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Re: [PRIMROSES] Garden Maps

Cindy,
You said:
> How do you keep track of your plants - computer software (which ones),
> sketches, scale drawings that you have to change endlessly, spread sheets
> (what info do you include? how do you handle multiples of the same plant,
> locations of said plants, etc), do you just label the plants in the
garden and
> hope the dog doesn't chew them up?
>
> Has this already been covered ad nauseum? (is this the correct spelling?
I
> didn't know where to look it up (I was lazy too))

Ad nauseum or not, this is a worthwhile topic, and one I am dealing with,
too.

Re software: I tried to use a CAD program for awhile, and got frustrated.
I now keep a rough sketch of the overall plot plan (and count myself lucky
that we had to have the place surveyed when we bought it so the dimensions
are accurate, and the house is placed properly).  I reduced it on the
office photocopier (in pieces, then taped them together) until I had it on
an 11 x 17 sheet.  I keep blanks of the overall layout, and design on
those.  I tried working on 8 1/2 x 11, but didn't like the scale, even
though it was sure a lot more convenient than the bigger sheets.

The gardens that are already in place, I don't bother drawing.  Those get
tweaked as plants are available.  I open up an overgrown border, watch it
for a season, then begin to move things in.  Yes, for a season.  You never
know what is in a new place, even in your own yard, until you observe it
for a season.

One of my joys in gardening is observing.  This combination works, that one
does not.  This plant does well in that location, that one does not.

Mostly, I only spreadsheet my breeding material.  The breeding stock gets
evaluated peridiodically throughout the seasons on forms that mimic the
spreadsheets.  I know people who carry a laptop into the greenhouse or
garden to enter the evaluations directly.  That's a nice idea, but I spend
too much time on my knees, with my hands in the dirt.  The forms go on a
clipboard, and get transferred into the spreadsheets when there is time.

I also spreadsheet my wishlists.  The wishlists get constant additions.
Not many deletions, though.

Rick Grazzini
5b/6a central PA
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