals you may have added into the garden that year.  Make notes of which ones worked well in that spot and which ones did not flourish at all.  All of this saves you a lot of time and money.  After all, repeatedly putting the same flower in the wrong spot will only bring you frustration and heartache.  I know that from experience.

Please don't judge my garden beds yet.  I am just starting to plant the flowers and I haven't added any mulch either.  It's been a rainy and cold spring.  I promise these guys will look much better in a few weeks!

There is a cage around this Rose of Sharon tree because last year the deer ate all the leaves and buds off of it. I am trying to give it a decent chance this year.  That little fact would have gone into my journal last year, if I had had one :).  Luckily or unluckily, I remembered the carnage from last year without a journal.  Hopefully, there will be no carnage to write about this summer.

I haven't finished this sketch yet.  I need to color code it and add a legend but, it is helpful to me even in this state.

As you can see, I am starting to make notes in the margins concerning my "picket fence garden".  They will be an aid for me next spring as I start to plan the new season.

I am going to add in a few photos into the journal, as well.  This photo is to document the vole problem I am having right now.  Maybe by keeping this journal I will be able to get ahead of the problem early next spring.

Something I didn't consider when I bought the notebook was that it doesn't have a pouch or folder to put left-over seeds or supplies like these plant markers and such in.  I think I will have to make a folder for the back flap of the notebook for that.  This whole journaling thing seems to be a work in progress but, it is fun.

Honestly, I think you can make this process as detailed and involved as you want, or you can make it as bare bones as you'd like.  The point is to help you remember what is going on in your garden from year to year.  It might even help you get through the winter as you look through the journal and either remember gardens from years past or plan for new ones for the future.  You can even add cute do-dads from craft stores to make it pretty!  I might add of few of them myself to some of these pages!

I think I may also make another little pouch to place photos of my garden in that I have especially
 liked...like these...

This one was from just a week or so ago.  I love the California poppies!

After all, everyone has a few garden victories along the way. Why not celebrate them?!

Here are some photos of my gardens in the past that I have especially liked~

New ideas will keep coming to me throughout the summer season for ways to improve my garden journal, like including a page on the seeds I have started and how well each one did.  I definitely think buying a notebook with some folders or pouches would really improve the whole experience.  Adding articles on gardening might be a good idea also.  Cutting out pictures from garden magazines and saving them in the journal sounds smart, as well.  OR you could simply pin some ideas to a Pinterest board. (Make sure to make a note in your journal which boards you put the ideas into though.)  Finding your own way is the best advice I could give when it comes to creating a garden journal.  After all, it should be fun and unique to you :)!

Happy Gardening!

***I have not been compensated for this post, just passing on some information for your benefit.