If you’re the making kind like myself, then here’s a few ideas I’ve used over the years.

Wooden stakes work really well. They can be thin or square or painted or plain or whatever suits your fancy. I used literally hundreds of pressure treated stickers (measuring 2 inches wide and one-half inch thick) in my production nursery. Measuring 12-18 inches long, I would sand the top six or eight inches smooth (so I could write on them) and then use a pencil or magic marker to write the name. Pencil lasted longer than magic marker.

The best marker system is to use a dynaflo or other impression type of office equipment label maker. The heavy plastic tape lasts for years and sticks well to smooth dry surfaces. It can also be stapled on for extra holding power.

I really like the look of square wooden stakes now. I’ve seen a few gardens using these in their vegetable gardens and they have a good feel to them. These folks used paint as a long-term marker and reused the stakes year after year. They used 1-inch by 1-inch stakes.

I have seen popsicle sticks used but I tend to use them in seedling flats as they get lost in the tangle of summer growth outdoors.

My summer project this year is to collect and use some smaller flat rocks for herb garden marker projects. There seems to be an abundance of these in my garden so I’m going to use them constructively.

In the past, I’ve used magic marker (use permanent ink markers) on rocks to great effect. They simply sit beside the plant doing their thing. The sun doesn’t make them brittle and as long as nobody goes around collecting rocks, you’re good. I have seen more creative souls than mine (or more patient in any case) use acrylic paints on their stones to create very fancy markers. These would make excellent gifts.

Softer rock can actually be etched with a power drill and a small grinding wheel attachment. You brace either the rock or the drill and repeatedly grind in the name of the plant onto the rock. I’ve done this and while time consuming, it is really a cool idea. Garden dirt gets into the carving and darkens the stone. Just ensure your “friends�?don’t like them more than they like you or you might find your creative herb garden marker missing.

Do pick up the rocks in the fall from the kitchen herb garden (annuals) so they won’t get lost over the winter. I think I may be tempted to use a little more substantial rock for my perennials so I don’t accidentally bury them while digging in the garden.

If you’re a potter, then you can easily make your own clay herb garden marker and creativity is the name of the game here. Just do not let them sit out over the winter to freeze or you’ll wind up with damaged, spalling markers.

I refuse to use a plastic herb garden marker in my garden. They go brittle in the summer sun, look rather ugly and have little to recommend them other than being cheap. There’s nothing about a plastic label that says “good gardener lives here�?

Aluminum stakes or window blinds are an oft-recommended solution. I think window blinds are long-lasting but I also think they look a lot like grave markers standing in rows in your garden. I tried using them in my perennial gardens one time and in the winter, all that was left standing were these white stakes. It looked odd. They do last a long time, they are easy to write on and they hold the plastic labels very well. So many folks really like them so you might find them useful in your herb and vegetable garden.

And those are the options that are commonly used to create an herb garden marker. You can do it yourself easily or you can purchase nicely crafted ones. It’s your garden.