[Sive]

If, like me, you are somewhat absent-minded and forget, from one season to the next what jobs need to be done in your flower beds, here is a good way of reminding yourself. I have tried this out over the past winter and it works perfectly.
When you notice, in midsummer, you have a perennial plant in the wrong place, or one that will need to be reduced/divided/moved, it is all too easy to forget all these plans when faced with very innocent-looking shoots as they emerge in the spring. And then by the time they show their true character it is sometimes too late to divide/move them.
My way of reminding myself couldn't be simpler: I bought wooden clothes pegs, and wrote simple instructions on them in fade-proof pen, then clipped the peg onto the base of a strong stem in the heart of the plant.
So, this spring, as I weeded and tidied and cut dead top-growth back, I came across all my pegs and knew exactly what I needed to do. It worked a treat and I hope to use this method every year from now on.

[Anonany]

Great idea !

Was last year the "Year of the Reformed Absent-minded Gardener" ? I, too, have cursed my forgetfulness in the past and, like yourself, decided last year that the time had come to get a bit more organised.

I cut up several white plastic bags into approximately 1 x 12 inch strips which, together with an indelible pen, were stored in a small bag alongside the secateurs and trowels ... thus acting as a constant reminder to carry them around at all times.

Whenever I came across an "I must remember to do this" plant, I wrote it's name and brief info at one end of a strip and either tied it around a plant/tree stem or tied it to a twiggy stick and stuck it in the ground alongside. The fluttering labels weren't too conspicuous or ugly during the growing season but, come the Winter/Spring were really eye-catching.

There was an unexpected bonus -- for the recipient -- when it came to the couple of dozen self-seeded (1-8ft high) deciduous trees. Their new owner was delighted to discover they were all labelled and carried sufficient info for her to know exactly where they should be planted !

It's worked so well that I intend to repeat the exercise this year ... although I think I might also give the clothes pegs a try as well. They sound like a better option for those areas where a more discreet reminder might look better ! Thank you for the tip.

[inishindie]

I set my alarm on the sideboard to remind me of everything...It's perfect for day to day things like picking the kids up but does have it's limitations when it comes to seasonal work... I rely on my wife for that, she is my memory

[Sive]

Your method sounds like a good one Anonany......and of course you could use green plastic bags if you wanted the labels to be less conspicuous. I like using the wooden clothes pegs as the materials are natural and will rot down if they get lost in the earth.
And as for Inishindie's better half....long may she have a wonderful memory ! I'm afraid I can't even remember when I could remember ! The joys of the Golden Years !

[michael brenock]

i go into the garden and I see a job to be done but I need a spade or fork to do it so I go to the shed for it, while in the shed I see the trowel and pick it up to plant something and then The wheelbarrow is in the way and a drop the trowel and move the barrow. after moving the barrow I notice I have left a seed tray under it with some plants which have to be planted but I need to have the radio on near me while I work. Cannot find the radio so I start all over again. When I mislay anything in the garden There is great joy when I find it , just like the lost sheep. The greatest rewards in forgetfulness is having sown seed and forgotten you have done so the joy of discovering that they have germinated especially when you have lost the packet
michael brenock

[Sive]

aaah Michael, I laughed so much, your story is very familiar to all of us absent-minded gardeners as we randomly go through all our gardening work. But as you say, it is the distractions that are so joyous.....like noticing something that seemed be dead but now has a new shoot.....or stopping to watch a bumble bee or a ladybird.
But how about taking the washing out to the line, noticing a weed somewhere, and by the time I've pulled it up ( and all its cousins ) my hands are too dirty to touch the washing and I have to go back into the house to wash them.......and start all over again.
I wonder do gardeners have short attention spans ??? !!!!!

[Maeve Drogheda]

This thread has made me smile a lot.

My husband is the absent minded one in our house, I ask him to to do something like water the plants in the green house and he goes to the shed, (walks past the watering can) and then he seems to get lost in the shed 8ft x 10 ft for hours and when he comes back in to the house I ask if he watered the plants and he then goes out again bypassing the watering can and goes missing for another hour. Or the other thing isthe quesstions" where is the watering can, fork, hoe etc," and he is standing in front of it!!

I have also done the thing with the clothes, I do a bit of weeding etc and then walk past the line to check on the clothes forget my hands are mucky and have to re wash what I had nearly dry!!

[Geranimojess]

My biggest problem is remembering even one item.....I'm working away at the furthest point from the Tool Shed and realise I need a paticular Tool....I walk all the way to the Shed enter and suddenly the mind goes blank....I mentally retrace my footsteps back, eventually I'm left with no option but to return to the original area before remembering...

I will admit that I'm thinking and planning as I walk to the Shed still its a bummer to think your getting on in years...

[Sive]

That's why we all end up talking to ourselves as we get older.....you see if you chatted away to yourself about the tool you needed to get from the shed you wouldn't need to retrace your steps. Try it, it works. You can mumble quietly if talking out loud would frighten your nearest and dearest......

[Geranimojess]

Sive...If you knew me I could mumble for Ireland at the next Olympics and win 1st Prize, but if I was to mumble " I need the Trowel " by the time I'd reach the Shed I'd be mumbling " I need the Towel "...I think so much and so often that my concentration is easily distracted.

At this moment as I type this I'm actually planning tomorrows tasks in my mind and have to stop every so often to check this...

When I was a Toddler I was told I'd fall asleep with clenched Fists and grinding Teeth I was taken to the Doctor who said I was Hyper Active and was dreaming of future Activities and I'd grow out of it...I guess one out of two Diagnosis aint' bad .

Thanks for the suggestion but I guess after 66yrs of being who I am I aint 'going to change now.

As I look out the Window across the Bay I'm blinded by an Orange Ball of Sunshine....what a way to end the day...I think I can put up with the absentmindedness if these Evenings are my reward...

Hope its as nice in the Sunny Sth' East......... Dave...

[Sive]

I can quite see that my suggestion really doesn't work if the shed is too far away ! I tend to be easily distracted too, the brain thinking about ten things at once and then forgetting most of them.......and I'm only a couple of years younger than you.....
We had a fabulous day in North Wexford, with the sun sinking behind the Blackstairs mountains at exactly 9.44pm....but you'd be a good bit later in the north-west. How lucky you are to have a view over the sea !
My magical moment of the day was to hear an unusual sound in the sky and when I looked up I realised there were two buzzards floating high above the house....calling with a "mewing" sound to each other.
Pure magic.

[Geranimojess]

Spent today removing Stumps from an outside Bank that I'm trying to level...It was hard slogging but with the aid of a reciprocate Saw it made short work of them and before long I had 3/4's of them removed...it will make for easier mowing instead of having to manoeuvre around them...it also clears the area to allow me continue painting the Fence.

Today was another scorcher in the NW and its suppose to last til' the WE...I've Bronzed over the last few Days from the Sun and Sea Breeze...beats having to Travel abroad for a Tan...

Preparing for another Orange Ball Sunset...long may in continue...

[Geranimojess]

PS.....Change that to a Red Ball just setting down in the distant Watery Horizon...