One day I was doing a self-guided walking tour around the gardens at the Deland, Florida Garden Club. The garden was so meticulously organized, and every plant was labeled with a sign. Because this was so well organized and beautiful, I started thinking about my own garden. Especially my vegetable garden. How nice it would be to have each of my garden beds labeled. Not only would this add beauty to the garden, but it would also be helpful to visitors.
I began my research by looking at both products to purchase and DIY ideas. The DIY terra cotta garden plant labels that I will describe are an adaptation of one that I came across in my research (see the reference section of this post).
Let’s begin by looking at the supplies you will need:
- Bakeable clay
- Letter stamps
- Shepard hooks
- Rolling pin
- Ruler
- Metal baking sheet
- Oven
Bakeable clay
I chose the brand Sculpey Terra Cotta Modeling Clay. Why? A couple of reasons. It was the only bakeable clay that I could find in terra cotta. Most of the bakeable clay comes in white. In addition, this clay was easy to handle and roll out with a rolling pin. Lastly, after baking, this clay holds up nicely outdoors. However, even after baking, the clay can have a bit of a rubbery feel. To find where to purchase this clay, simply Google ‘Sculpey Terra Cotta Modeling Clay’.
Letter Stamps
Next, let’s take a look at the letter stamps. These come in a variety of sizes (e.g. the size of the individual letters). Therefore, it’s important to think about the size of your label before you purchase the stamps. The sizes of individual letters can vary from 1/8-inch-wide up to 1.5 inches wide. Ultimately, I chose letter stamps that are 0.47-inch-high x 0.35-inch-wide. Because the size of my individual plant labels is 2-inches-high x 3.5-inches-wide, I can fit plant names up to approximately 10 letters long (.35 inches * 10 = 3.5 inches). Of course, if you have a longer plant name, you can make your label a bit wider.
Shepard hooks
I personally think the shepherd hooks make the labels stand out and add beauty to the garden. My goal was to ensure that anyone walking through the garden could easily see and read the labels without having to bend down too much. Luckily, I found these lovely 33-inch black shepherd hooks at under $2.00 apiece. Admittingly, finding these took a bit of research and patience.
Process to make the DIY Terra Cotta Garden Plant Labels
Step One – Mold the Clay
Take a piece of the clay and using your hands’ mold into a round ball. Next, using a rolling pin, roll out the clay to your desired thickness. My labels were approximately 3/16 inch thick. I found it easiest to roll out enough clay to work on one label at a time. I am using an 8-inch acrylic rolling pin designed to work with clay. Parchment paper creates a nice base on which to roll out the clay.
Step Two – Cut out the Plant Marker
Determine the shape and size of your individual plant label. My labels are a 2 x 3.5-inch rectangle. I used a piece of paper as my mold/pattern. Cookie cutters also work as a nice pattern. In my case, the paper provided a basic outline for the label. Next, I used a metal ruler to cut around the paper. A pizza cutter or clay knife would work equally well.
Step Three – Make a hole at the top of the marker
Because the labels will be hung on shepherd hooks, make a small hole at the top of your label. You have two options.
- If you want to hang the label directly on the shepherd hook, use the shepherd hook or something of similar size to make the hole.
- If you want to use a wire/string to hang the label on the shepherd hook, then use something that will give you a round hole at the top of the label.
Because I hang my garden labels from floral wire, I chose the second option. This method puts less wear and tear (in the long term) on the hole. To make the hole at the top of the label, I used the end of a paintbrush.
Step Four – Print the name of the plant on the label
Use the letter stamps to imprint the plant name onto the clay. Layout all the letters before making the imprint. This allows you to center the plant name. However, if you make a mistake, simply re-roll out the clay. Additionally, you can decorate the labels by making imprints with leaves. Look for leaves that have some texture to them like an arborvitae needle or the leaf of a peperomia plant. I took a peperomia leaf and pressed it onto the clay.
Step Five – Bake the label
Transfer the cut-out label to a metal baking sheet pan and bake according to the directions on the package of baking clay. I followed the directions for a ¼ inch thickness and baked for 15 minutes. After the recommended bake time, take the sheet pan out of the oven and transfer the label(s) to a wire rack to cool.
Step Six – Place the label in your garden
Hang the label on the shepherd hook in your garden and enjoy. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to make DIY Terra Cotta Garden Plant Labels.
Additional Gardening Information
You may want to check out the following post for more gardening ideas:
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