Yesterday was the first honest-to-goodness SPRING-LIKE day we’ve had thus far this year! I seriously wanted to find a meadow filled with wildflowers and run through it singing “Walking On Sunshine!” OK, not really….but you get the idea. :-) It. Was. A. Picture. Perfect. Day. The kind of day when our minds (and hearts) turn towards getting out in the garden again! So today’s post couldn’t have been more perfectly timed! Britta is going to share another garden idea (the girl is OBSESSED I tell ya!) that’s not only extremely PRACTICAL, but BEAUTIFUL too!
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Britta writes:
As I mentioned in my last post, gardening has recently become a favorite hobby of mine, so I am loving being able to learn and share “good things” about gardening here on my mom’s blog! Hopefully some of you out there love gardening too… I’d love to chat with you about it in the comments below! :-) But back to the post…
There are countless products out there that people use to mark where they planted each type of plant in their gardens, but I liked the idea of using something from nature for mine. I also liked the idea of something that would blend right into the garden, as if the earth itself was telling you what was planted there!
Making these garden markers is absurdly simple, which is why I love this project (and hope you will too!)
Here’s how to do it:
First…..gather the flattest, smoothest stones you can find. You’ll want one for each type of seed/plant you are putting into your garden. I was lucky enough to find these stones in my Mom’s backyard!
You’ll also need some paint. Use an oil-based paint, as your garden marker will be exposed to water, often.
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I recommend this white paint marker I found at Michaels. It made writing on the rocks much easier (and less messy) than trying to use a paintbrush.
Next…..it’s time to get creative! Using your paint pen (or a paintbrush) write the names of the plants and add a little extra flair just for fun. This took me about 2 minutes to do with my paint marker! I made one stone for each of the early season plants I’m planting in my garden.
Finally……after the paint dries, you’ll want to spray your stones with some sort of sealant to help protect the paint from the elements. I used this pottery sealant I found at Michaels, because it’s water-resistant and formulated for outdoor use. Good enough for me!
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I took my painted stones out onto the patio and laid them out on a garbage bag so I wouldn’t get sealant everywhere. I sprayed the stones thoroughly with the sealant, and then let them dry in the sun.
How easy is that?? The whole process only took 15 minutes from start to finish, and now I have a set of unique and beautiful garden markers that I will be able to use in my garden for years to come!
Categories
Gardening & Outdoors Homekeeping
I don’t know if the paintingstick is availeble in The Netherlands, but I think I will try to find something to use. Because I love the Idea. Thank you.
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The are brilliant!
Tyler
onelittleblackdress.com
Great idea Jill,I’m allways losing markers to my flowers,mark them with name flowers & you can allways move them if flowers grow so big can’t see them , smart lady you are Jill,,, Thank”s Dear…
Nice job. I did something similar–but more work. I used Mod Podge to glue the actual seed packet to a stone. Then used a sealer like you did. My heirloom packets have a kind of vintage vibe to them so they came out awesome.
Just wondering–do you keep a garden journal?
This is an absolutely fabulous idea to make other decorations for your yard. Sorry, I don’t have any photos, but I use the other colours available in the paint pens and make welcome stones for people when they move into a new house, using larger stones, of course.
These are so sweetly simple they deceive you into thinking you paid a big buncha money for them. Wonderful idea, Britta!
This idea is brilliant. I have tried all kinds of things to keep track of my different tomato plant varieties. Wooden sticks don’t work and the marker came off the plastic sticks. I am going to do this. I can just nestle each rock at the base of the plant and I will know what is what. Thanks.
I like this one. I’m thinking about trying this with our garden. My
Dad is our actual gardener, so we’ll see if he goes for it.
Great idea! Word of caution. When the plants get bigger, you aren’t going to see the markers that lie on the ground.