Plant Database
Do you forget when to prune and when not to prune? What about soil conditions for your plant? What sort of soil do your plants prefer? And so the list goes on. Well if you want all the information to hand here's what you do. It does not matter if you use a phone, tablet or laptop/desktop p.c. All that is needed is a browser such as Chrome or Firefox that will save a page as a PDF. I use Linux with Chromium but most operating systems will do the job.
Next, look up your plant or tree on the RHS Site and save the page as a PDF. Besides plants they have lots of very useful pages such as composting, invasive plants and so forth. Before you know it you will have a comprehensive database of all that interests you. If you are using Apple iOS you can save each page in iBooks and can consult it without being online.
The RHS is happy for people to use their site for personal use.
Any questions, just ask.
Oh...! You can save pages from other useful sites too.
If you want to be a real nerd your could use a free spreadsheet for detailed information and a diary.
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Last edited: 31 July 2017 21:00:46
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I have made spreadsheets for my seeds, have started one for plants bought for this new garden and store interesting and useful internet pages as favourites in a Garden folder. No database needed as I can look it all up easily.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
I use Microsoft Office Notebook for my records. It's quick and easy and I can add pictures without any problems so it's useful for a visual reference as well. As far as I know it's a standard programme on Windows 10.
I use Excel and embed a pic with a hyperlink, so I just click on the photo and it takes me to the relevant web page. I can then sort by colour, size etc and add comments.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I have 2 concurrent systems for keeping track of my garden plants:
- a "proper" database on my computer, with a customized interface for entering data, created with the open source LibreOffice software;
- a replica of that database on my on-line garden site, created with WordPress (and a number of extra plugins).
Those databases consist of 2 parts: general data about each plant species/cultivar, and specific cultivation notes about the plants in my garden, including when planted, where planted (with a link to the garden plan), actual growth year after year, actual flowering times, etc. And of course real photos of the plants in situ. Individual plants "pages" can be accessed either through their scientific (Latin) names or common names (French/English). It's also possible to browse the plants by families, or to type a name in the Search box.
Both databases are bi-lingual, English and French. The French database is regularly kept up-to-date, the English equivalent only from time to time. The English database is currently "in progress".
http://www.rezeau.org/wp-garden/en/category/plantae-en/