GardensPlastic, wood, slate or metal? Alys Fowler has the answer
Labels matter. Particularly when you are confronting a tray of compost or a faint line scratched out in the soil. You may believe you will remember what you planted, but you won’t. Or at least you might at the beginning of the season, or for the first few trays, but once spring gets a hold and every week there’s something new to sow, then one row quickly fades into the next. Perhaps you think that keeping the packet will be enough of a reminder, and it may, but I spend my life flicking off bits of seed packets that have splattered across my clothes after going through the wash hidden in pockets. A good durable label is essential.
Most labels are made from white plastic, and there’s a reason for this – you can spot them against the dark soil and they can be easily read. They may look a bit of an eyesore if dotted everywhere, however. Black labels are a good alternative, but you have to use a special white pen – and this defeats the point. If you write in pencil (ink often fades in the sun and gets worn away by soil), you can bury the label. Bury it behind the back of the plant, so you’ll always be able to dig around a bit and find it. Plastic labels are easy to reuse: to clean them, rub them with wire wool. (This is the perfect time to do such a job.)
There are numerous alternatives to plastic. Wooden, slate and metal labels will last for years. My favourite, because I am old school and started my gardening career in the labelling department, is indented metal using character punches and a jig. Sometimes these pop up on eBay, or new from Alitag. This is not a cheap option, but if your true love is a geeky sort of gardener, then I guarantee that if you splurge on a set for them, all your Christmas wishes may come true (you might also find that everything in your life gets labelled).
Aluminium labels can also be written on using a pencil – a cheaper option than a jig. These are treated to make the pencil permanent; it is possible to use an eraser to rub it off in the first year, but after that it’s stuck. Again, Alitag is a good place to get this sort of label. Copper looks very attractive and you can to write on it using a ballpoint pen, indenting a permanent record. The copper eventually weathers to a muted verdigris. All of these labels are best suited to permanent plantings, because they are just too dear for seasonal vegetables and flowers.
That is unless you use tomato paste tube labels. These are the brainchild of Alison, an inspirational allotmenteer from the Black Country whom I met recently and seemingly recycles everything. Cut off the top and bottom of a tomato paste tube, then cut down the middle so you can flatten it, and wash it. Cut it into strips of a desired size and write on it with a ballpoint pen.
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