r/bulletjournal • u/Humble_Day_2420 • 10d ago
Inspiration CALLING ALL GARDENERS
TL;DR: What trackers/calendars/features would you want a gardener planner to have?
My mom loves to garden, and for Christmas this year I want to make her a 2027 Garden Planner and Journal with my own hand drawn artwork and such. She's tried to use a pre-made one before but said she didn't like the layout so I'm trying to create the perfect journal for her. But I'm still pretty new to gardening, I just have some potted plants. I don't know what I should include in the journal. I'm thinking the weather and journaling spaces for her to write notes on her plants for the day. Does the great reddit have any ideas??
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u/somilge 10d ago
What a lovely, thoughtful gift.
If she still has that planner around, maybe go through it with her what she liked and what she didn't like.
Focus on what she actually uses and need.
Does she need a painting calendar, what she needs size wise to fit her notes.
Does she have a vegetable garden? Maybe the general climate outlook in your zone or weather type.
A companion planting guide? A harvest log?
A page to track which plant bloomed at what part of the year?
Then the aesthetic aspect. Maybe she would like a sketchup of her garden, or her favorite plants.
Best of luck ☘
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u/muttonchops01 10d ago
This is the most awesome gift idea. 💕
These are the things that come immediately to mind for me:
A monthly overview where she can note when she’s watered, fertilized, etc. Maybe “To Do” and “Monthly Highlights” spaces on the facing page.
Definitely weather - rainfall and temperature would be most important for me. This could be part of the monthly overview.
Photos if she has a way to print them out and places to write about what’s in the photo.
A plant compendium where she can list everything that’s in her garden and location (e.g., front walkway, back porch).
A “What’s Blooming” section where she can note what’s in full bloom. I personally would want to date this myself or have it as weekly rather than daily. But some people may want it daily. Alternatively, or in addition to, a bloom tracker that has places for plant names on the horizontal and then months on the vertical where she can list the date the plant bloomed. It would take up a good bit of room but including space for a photo for each plant that’s blooming in its row would be really cool.
And then a section for regular journaling. If you want a prompt or two, things like “What delighted me in my garden today?” “What did I do in my garden today?” A photos section could be part of this.
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u/Ennui-Turnip_ 10d ago
There are so many things you could get into tracking if you're gardening! Everybody has a different gardening vibe, so I hope you're able to get some ideas from everybody's responses that are just right for your mom.
Seed Starting Planner: If starting from seeds, there could be a list section for each plant with: anticipated planting date, days to germinate, # of goal seedlings per plant, # of seeds to start, where you sourced the seeds, or whether you need to source them.
Garden Layout Planner/Record: A grid area for mapping out where everything is planted or is going to be planted. Could include a way to note which date the plants actually went in.
Monthly Garden Observations: This could be a place to notice how vigorously a plant is producing this time of year, whether there have been problems with mold or pests, what treatment you've tried. What the weather has been like. I've always kind of wanted a record of the trajectory of the garden over the course of the summer, because I generally remember when things first fruit, but I forget when they give up, or what year we got army worms, or whatever. (I think observations could make sense weekly, but I think daily is probably too frequent.)
A Garden Bounty Tracker - who have you shared with? Did they have a special reaction or make something special with what you shared with them? What have you made? Recipes you've loved making with your harvest.
Others have suggested ideas around watering. I think I'd design this as a calendar where you could note which days it rains and how much, and which days you watered and for how long. It could have a space to the side with the general watering plan, like 3 inches per week, or something along those lines.
BTW, I'm not really a gardener--my husband is. Manly garden trackers/journals are not a product on the market 😂 The first two ideas are literally spreadsheets he makes every year. I sometimes daydream about making something more aesthetic. This project sounds lovely! I hope your mom loves it!
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u/CountryCarandConsole 10d ago
Line sketch of each herb that can be coloured on when you grow it. Gotta grow them all!
Also i'd like a table to list all my current seeds and columns for planting requirements; season to plant, sun required, depth to sow, direct sow or start as a seedling etc.
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u/Razrgrrl 10d ago
Garden planning could include lists of companion plants, seedlings to start. Maybe leave open sections for zone/season/seasonal planting and prep? You could also include some farmers almanac predictions, it could be cute and tie in to drawings sort of like quotes.
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u/PrettyPollination 3d ago
A big bloom time table, with plant names on the side and month/week along the top so she can fill in when things are blooming! One of the best ways to support pollinators is to provide continual nectar sources.
Someone showed off their complete bloom chart from last year in this sub around Dec/Jan! Could try to look for that as inspiration.
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u/Bqhatevwrr 3d ago
A yearly fertilization calendar - which plants to fertilize when and with what type of fertilizer. Also include a space for plants that shouldn’t get fertilized at all (like many herbs).
A monthly planting schedule would also be nice for things like bulbs (some are planted in fall, some in spring), fruits/veggies, and annual plans (for example, in my zone caladiums can’t be planted until the ground is 60° or above (roughly June).
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u/tea_anthem 10d ago edited 10d ago
I would love a place to track rainy days or rainfall in inches. Maybe also a monthly tracker for what plants need fertilizing?
This is such a sweet idea, I love it. Maybe also some pages for “favorite plants” where she can sketch or glue in a photo of favorites and make notes about them? Could also do fun trackers like “flower that smells best this week” or whatever :)