Building a Garden Map
Not everyone will need one of these... But my memory isn't what I think I remember it being and so I do. I tend to forget things and this, for me, is a very good idea.
Very basically it's just what it says it is.... It's a map of my garden. It shows the position and name of all the plants in the garden. The one above is out of date for me. Last year saw a lot of changes in my garden that have not made it onto this map yet but I have printed off another map of my garden and I'll get that done when I can.
How to make this is actually easier than you may think. You can either draw an outline of your garden onto a piece of paper... Or, if your drawing is as bad as mine, you just need Google Earth, a graphics program and a printer!
There are also a number of free programs/apps available online, just google "Free garden design". I can't offer advice on this as I have yet to use any. If you have any recommendations please let me know in the comments.
Use Google Earth to find your house and zoom in and use Printscreen to get a screen grab and then use that to make an outline in your graphics program. From there you print it off and take a walk around your garden and make a note of what plant is where and what its name is.
My map only shows the plants, nothing more. But you can put MUCH more than that on it. You can put a north pointer (So you know what aspect your garden has) you can also colour code any beds that have specific soil types. Some gardens may be loamy at the front but have heavy clay in the back. Or you may have made a certain bed very acidic so you can have certain plants or crops.
This is also a very good idea if you are growing crops and wish to use rotation. Year on year you can forget what crop went where. It can also help if you have a herb garden and are not too sure which is which yet.
See? Having a map can help!
For most this isn't very necessary, for me it's a bloody lifeline! B-D
*Note
This was originally posted to my wordpress blog way back in 2015
Now in 2018 I will have to make yet another one! With luck this new one will not change too much in the future!
#Gardening #Garden #Map #Help #Plants #Memory #OhHowItFades