How do you label your fruit trees?

I need to label my fruit trees. I bought plastic outdoor tree labels designed for that purpose. I also bought permanent Extreme Sharpies to write on the labels.

...the labels wore off after about three months in the glare of the summer sun. They also blow off in heavy wind.

I wanted more info on the label than just the name of the tree, so I really didn't want to get aluminum pie pans and hammer out each letter with a metal stamp...

Currently I just remember everything (or almost everything - I've mixed up about four trees =D), but that's not a good long-term solution.

How do you label your trees?

Jamin Grey wrote:How do you label your trees?

I don't do record-keeping in my orchard and only extremely rarely in the vegetable garden. Names don't matter to me.

If i need to label a tree, I cut a soda/beer can into strips. Place a strip on a softwood scrap, punch a small hole in the corner, and use a ballpoint pen to write the name. Press hard and you emboss the metal. Use something flexible to tie to the tree and plan on replacing the tie every year or two.

Jamin, I've not found those plastic labels to have a very  long lifespan either. Paint and even permanent marker seem to wear off in the weather. I drew out a diagram for my gardening notebook and filled in all the information there. Of course, that means I have to keep track of the notebook(!), but at least I know the information is written down for future reference.

Phil Stevens wrote:If i need to label a tree, I cut a soda/beer can into strips. Place a strip on a softwood scrap, punch a small hole in the corner, and use a ballpoint pen to write the name. Press hard and you emboss the metal. Use something flexible to tie to the tree and plan on replacing the tie every year or two.

That's a good idea - thanks. I've heard that done with aluminum pie pans also.

Leigh Tate wrote:I drew out a diagram for my gardening notebook and filled in all the information there. Of course, that means I have to keep track of the notebook(!), but at least I know the information is written down for future reference.

That's kinda what I do - I keep mine in an Excel spreadsheet, with when it was planted, where I bought it from, and general notes on the benefits of that species.

I drew a few crude maps over the years, but I desperately need to update them. I give each each tree a number too - which I want to put on the tags - so I can look up the specific tree in my spreadsheet.

I use the copper labels from Lee Valley. Here is the Us site. Canada also has a site. If secured properly they last for years.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/garden/planting/labelling-and-marking/10459-copper-plant-tags

I use copper tree tags. You write the labels with a pencil and it embosses the tag. Lasts basically forever and looks nice too.

Back when we had some orchard plantings that weren't fenced for deer, we had aluminum labels on most nursery stock...until the deer decided that it would be fun to chew on the tags, rendering them illegible. After that we mapped all our plantings and keep it updated annually. Tags can be damaged or go missing entirely and you need a backup system in a safe spot.
Years ago we got some scion wood from an old orchard that had been abandoned for over 2 decades. Because the original owner of that orchard had made a map we were able to identify the variety of the tree that we liked so well, even though over the course of time many of the trees had died and were cut down. The grid pattern could still be made out and the remaining trees identified.