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DIY Wooden Garden Markers: A Cute Craft for the Garden

May 24, 2019

A garden looks perfectly beautiful on its own merit. Who doesn’t love to look through a well laid out and weeded garden? And the smell! But the gardener needs to know what’s what- especially at the beginning of the season.

This means you’ll need garden markers. And, because they’ll get the full force of the great outdoors, you’ll definitely want weatherproof plant markers! So many gorgeous gardens are ruined by those flimsy plastic labels.

Here are some garden markers that can be made very quickly and will enhance the beauty of your garden. With the rustic wooden look they will fit in with any garden.

These DIY wooden garden markers would be so cute in my vegetable garden, or even for my outdoor herbs and perennials.  They use dollar store items and would be perfect for a craft with the kids! #plantmarkers #gardenmarkers #vegetable #diy #gardenart

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read more about it in my Privacy Policy. Thanks for supporting Shifting Roots!

Supplies

  • Wood slices (mine are 9-10cm)
  • Vice
  • Drill
  • Acrylic paint (Black and White)
  • Giant BBQ skewers (If you’re concerned about these biodegrading throughout the season you could use the wire from a hanger instead. These will provide more durability. However, my BBQ skewers were inexpensive and came in a pack of 30, so I’m just going to replace my skewers as needed.)
  • Damp Cloth
  • Spray Varnish (I didn’t actually do this with mine. They’ve been outside for a month in all this rain, and they look good as new.
  • Stamp set, wood burning kit, Cricut or paint pen

Note: if you purchase these pre-drilled wooden slices, you can skip the vice and the drill.

These DIY wooden garden markers would be so cute in my vegetable garden, or even for my outdoor herbs and perennials.  They use dollar store items and would be perfect for a craft with the kids! #plantmarkers #gardenmarkers #vegetable #diy #gardenart

All Garden Row Marker Styles Start With:

  1. Clamp your wood slices into a vice and drill holes (about half an inch deep). 
  2. Using your damp cloth, wipe off each wood slice. The slices come pre-sanded, so this is just to get the saw dust and bits off. If you plan to use an adhesive stencil for your garden markers you’ll want to sand it down (gradually) to 240 grit so the stencil adheres properly and doesn’t leak.

Chalk Board Style Garden Row Markers:

  1. After the wood slice is completely dry paint your black circle onto it. You will probably need two coats of paint. I used the grain of the wood as a guide, so none of mine looked the same. If you prefer, you can make perfect circles or ovals for the name. I thought it looked woodsier following the grain. 
  2. Wait for the black to dry completely. Don’t get impatient! It will mess up your black (and maybe ruin your white marker) if you don’t wait for it to dry. 
  3. Using your preferred method of lettering, write on your plant name. Obviously the idea is for it to look like a chalk board, so I recommend using white paint. I used a brush to paint mine, but maybe you prefer a little bit more control and are going to use a paint pen. Maybe you prefer a lot more control and are going to opt for a stencil. Whatever you want to do, now is the time. 
  4. Allow to dry.
  5. Insert the BBQ skewers into the hole on the bottom of the wood slices and stick them into the ground.

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Wood Grain Style Garden Row Markers:

  1. This is by far the simplest one! All you need to do is use a Sharpie to write the plant name onto the wood slice. Alternately, you can use a paint pen, wood burning kit, stamp set or stencil and paint. 
  2. Stick the BBQ skewers into the bottom of the wood slices and stick them into the ground!
These DIY wooden garden markers would be so cute in my vegetable garden, or even for my outdoor herbs and perennials.  They use dollar store items and would be perfect for a craft with the kids! #plantmarkers #gardenmarkers #vegetable #diy #gardenart

Black Label with Border Garden Row Markers:

  1. Tracing the grain, paint a black circle around the border of your wood slice.
  2. Using a straight edge, draw two lines. The first goes about a quarter of the way from the top and the second about halfway. Paint in this rectangle black.
  3. Allow to dry.
  4. Using white paint write the plant name on the black space. 
  5. Allow to dry.
  6. Insert the BBQ skewers into the hole on the bottom of the wood slices and stick them into the ground.
These DIY wooden garden markers would be so cute in my vegetable garden, or even for my outdoor herbs and perennials.  They use dollar store items and would be perfect for a craft with the kids! #plantmarkers #gardenmarkers #vegetable #diy #gardenart

If you’re loving how these adorable large wooden plant markers improved the look of your garden, and are craving another little garden craft, be sure to check out Kristen’s post DIY Fairy Garden. It is so darn cheerful! Happy Crafting!

Jessica Loney

Jessica is the blogger behind But First We Craft, a site of mom crafts, kid crafts and party planning. She lives with her husband and three small children. You can follow But First We Craft on Facebook and Instagram.

www.butfirstwecraft.com

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Filed Under: Uncategorised Tagged: craft, DIY, garden markers, herb, plant markers, vegetable

5 Things You Can Do this Fall to Save Money in the Garden next Spring

September 24, 2018

We’ve all been there.  Promising ourselves that this is the year we will stay on budget in the garden centre.  But $100 soon becomes $200 and then you realize that you need “just one more thing” and suddenly your best attempts at not spending too much quickly spiral into $500 on bedding plants and seeds in the blink of an eye.

So what’s a gardener to do?

Here’s 5 ways this Fall you can make a dent in your gardening budget next Spring.

Looking for a way to be more frugal in your garden? I'll share my best tips and ideas for beginners on saving money in their vegetable or flower garden. Here's to gardening on a budget!! #gardening #budget #frugal #hacks #tips #ideas #for beginners #vegetable #flower

Plant Heirlooms and Save the Seeds

The easiest way to save money in the garden is by saving seeds.  Sure, you’ll have an initial investment, but after that your cost is essentially zero.  Tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, lettuce, squash, pumpkins, and cucumbers are all really easy vegetables to start with.

When you do buy your initial seeds, make sure you get heirloom, open pollinated varieties and not hybrids.  If you plant a seed saved from a hybrid vegetable, you’ll get a plant that resembles one of the “parents” that went into making the hybrid, not the hybrid itself.

Not sure where to buy seeds?  Here’s a list of Canadian companies, and one for the US.

Looking for a way to be more frugal in your garden? I'll share my best tips and ideas for beginners on saving money in their vegetable or flower garden. Here's to gardening on a budget!! #gardening #budget #frugal #hacks #tips #ideas #for beginners #vegetable #flower

Collect Seeds From Easy to Save Annuals

Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to spend a fortune to make your front yard look amazing?  Save seeds from marigolds, sunflowers, nasturtiums, zinnias, calendula, and more for an easy and cheap flower garden next year.  Or plant them amongst your vegetable garden for some wonderful companion planting benefits.

Divide and Share Overgrown Perennials

More established gardeners are often happy to share perennials plants that have grown a bit too big for their intended space.  The parent plant often ends up revived the next growing season and you end up with some free plants for your yard.  Win!

Before you get too excited, you might want to read over this list of plants that can quickly turn into a nightmare in zone 2 and 3, and this one for all the warmer zones.

Favourite plant on the list?  You can still plant it!!  Just know that if you’re not willing or able to maintain it every year, you’ll quickly have an overgrown mess on your hands.

Take Cuttings of Annual Plants and Grow them Indoors Over Winter

For years my mother has taken cuttings of her favourite coleus and german ivy plants and grown them over the winter.  Then, in Spring, she takes multiple cuttings from those indoor plants and has enough plants that she doesn’t need to buy them from the nursery.  Although lets be real. . . a new variety or two always makes it’s way into the cart.

How do you take a cutting?  It’s quite simple.  Cut the plant so that it has a bit of a stem.  Put the stem in water until it grows roots, usually in around a week.  Transfer your newly rooted cuttings to a pot with dirt.  Put them in a spot with adequate sunlight, water every few days, and repeat the process in spring.

Looking for a way to be more frugal in your garden? I'll share my best tips and ideas for beginners on saving money in their vegetable or flower garden. Here's to gardening on a budget!! #gardening #budget #frugal #hacks #tips #ideas #for beginners #vegetable #flower

Get Serious About Composting

Don’t throw away those kitchen scraps and old leaves!  They are the perfect ingredients for making a nutrient-rich compost for your soil.

If you’ve never composted before, know that composting can be a bit of a waiting game (unless you vermicompost or hot compost).  Your home compost will need to sit a couple of months and sometimes up to a year to be fully ready to use in your garden.  The time depends on a couple of factors, such as how frequently (if at all) you turn it, and if you live in an area that has extremely cold winters or not.

If you live someplace where the whole winter is below freezing, the composting process will stop for the winter and re-start in the spring.

Check with your municipality if they have a compost program.  Some cities offer free compost to their citizens!!

Looking for a way to be more frugal in your garden? I'll share my best tips and ideas for beginners on saving money in their vegetable or flower garden. Here's to gardening on a budget!! #gardening #budget #frugal #hacks #tips #ideas #for beginners #vegetable #flower

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

4 Comments
Filed Under: Gardening, Saving Money Tagged: compost, flower, frugal, Garden, Gardening, perennial, plants, propagate, save money, tips, vegetable

25 Best Gardening Books for the Urban Gardener

January 14, 2018

Urban gardeners face some special challenges, the biggest of which is lack of space.  These 25 gardening books cover all the bases to build the beginner urban gardener’s confidence.  I’ve assembled a collection that covers general gardening knowledge, companion planting, composting, small space gardening, and so much more.

Also, I couldn’t resist adding a few just for my Canadian readers.  When you’re done, check out my list of 25 best gardening books for prairie gardeners, or anyone in USDA hardiness zones 2 or 3.

[Read more…]

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

2 Comments
Filed Under: Gardening, Outdoor Life Tagged: back yard, Garden, garden boxes, lasagna gardening, plants container gardening, small space, square foot gardening, vegetable, vegetable gardening

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

P.S. First time gardener? You'll want to download the quick start gardening guide below!

Recent Posts

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  • 26 Best Flowers to Grow for Dried Flower Arrangements
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  • How to Start a Cut Flower Garden

Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Growing a luffa sponge was possibly the most chall Growing a luffa sponge was possibly the most challenging and finicky thing I've taken on so far as a gardener in zone 3.  And all I got to show for it was 3 baby loofah sponges, which are so precious to me that I can't bare to actually use them. (Kind of defeats the point, doesn't it?)⁠⠀
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I'll be starting mine soon, so I though I would share some of the improvements to the growing process from last year.⁠⠀
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1. Plant in larger containers!! I thought I used large enough ones, but I sorely underestimated how big these plants would get indoors.  Once of my readers suggested buckets, and I think this is an excellent idea.⁠⠀
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2. Plant only 1 plant per container.  I thought loofah's would be like a cucumber or pumpkin or other vining squash where you plant in a hill.  The containers with two plants in them did not do as well as the single seed containers.⁠⠀
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3. Have a string for the vine to climb.  Cutting the vine off of my window screen was not fun.⁠⠀
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Will you try luffas this year?⁠⠀
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#luffasponge #loofahsponge #luffachallenge2012 #seedstarting #wintergardening #indoorgardening⁠⠀
Got the seed starting itch? There's some things y Got the seed starting itch?  There's some things you can actually seed start now and you won't end up with crazy leggy seedlings and endless problems.  In fact, these plants require that you start now, and need to be started in zone 3 by the end of February at the absolute latest.⁠
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I've already started some lisianthus and eucalyptus, and am waiting on my seed orders to start some more.⁠
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If you're starting a luffa sponge, make sure you have some sort of eventual plan for the vine.  last year mine went over my fall windows before I was able to take them outdoors.⁠
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P.S. I've actually never started onions from seed, so if anyone wants to chin in about their experience, feel free!
Growing eucalyptus for the first time this year? Growing eucalyptus for the first time this year?  A new post is on the blog to walk you through it.  While in theory eucalyptus is easy to grow, it's challenging in my zone 3 garden for three reasons: ⁠
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➡️It needs a long time to mature⁠
➡️I have a short growing season⁠
➡️I live in a cool climate, and eucalyptus grows better when its warm.⁠
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That said, you can see by this picture that it can be done!!⁠
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Are you growing eucalyptus this year?
Oh friends, if any of my nice, curated photos sums Oh friends, if any of my nice, curated photos sums up how this last week went, I think it's this one.  Babies crying, trying to stay calm, outwardly looking like it's all under control, but feeling very overwhelmed.⁠
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This post isn't gardening related, so feel free to scroll by if you're here only for the gardening content.⁠
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Thankfully it's January, and I keep reminding myself that the Internet will not break if I don't keep to my self-imposed posting schedule.  But it doesn't make a week full of teething-and-not-sleeping baby any easier. ⁠
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Felicity slept through the night for the first time ever last Monday, then proceeded to punish us with frequent wakings and terrible sleep until Saturday.  And as tough as this is in regular times, in Covid times its extra frustrating because I don't have my village.⁠
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I can't just call up another Mama friend and go for coffee at her house.  I can't take my son out for a Mommy-and-Dominic date because everything he'd want to do isn't really much of an option.  There's no playgroup or play place to just drop in on.  And forget just taking everybody out to get groceries just for a change of scenery.⁠
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I know people have way more serious problems than this, and I hope I don't sound whiny and entitled, it's not my intention.  Please know that I'm very grateful for my family and job and that so far we've been healthy. ⁠
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A lot of you who follow me do so in part because you are also juggling life with very little people through this strange time.  I hope that in occasionally sharing my struggles, it makes you feel better about your struggles. (You're struggling too sometimes. . . right?)
Do you tend to plan out your garden to the nth deg Do you tend to plan out your garden to the nth degree, do you just wing it, or are you somewhere in-between?⁠
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I tend to plan it all out, and then when I actually get out in the field, so to speak, the plan changes a little bit. ⁠
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If you need a garden planner that's both pretty & practical, my garden planner is available in the ebooks section.  It's only $9 and has lots of upgrades from the previous planner.  Use code CANADA if you're Canadian to account for the exchange.⁠
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P.S. You can see exactly what you're getting in the video--no surprises. ⁠
P.P.S  I get my planner bound and printed at a printing place.  Lots of people just print their own and put the sheets in a binder.
Are you gardening in containers this year? When y Are you gardening in containers this year?  When you're shopping for vegetable seeds, look for varieties that have names with words like patio, tiny, small, etc.  While lots of vegetable varieties will do fine in a container, you'll have an easier time with ones that are specifically bred for that situation.⁠
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📸 by @blushbrandphotography
I'm living the pepper dream in this photo. While I'm living the pepper dream in this photo.  While these ones are a bit on the small side, who doesn't want ripe peppers in July in zone 3?!?! ⁠
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Over the years I've gotten better at growing peppers, and I promise I'll spill my secrets in February when it's actually time to start them.  Until then, get yourself all or one of my four favourite varieties: ⁠
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🌶️Carmen⁠
🌶️Escamillo⁠
🌶️Candy Stripe⁠
🌶️Hungarian Hot Wax⁠
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Do you have a favourite pepper variety?⁠
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