Why slate labels are the most attractive and sustainable option for identifying plants (From HeraldScotland)

Landscapers often have specific opinions on plant life and equipment which have evolved via years of success and failure, and we aren't the easiest people to buy Birthday gifts for. There is, however , one existing you can never have too many of: plant brands.

When choosing a label, you need to decide whether it's made from a lasting material, whether it’ll last longer than the season or two and whether or not you can read it without having to crawl on a lawn. You also want it to blend properly with the garden and planting style. A hotchpotch of styles is usually annoying and unsightly. Decisions, choices.

You can buy labels made from plastic-type material, copper, wood, slate and even reused coffee cups, all of which perhaps audio a shade dull compared to the car horn, bone, ivory and leather utilized by gardeners over the last few centuries. Yet fancy etching "rhododendron" on car horn.

Tiny plants require tiny labels. But they get lost therefore easily, judging by all the labels We find in the compost heap. Therefore you may need a plan of a bed to keep in mind the exact name of small plant life, and that’s easier said than done. Even bigger labels fall over or side by side, unless they’re sunk pretty serious.

A small label is only going to survive when safely attached to the shrub or a tree. Copper types with holes work for this, yet they're not without their issues. After rocking in the wind, the particular hole can get so big how the label blows away.

Wood has always been popular with gardeners. Within the 19th century they used pieces like the laths used in plastering wall space, on to which they rubbed white result in make it stand out. Any pencil scars were indelible if applied prior to the lead set.

All of us don’t use such dubious strategies now with wood labels. Small wooden ones with a tiny blackboard for writing on are very appealing, as they should be given their associated with around £8 for three. If you desired all your plant labels to match, you’d break the bank.

After this surprise, you could turn to black plastic. With around £7 for ten 42cm-tall, T-shaped labels, you could afford big, easy-to-read sizes. But you might think it’s too penny-pinching for an existing.

Of all the plant content label materials out there, in my view record is the most attractive, unusual and eco friendly. You might have to pay a little more for the visual boost slate labels will give your own plot but think how previous the material is and how lengthy it will last. There are several sizes and shapes and when you buy from Forfar company Nutscene (nutscene. com) you're buying Scottish slate crafted by a Scottish firm, which is as close to 100 percent sustainable as you're likely to get.

As a final, albeit costly touch, you might be interested in steel content label stakes. Since they’re 46cm lengthy, you can sink them well in to the ground and hang the record label from the curved top. Luckily, you can only attach the content label from the base of the stake, therefore you’ll foil any passing sticky fingers. It’s shocking that several garden visitors steal plant brands, but it seems it's always been hence. As a deterrent 19th-century gardeners got their garden’s name printed in the back of lead, terracotta or even cast-iron labels.

Plastic coffee cups are the latest option to slate (try greenhousesensation. co. uk). These black labels look good and therefore are tough, long-lasting and an useful 15cm long. I would certainly recommend all of them but find the wax crayon that’s supplied by the manufacturers is difficult to make use of. A chalk marker does {the job|the task|the wor