Hey Rick, so with your friend's labels, have you noticed how long the labels remain legible? I need to do something about labeling mine as well before I forget who is who. Plus my writing is horrendous, so.

Thanks,

Tyler

Hey Rick......Guess what I've just rediscovered! John bought this a couple of years ago to replace the old style one we had. I'd forgotten about it completely, it was tucked away in a bureau he used and I just need to order a new reel of tape for it and have a go. Can't recall if it was from Staples or not as we do have them over here too. Seems there's lots of functions on this one according to the instructions, it looks very similar to yours. I too will now have neatly printed plant labels etc. From what you have said, they will last outside. I would have wondered how the weather would affect them, but good to know they can last. Permanent markers don't last either inside or outside I've found. Thanks for jogging my mind about it Rick :-)

I used a brother labeler for my plants a few years back everything above the soil line faded pretty fast printing under soil held up ok but in the end did not work out so well for me. I now just use a pencil and still have labels many years old and still look great.You can see the one on the bottom was above soil line all these labels done at same time.

John

John, from what I can see in your photo. It looks as though your labels are not Laminated?

These that I have are Laminated inside a firm plastic and so are my friends.

TZe Labels.

Rick

You are right mine were not laminated how is that done? mine just came out out machine and peeled off the back would love to find out the look of the labels is so much better.

Your machine can probably use the laminated ones too. It's just a type of label refill.

Great idea, Rick. Enjoy your project. I'm still writing mine out ... and recycling the handles of plastic cutlery as plant stakes. Labeling really gets old & tedious once you've done it twice, right?

The Dymo embosser is also pretty neat at $20. The raised lettering never erases. The letters turn white when the thick plastic is stretched during embossing ... no ink is involved.

Has anyone tried and can attest to how well embossed tape labeling holds up to the elements over the years?

John, I know my friend said that for the Brother Handheld Printer that they had to be the TZe label cartridge and it is quite nice. The labels come out sealed within the laminate. This cartridge came w the unit.

Rick

Not heard of the Embosser, Maria Elena. Sound interesting. Another friend w a nursery has to use waterproof labels when she ships trees out to the cooler. She gets these labels, but it has to be a Laser Printer to print them with, so that the ink does not run when in the cooler or out.

Rick

OMG, a Dymo! I got that as a present when I was wee. I labeled every spot my cat hung out on. You have to press tightly to make the embossed letters more pronounced. I recommend using glue to make it weatherproof because the adhesive backing won't last when exposed to the elements.

Pagan

Maria Elena.....Our Dymo labeller was the old style one I mentioned we had before the Brother one was bought. We found the Dymo labels tended to unstick themselves from whatever after a while, more so from curved surfaces like the tops of electric plugs (the front face has raised lettering on so couldn't stick labels there) and even from some flat things too. Perhaps because the tape was rather thick and rigid...? Also the machine wasn't that efficient in embossing, sometimes it didn't print all parts of a letter, on other occasions it failed to move the tape through and printed two characters on top of each other! Plus it was a pain dialling up each character with that wheel type arrangement having to keep spinning it back and forth through the whole alphabet. It was OK at the time I guess as there wasn't anything else, but now there is!

Looking at the two prices quoted above and their similarity......Brother gets my vote in this instance!

Gill

Brother cartridge refills are expensive!!

Brother: $22.00 / 26.2 ft

Dymo: $2.99 / 12ft

I hope they work out well for you, Rick.

dymo does NOT hold up well in my yard (i used it for hundreds of plant labels). the labels only last okay outside (make sure you place a label on both sides of the metal zinc plant tags), plus the things have a tendency to fall apart if you don't put them back together correctly at refill time. i now use a brother variety and order the refills online. the refills can be found cheaply on ebay from this company.

this is the label i use

this one holds up pretty well outside. it won't last for three seasons, but does limp thru two. this is why i:

1. map;

2. label above ground;

3. label below ground;

4. store info in excel database; and,

5. use index cards (they come to the garden nice in a recipe card box) for notes

i'm somewhat anal when it comes to labels ...

dave

Last night I ordered online 2 x 26 ft laminated 12mm tapes for my Brother labeller above for £5.18/$6.31. Admittedly they're compatible ones but had good reviews, if you believe all what's written. I couldn't afford two 'real' ones at the price asked which were £15each. I'm sure they will be good enough for my needs, if not I can afford to forgo the fiver.

Gill