If you’re a gardener who has ever wondered if or why you should keep plant tags, this information is especially for you. Have you ever bought some new plants and tossed the plant tags in the trash? If you later wished you hadn’t, then you already know one reason to keep plant tags. Keep reading to see several more reasons why you should keep plant tags.

What are plant tags?

Plant tags are those little plastic bits of information that come with plants of all kinds. You’ll often find them stuck into the soil somewhere at the base of the plants you buy. These tags aren’t price tags, although sometimes they do include prices on them. These tags are filled with helpful information about the plant, including the light, water, and soil needs of the plant.

Why keep plant tags?

Here are several great reasons to keep those little plastic tags.  I’ll bet there are at least one or two you haven’t thought of before!

1. Did you realize that many nurseries and plant suppliers offer customers a refund if the plant doesn’t survive its first year? This is true, especially for perennials and fruit trees. To take advantage of any refund you have to keep the plant tag, along with the receipt. The receipt alone is often not enough to claim a refund.
2. Plant tags offer important growing tips for the plant. Don’t assume that you will automatically remember all the tips for all the plants you buy–I can’t even remember that much information! It’s really helpful to have that information stored in case you need it.
3. When you remove plants from the pots they come in and place them around the yard, a plant tag helps you remember what is what. Especially in a plant’s early growing stages when it doesn’t look like its more mature, flowering self, it helps to have a visual reminder of what the plant is going to become.
4. At the end of the gardening season, tape the tags to an outline of your garden so you can easily remember where you grew various plants. In subsequent years you can refer to it as needed for crop rotation.
5. If you keep plant tags, you can refer to them as you plan each year’s garden. Keep the plant tags to remember the plants that grew well. Save the tags for the vegetables you liked, as well as the tags for your favorite blooms. Toss the tags for plants that didn’t perform or vegetables you didn’t enjoy eating.

A garden journal is one great way to save and keep plant tags for the future. Check out this helpful post on garden journaling!