Gardeners use a variety of tools to record information about the plants growing in their gardens. A sketchbook, pencil, camera or laptop are some examples of tools that allow gardeners to follow the progress. It is the observations by gardeners, later used to develop future gardens, which are the most valuable.
Garden Diary Recordings
The first decision to make is what to record in a garden diary. Here are some ideas to start with:
- Plants – those that have gone dormant and made an open space, found dead, did not flower, flowers continually or got too tall.
- Garden Beds – spaces that did not fill in, overcrowding, edging that needs replacing or plants that look perfect.
- Soil – dried out, suddenly weedy, needs mulch or water not draining well.
- Insects – which ones stayed longer than usual, did not show up at all and note beneficial insects.
- Weather – rained too much or too little, drought conditions and length, windy sites or extreme temperatures.
Recording in a garden diary becomes part of a gardener’s life and will have entries all year long. Some gardeners will incorporate other pursuits and record those events in the garden diary too. Bird watchers, butterfly enthusiasts, amateur meteorologists or environmentalists will add the parts of nature to a garden diary they feel is relevant.
Phenology
Phenology is the study of the life cycle phases of plants and animals in relation to climate. Gardening phenologists record observations of specific plants, insects and birds, then record weather observations, at particular times of a season.
Some ideas would include when plants go dormant, first sighting of migratory birds, blooming of wildflowers or when a body of water freezes or thaws.
Indicator Plants
An indicator plant reacts to environmental factors and observable reactions to the environmental factors can be recorded. Goldenrod, lilac, and forsythia are examples of indicator plants.
A practical home garden use can be demonstrated by using the correlation between forsythia blooming and crabgrass germinating. This is reliable information for a gardener deciding when to apply herbicide to prevent crabgrass.
Growing Degree Days
Especially for vegetable gardeners, understanding insect life stages will enable them to take proactive steps to protect their plants. Insects are cold-blooded and their development is closely related to the accumulation of degree-days. Degree-days are units of measure; growing degree-days are a totaling of degree-days above a base temperature.
Organic gardeners or those who prefer to use fewer chemicals on their plants can take proactive steps to protect their plants using these calculations. Adding phenology information to a garden diary can enhance the gardening experience. Many gardeners volunteer through master gardener organizations or Audubon societies collecting phenology information for regional environmental projects.
Northeast Wisconsin Audubon Society
The Northeast Wisconsin Audubon Society located in Green Bay, Wisconsin assembles a calendar with phenological information for Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan.
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