When it comes to planting native plants, marking plants with permanent labels is an essential habit to develop. Plant labels help you get to know your plants. Some plants, like Trillium and Dicentra species, are spring ephemerals that go dormant during summer. Marking their locations protects them when not visible above ground. Some native plants may not be ablet to outcompete more aggressive growers labels are a helpful reminder to weed around them. Plus, while you're getting to know your plants it's helpful to have labels so that you don't accidentally pull a treasured plant out!
When purchasing plants, they often come with a semi-durable plastic label, but when you propagate your own plants it's hard to find a label that will last. After much experimentation and many cases of lost identities, I've come up with this handy label that upcycles aluminum cans. Let's look at how to make these labels. First, start saving aluminum cans, then cut off their tops and bottoms which creates a small sheet of aluminum. Regular scissors or tin snips work well for this but be sure to wear gloves to avoid aluminum splinters. Place the sheet of aluminum on several layers of newspaper and use an old ballpoint pen to engrave the name of the plant on the label. Leave a 5/8-in margin on the left to allow for hanging the label. I find that capital letters work best. Fill up the sheet with as many plant names that will fit on the sheet. Then, cut apart the labels and round the corners with your scissors. The individual labels are ready to attach to a post or wire staple.
For this, I purchase square, U-shaped Whonline galvanized, 11-guage,12-inch garden staples (for example). I have experimented with sticks and other posts, but garden staples have proven to be the most resilient. To attach the aluminum label to the garden staple, fold the left side of the label around the top part of the garden staple. Using a hammer and a large nail, poke two holes in the folded over part of the label. Thread a piece of wire through the two holes and twist them together on the back. Your stake is ready to place in the garden. It's helpful to get in the habit of placing plant labels in the same position for each plant. For example, I tend to place plant labels in front of the plant and slightly to the right. You may have a different preference.
I hope this helps you keep track of your native plants. Let me know if you have any questions. Find these directions and other tips for native plant propagation in Nature's Action Guide: How to Support Biodiversity and Your Local Ecosystem, a companion to Doug Tallamy's Nature's Best Hope. We hope you'll join the movement and help support wildlife and biodiversity where you live and work. Let's show the world it can be done!
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