Comments on: Garden Record Keeping System

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:37:55 +0000

Hi # 19, if you click the link above called Northern Shade plant spreadsheet, you should be able to download a copy of my spreadsheet, and save it. You could play around with it, or you could just erase my specific plant info and insert your own. Also, I have another post which shows how to manipulate the plant spreadsheet. Please let me know if the link in the article doesn't work for you to access a copy of the spreadsheet.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:08:52 +0000

hi would it be possible to email a spread how you desighned your spreadsheet to keep records of your garden I’m looking for something on the web and can’t find anything

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 23:04:54 +0000

Liza, thanks. Heuchera 'Green Spice' has excellent foliage, very colourful and evergreen, so it looks good all season. The photo above is in part shade, since these plants appreciate some sun to get more blossoms. In the back on the left is a group of Campanula glomerata (clustered bellflower). Their flowers are very pretty, but the plants don't look as good once the flower show is over. In the middle at the back are some pink Dianthus caryophyllus 'Grenadin' (perennial carnation). They have nice blue green leaves as well those pretty pink flowers, plus a terrific scent. The large pink flowers are Paeonia lactiflora 'Sarah Bernhardt', a really nice pink peony with a divine perfume. In front is a border of annual light blue Lobelia. It blooms all summer, and makes a great edging in the shade. There have been some more flowers added to this bed since I took this photo a few years back. There are some blue and purple iris, which look great with the colour scheme. I've also added some blue Campanula 'Summertime Blues' (bellflowers), which are a few feet tall, with large silvery blue bells. Another addition is some Phlox paniculata 'David'(tall summer phlox) with tall white flowers, and 'Davids Lavender' with lavender coloured flowers for late summer and fall flowers. The more recent additions add to the cottage garden look. Planted in between the perennials are lots of crocus bulbs, to start the flowers blooming in early spring before the perennials are out. Also, at the back on the right there is now a Hydrangea paniculata 'Little Lamb' shrub that gets large white flowers in late summer and fall.

By: Liza

Liza — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:11:35 +0000

What a wonderful blog! I found it when looking for info on Green Spice heuchara.

Cab you identify the plants in the above photo? Your garden is lovely!!

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 14:46:46 +0000

PJL1281, I’ve been picturing spring under that deep pile of snow, too. In the midst of our recent deep freeze, I looked up the dates of the first blooming bulbs in my garden, and calculated how many days until the first flowers. :) I should upload my most recent gardening spreadsheet to the site, as I’ve added many new plants that are hardy in zone 3. Your addition of the seed readiness field is a great idea. If you read through the perennial category articles, you can see some detailed photo closeups to help you with plant identification. This is a good time to work on the garden records, before things get busy in spring. Good luck with cataloguing your plants.

By: PJL1281

PJL1281 — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 05:38:10 +0000

Hey Northern Shade, I actually came across your blog by searching “Zone 3 plant list” in google. You were at the top. I’ve been working hard lately, itching for spring, looking up and cataloging plants in my yard. I moved into my home 6 years ago not knowing anything about gardening but interestingly enough, purchased the property because it had been professionally landscaped. It’s taken me a long time and a lot of trial and error to piece together everything, or rather a fraction, of what’s happening out there. Your site is a great model for me as I try and organize all the information I am collecting. It can be daunting with so many factors to consider. Reading through your spreadsheet was very interesting, thanks for sharing it. I personally want to start collecting my own seed so I might add a field for seed readiness similar to your bloom field into the spreadsheet I will be creating.

Best of luck to you this coming spring. I will be looking forward to seeing your new developments.

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:15:42 +0000

Lleni, the spreadsheet is great for keeping track of your plants. Once you have the initial setup, it’s very easy to update, as you get new plants. If you’re entering the garden off-season now, it will give you something to do until you can get into the garden again. :) Let me know if you think of any refinements. There’s a link to a bloom chart, which is a very simple visual way of keeping track of your flowering times too. I have a lot of snowy months during which I can update my records and make new plans.

By: Lleni

Lleni — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:53:38 +0000

Thank you so much for the wonderful spreadsheet. I was searching for ways to keep garden records. Mine is a horrible mish mash in a spiral notebook, often out of order. I’m certainly going to try this spreadsheet. Open Office has a data base also, btw. I’ve never read a real blog before. This is great!

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:10:35 +0000

Shirley, you have some great ideas for more information to record and sort by. I’ve thought of adding foliage colour, because that is very handy when planning groupings. I like your idea for theme, too, keeping track of the native plants, etc. Adding their planting position would be good for remembering their location, and general site to record their progress too. It would help in figuring out how successful certain plants are with specific factors, like your dry shade bed, etc. Location would probably be the one I had to update most. : )

Thanks for the additional ideas.

By: Shirley

Shirley — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:22:41 +0000

I also have garden spreadsheet. My additional columns include: height & width of plant, flower colour, foliage colour, theme (oriental, european, Australian native, planting position in my garden(west-bed, walk way, pool fence etc), pruning times, fertilising programs times and yes I use excel comments boxes. I have found it very very useful as a reference helps to learn and remember the botanical names my sheet has common names as well.
I have just set one up for my daughter who is starting her first garden and she loves it.
cheers and have fun