Capture the fleeting beauty of your garden and create a family keepsake by crafting a garden scrapbook. This book can function as a filing spot for plant tags and favorite recipes for homegrown produce. It can also be a source of inspiration. Get started with garden scrapbooking.
Start with a scrapbook
You can either buy a scrapbook or make your own. Look for scrapbooks at hobby, craft, office supply, gift or department stores. Consider how you want to design pages before you purchase a book.
To make your own scrapbook, purchase scrapbooking paper and bind it together. Bind hole-punched pages together with cord, twine or ribbon. For an environmentally friendly scrapbook, recycle an old book by pasting garden photos and scrapbook paper over existing text.
Gather supplies
Search for scrapbooking supplies at craft, hobby, and office supply stores or online. Supplies you need include scissors (look for ones with patterned edges), glue and several types of paper, such as acid-free, construction, scrapbook and card stock.
Collect decorative items for pages, like stickers or precut foam icons. Many scrapbook companies sell garden-themed items for decorating pages. Seed packets and seeds make fantastic additions to scrapbook pages.
Choose your focus
If you only have one garden area or a favorite plant group, such as roses, then selecting your subject for the scrapbook is easy. If you have several different gardens, narrow your book’s focus by choosing one area.
Things to include
- Garden photos: Grab a camera and track the growth of favorite plants through the seasons. Try to photograph the same view or a particular combination on the same day each month to showcase how it changes over time. Include photos of family members, pets and garden guests – including wildlife. Discover more tips for taking great garden photos.
- Flowers or leaves: Press a few flowers or leaves for your scrapbook. Tuck them between sheets of acid-free paper and let them sit beneath a stack of books for a few weeks. Use thin leaves or blooms; thicker ones may mold or rot. Preserve these dried botanical treasures by laminating with an acid-free product. An alternative is making leaf rubbings.
- Garden plan: Draw a map of your garden, marking where plants are located. You’ll be surprised how often you’ll refer to this plan. It’s especially helpful when you have bulbs that appear – and disappear – as the seasons progress.
- Calendar: Create a garden calendar specific to your yard. Include things like bloom times, pest outbreaks and specific seasonal tasks. This invaluable information is the type included in a more traditional garden journal.
- Sources of inspiration: As you visit public or private gardens, take pictures to include in your scrapbook. Clip or photocopy images of inspiring gardens you see in magazines.
- Edible gardens: Note planting and harvest dates, track yields and include recipes that feature various items.
- Combinations: Take photos of plant combinations that work – in pots, perennial gardens and even bouquets you gather.
- Text: Jot notes related to photos, plants or recipes included in the scrapbook. You may want to record anecdotes, basic care tips or advice you’ve been given.
- Plant tags: Save tags from plants you add to garden beds, along with tags from favorite container combinations. Tuck these into a pocket or envelope attached to a scrapbook page.