I use a spreadsheet. MS Excel but Open Office is completely free and would work almost as well. Just create fields for these items...name of plant, where purchased, price, annual notes, etc. There is some company that provides software to the likes of the RHS, BBG, Longwood etc. for plant tracking. I forget their name but I've seen their website before. Most of those programs, like the ones used by libraries to catalog their books, run on a commercial RDBMS although that is completely transparent to the end purchasers.

I plan sort of. I have a garden blueprint from 10 yrs. ago. I spent many hours making it. Without this I would not know where anything is. At the end of each season I do a rough "inventory" of everything that has been added and where (roughly) then put it away until January. Then out it comes along with the photos from the garden last season and I plan what I need, wish and want for this year. It's my greatest tool because as the garden matures, my memory fades of what I put last year or 3 years ago. It helps but like others who have spoken before me - if I don't like a look, I change it. In the fall the master blueprint gets changed to reflect what I have done. It sounds tedious and time consuming but each fall it takes about 1 hour to mark the changes on the plan; but it saves hours and hours of work in the spring - because I know where all the holes and nooks are that need a little something.

Hi! Fairly new to gardening and just purchased my first house. The previous owners were fairly active in planting, so it's been exciting, to see what comes up. I have thought about some changes and additions I want to make. My questions are: is there a good website or any books that can be recommended with garden plan diagrams? I would like to use them for ideas. Ie. perennial beds, etc. Also, I have been diagramming in a notebook the beds I currently have, and what is planted where, It would be great if I could throw this into some sort of computer software, add and subtract plants, and basically create my own plans. Has anyone used any software that they can recommend for this? Thanks in advance for your help! And thanks to the experienced gardeners willing to help us greenhorns. Have learned a ton in my short time here!

Yes there is a site that can get you going in the right direction. They offer consultation as well. Follow this link; http://www.hicksnurseries.com/products/plants/ Click on the purple "Plant Finder" link on the right to help find plants that will grow well in your area. Also, look around the website for other helpful information. Good Luck.