Easy DIY Rustic Herb Garden Plant Markers and Stakes

These easy, rustic DIY herb garden plant markers are a great way to keep track of what you planted but more importantly enhance the look of your garden. In addition to growing delicious herbs and tomatoes, I want that special garden touch since I do have small dinner parties in the area.

Keep track of your plants for easy identification with herb garden plant markers

I bought my first herb plants of the season the other day and have kept them inside in pots until the weather cooperates and I can move them to our stock tank garden. I know my herbs. I buy the ones we use regularly so I really don’t need to mark them. But I do love the look of these markers in my garden.

However, tomatoes are a different story. There are so many varieties and we seem to never plant the same ones year after year. Over the years I’ve planted tomatoes only to forget the variety of the ones I bought and planted. I’ve stuck those little  plastic markers, the ones that come with the tomatoes, next to the plant as garden labels only to have them wash away during watering or get bumped and dislodged during regular weeding and maintenance. And let’s be honest, they look bad, end up either buried or just sadly lying in the garden bed, and they take away from the otherwise great aestheic of a beautiful flowering garden. 

This year I decided that is not going to happen to my tomatoes and I came up with an idea for a natural, rustic marker for each of them. I loved how they looked with the tomatoes so much that I decided to make smaller ones for the herbs. Again, not necessary, but fun. You could also do this for vegetable garden markers. And they’re pefect for indoor or outdoor use.

How to make adorable garden markers with sticks

By now you all know how much I love making things with sticks. They’re kind of my signature style. Don’t ask me why I like sticks so much, I just do. So as you do your spring yard clean-up, make sure you save some of those sticks for some fun and easy projects.

You only need a few tools and some sticks to make natural herb markers with some rustic charm

• Sharp knife
• Garden pruners (I’ve had my Felco pruners for 20+ years)!
• Sandpaper
• Black Sharpie or paint pens

Step-by-step for how to make herb garden plant markers and stakes

1. Gather the number of sticks for how herbs you’re planting and make sure they are all roughly the same diameter so that you have some consistency in the size.
2. Cut them all roughly the same length making sure they are long enough to go several inches into the soil and still be able to see the herb name.
3. Using a sharp knife (I used a kitchen pairing knife because we’re not really into camping and don’t have a good pocket-knife) slice some wood from the end of a stick to creat a semi-flat surface. This is where you’ll write the name of the herb.
4. Using a piece of sandpaper, smooth the surface that you’re going to write on.
5. Write the name of the herb on the flat surface of the stick you just created.
6. Write the name of the herb on the flat surface and let it dry for a minute. 
7. Insert the stick into the soil next to the herb (and make sure you save the best one for your favorite herb).