One very handy garden tool to have in the garden is a record book of all your plants. When I re-landscaped our yard, I kept every plant tag and label, the plans drawn up by my designer, graph paper layouts, and other pertinent information that I wanted to save for reference. I have a nice loose-leaf binder with pockets that I can store everything in. As I add a new plant to my space, I go online and find the best description of each plant, including a photo, and print up the page for my notebook. I also have 2 pages at the front. One lists the bloom time of each plant, and the other page lists various tasks that need to be done for certain plants at certain times of the year. I can look at that at the beginning of each month and see what I need to do.
I also keep a date book, and list when plants are blooming, the weather, if we get rain, and the amount, and when I feed the various plants and shrubs. I list little things I do, such as putting leftover coffee on the soil around my roses, azaleas, camellias, and tibouchina - anything that likes some acid soil benefits from a little coffee! Knowing I have to keep track of things makes me a better gardener, because I go out every day and get up close and personal with my shrubs to be sure they are in good health.
It's great to have everything at my fingertips, and it's become a terrific resource when I want to share some pertinent information on a plant with a friend.
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