Permanent Labels

Sorry this message is the same as my last one, but I just couldn't live with
myself for leaving an old, irrelevant subject line.  Carolyn tricked me into
doing it. :)

At 09:09 PM 9/15/96 -0500, you wrote:
>
>OK Donald, what are you using as permanent labels for your Siberians??
>The )*&%^($%*^%$_()&* rain has managed to dislodge labels that I made.
>I'm going to rush out there tomorrow with my map and make plastic labels to
>stick into the ground which will be "permanent" for the winter at least.
>
>Carolyn Schaffner getting sick of the wet Buffalo, NY

To tell the truth, I'm trying several things.  However, I've been using
those soft aluminum tags which I write on with a ballpoint pen.  After
etching the name into the aluminum with the ballpoint pen, I use a fine
tipped, black paint marker from the Wal-Mart craft department and reinforce
the name.  I then take a 6-8 inch piece of 17 gauge aluminum wire (used for
electric fencing) and make a loop in the end to which I attach the aluminum
label.  This 17 gauge piece of wire is stiff enough to stick into the soft
sand we have here and it seems to hold pretty well (plus, I don't think it
will rust).  You may need heavier gauge wire for clay soil. (I can't take
credit for the paint marker idea - someone on the list posted it a while
back and I went out and bought some before there was a run on them.)

I've heard others mention using plastic knives with the name painted on.
However, my three year old would probably have a field day collecting these
and putting them in the dishwasher.  I plan to trial a few of these just to
determine how well they would hold up.  I know that the cold wouldn't break
the plastic here in the South, but the elements might make it brittle in
colder regions.

I had tried some oyster shells with Sharpee marker earlier this summer, but
the sun and rain seemed to have proven that theory wrong.  I may try them
again with the paint marker to see how they hold up.

-Donald


Donald Mosser
dmosser@southconn.com
North Augusta, SC, USA
Zone 7b-8
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