Garden stakes & plant markers

The weather here in the Scottish Highlands is pretty much wet and windy and does not make for a happy gardening experience (insert sad face here).
We head off to sunnier climes in a weeks time so could have done with the weather helping me to get certain jobs done before we go - oh well, I'm sure I'll not worry too much about boggy, unkempt garden borders when I'm basking on the beach in Jamaica (insert self satisfied smirk here).
The lovely Scottish weather forecast has dealt us a tale of cold and snow for the next few days so I'm suspecting that other than preparing two weeks worth of wild bird feed for my daughters to put out on a regular basis while I'm away, that the garden is just going to have to plod along on its own for a while.
One thing I did try to do this week though was to make more plant labels ready for the sowing season. For most seed sowing I use plastic plant markers I make myself from empty milk cartons - click here to see -  but for anything more permanent or for plants in pots where I want to showcase the name & species etc I make plant markers from scrapwood.

Scrap wood plant labels.

These are so easy to make with just a few supplies and make fantastic garden markers - here's what you need:-

• Scrap wood - I used lath type size
• Hand saw or electric cutter.
• Lost head nails or small headed nails.
• Hammer.
• Permanent marker pen - Molotow every time for me 
• Outdoor clear varnish.

First step is to cut your laths into the length you require for the stake part of the label, mostly I stick to 8-10" but it depends on how far you want to stick it in the ground.
Then using your cutter of choice cut the ends into a point.
Next lay the lath on it's thin edge and cut straight down the end that's not pointed at a 45 degree angle.
Cut another piece of lath about 4 or 5" long and nail it onto the angled end of your stake so now when the stake is planted the face you write on is also sitting at an angle and is easy to read.
Finally write the name of your plant on the face of the stake, varnish it and leave it to dry.

That's it, it can now be used. Obviously you can paint these any colour you wish before writing on them and varnishing them - it's your choice!

So easy to make!

 

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