August Home-Garden

National Gardening Association Making a Plant Press

Plant presses are handy tools for garden studies and crafts. People press garden and weed flowers for botanical study or to use for making things. For example, some people use pressed flowers to make beautiful personalized floral stationery.

You can make plant pressings out of many kinds of plants, and some of the nicest pressings come from surprisingly common ones.. Collect different weeds (roots and all), identify them, press them, and save them. You can mount them on paper and write down what kind of plant it is to make yourself your own garden journal.

There are many ways to make a plant press. Here's one. Things you need:

Two sturdy sheets of corrugated cardboard-at least 12 by 12 inches

Sheets of newspaper or smooth paper toweling

Two Bungee cords (fabric-coated elastic cord with metal hooks at both ends, commonly sold at sporting goods stores) or heavy string.

WHAT TO DO:

1.Take the materials you need for your press to the garden and put them in a windless spot.

2. Collect weeds and flowers and rrange each plant on a layer of several sheets of newspaper or toweling, far enough apart so that the specimens will not touch each other.

3. When the first layer is filled, place several more sheets of paper on top of it, and start a new layer.

4. Continue in this way, finishing with a layer of papers, then enclose this all between the pieces of cardboard and secure it with string or Bungee cords.

5. Allow plants to dry three to four days. If the plants are not completely dry in this time, disassemble the press, replace the papers, and tie it back together, putting it under the weight again for another three days.

TIPS:

It helps to lay the press under a heavy stack of books or magazines. Make sure that thick and thin types of plants are not on the same layer-that would make them press unevenly.

Use all parts of the plants, not just flowers.

It is better to cut rather than pick the plants.

After pressing, sometimes flowers fade. Touching them up later with watercolor paints is fun.

To mount pressed plants on paper, use spots of glue applied with the point of a toothpick.

Decorate the cover of your plant presses with your own pressed plants. A layer of clear plastic sprayor shellac will make them more durable.

This activity is extracted from The National Gardening Association Guide To Kids' Gardening published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.

Copyright NGA

Reprinted with permission HouseNet, Inc.

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