Garden Markers

Garden markers are the only thing that would help me remember what I put where!

So now that I’ve got some nice garden beds going and some plants in the ground I need a better way to label them. Temporarily, I just put the plant markers and seed packets in the soil so I don’t loose their spots while I make something better. But those seed packets are waterproof and started to fall apart at the garden’s first watering. I looked online and realized there are lots of fancy garden markers out there. But since my garden is along my garage (and I’m generally not that fancy) I didn’t see any reason to buy something that cost more than the plants. So, I realized I needed to make something.

What is durable, customizable and cheap? I was looking around my garage and came up with paint stir-sticks. A little paint, and viola, garden markers!

Materials

Paint sticks – 1 for each type of veggie/fruit in garden
Sand paper
Acrylic paint
Paint brush
Permanent Marker

Time

30 minutes, plus drying time

Difficulty

Super Easy

Details

Inspect sticks for splinters or other defects. Lightly sand down any problem spots
If you buy paint at a hardware store, these sticks are usually free. If not, they’re only about 10 cents each
Paint sticks. You may need more than one coat.
I didn’t worry about covering the label too much, I just put that end into the ground.
Let sticks dry
You can see my “Radish” trial. I liked the blue better
With permanent marker, write names of plants. I practiced on paper first to see what kind of writing I liked best
You could also use paint and stencils if you were going for a more professional look.
If ground is hard, push a trowel straight down into the soil to give the stick some space. Push in stick and press soil around it.
I tried to jam one of the sticks in the ground, and broke it! So making a little hole first is a good idea.

Easy peasy!