Top tip! Keep a diary

peachespeaches

One of the top tips I found for gardening was to keep a diary. Someone bought me the RHS five year diary for this purpose, but any diary with enough room in it would do, or even just a notebook with a page a week.

This is useful because if you write "sowed sweet peas this week", you will know next year and the year after if this is a good time to sow them, and you dont have to keep looking it up. Its also interesting to note things like "daffodils in bloom" and look at seasonal variations. I find the most important notes to be date of last frost also date of first frost, to give you an idea when to put things out etc. Other things that are useful notes are when you put hanging baskets out, when you took certain plants out of greenhouse or cold frame or whatever. Its also nice to make notes like, for example, 'display of violas and tulips by front door looked stunning' then you will try the same combination again.

peachespeaches

I suppose an online blog would be more up to date! You could add photos.

Janey3

I had a gardeners notebook for Christmas and I think it's a brilliant idea as a way to keep track of things. Only my second year of growing veg and I am finding my little notebook useful. I like to keep it next to my chair and then I can add to it as and when .

savemoney

Label things like seeds and possible cuttings with plant name and date of planting

I get plastic labels from Wilkos for aroudn £1 for 50

You can use pencil or permanent marker. To reuse rub out with soft cloth or use turps on a old rag to clean black marker

gillian62

I have started an excel spreadsheet, with dates of what I sowed/planted where and when.

mary-op

Last two years I've had a gardening journal bought for me at christmas -didn;t get one this year so created my own.
Really useful things to have..........take photos of plants that do well -and those that don't and where they were bought.
When things were planted, progress etc.
I also make a note of the weather............handy for comparing when plants don't come through when they usually do, like this year.

LJM

good tip i have a 18 month diary so i will note it all in