The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Labels with love Every gardener needs them but some are classier than others
GARDENERS often have specific opinions on plants and equipment which have evolved through years of success and failure, so we aren’t the easiest people to buy Christmas gifts for. There is, however, one present you can never have too many of: plant labels.
When choosing a label, you have to decide whether it’s made from a sustainable material, whether it’ll last longer than a season or two and whether you can read it without having to crawl on the ground. You also want it to blend with the garden and planting design. A hotchpotch of styles is annoying and unsightly.
You can buy labels made from plastic, copper, wood, slate and even recycled coffee cups, all of which perhaps sound a shade dull compared to the horn, bone, ivory and leather used by gardeners over the last few centuries. But fancy etching “rhododendron” on horn.
Tiny plants need tiny labels. But they get lost so easily, judging by all the labels I find in the compost heap. So you may need a plan of a bed to remember the exact name of small plants, and that’s easier said than done. Even larger labels fall over or sideways, unless they’re sunk pretty deep.
A small label will only survive when safely attached to a shrub or a tree. Copper ones with holes work for this, but they’re not without their problems. After rocking in the wind, the hole can get so big that the label blows away.
Wood has always been popular with gardeners. In the 19th century they used strips like the laths used in plastering walls, on to which they rubbed white lead to make it stand out. Any pencil marks were indelible if applied before the lead set.
We don’t use such dubious methods now with wood labels. Little wooden ones with a tiny blackboard are attractive, as they should be given their price of around £8 for three. If you wanted all your labels to match, you’d break the bank.
After this shock, you could turn to black plastic. At around £7 for ten 42cm-tall, T-shaped labels, you could afford large, easy-to-read sizes. But you might reckon it’s too penny-pinching for a present.
Of all the plant label materials out there, in my view slate is the most attractive, unusual and sustainable. You might have to pay a little more for the aesthetic boost slate labels will give your plot but think how old the material is and how long it will last. There are several sizes and shapes and if you buy from Forfar company Nutscene (nutscene.com) you’re buying Scottish slate crafted by a Scottish company, which is as close to 100 per cent sustainable as you’re likely to get.
As a final, albeit pricy touch, you might be interested in steel label stakes. Since they’re 46cm long, you can sink them into the ground and hang the slate label from the curved top. Fortunately, you can only attach the label from the base of the stake, so you’ll foil any passing sticky fingers. It’s shocking that some garden visitors steal plant labels, but it seems it’s always been thus. As a deterrent 19th-century gardeners had their garden’s name printed on the back of lead, terracotta or cast-iron labels.
Recycled plastic coffee cups are the latest alternative to slate (try greenhousesensation.co.uk). These black labels look good and are tough, long-lasting and a useful 15cm long. I would certainly recommend them but find the wax crayon that’s supplied by the manufacturers is difficult to use. A chalk marker does the job better.