LET'S GET SORTED!

This month Jane Kelly considers the range of resources you can call on when planning your garden and recording what you do in it

- 

From the very first moment you decide you are going to grow something, your mind will start spinning with ideas. What will you grow, where will you put it, how will you look after it? Soon the questions will start to outnumber the answers and before you know it you're ready to throw in the towel - or maybe the trowel! Unless...

What if you were able to put these ideas down on paper, organise them and end up with a bank of resources that would not only relieve the pressure, but also provide an invaluable personal reference library?

More often than not, when I have an idea I grab the first thing to hand, usually an old envelope, and frantically scribble something down until it looks more like a plan. Then another is maybe written on the back of a receipt or whatever I find in my pocket while out shopping. Post-it notes are stuck on fridges and notice boards, and I've even been known to scrawl the name of a particular flower on the back of my hand.

Of course, these jottings start to become the backbone of your ideas so it becomes necessary to keep them in a 'safe' place!

One of the simplest ways to do this is to have a designated box - an old shoebox will do - so that you know exactly what you have done and where it is! In the first instance this will work well but soon it will be brimming (much like your brain) and need a good old sort. And this is where we start to document!

GARDEN PLANNERS

I'm sure most of us will have seen designated garden planners. They come in the form of diaries but with added tips and advice. Some have extra pages to add your own notes, and even pockets at the back to stash various seed packets. These are great gifts for someone who is new to gardening and provide a nice introduction to documenting our activities.