Branches
Branches represent phases or time periods within a project. Think of them as chapters in the story of your growing plan. A project called "Raised Bed Vegetable Garden" might contain branches like "Spring 2026", "Summer 2026", and "Soil Improvement Phase".
Creating a Branch
Open any project and click New Branch. Give the branch a title and an optional description. The branch is immediately linked to the parent project. You can create as many branches as you need. Common patterns include:
- Seasonal branches — one per growing season (Spring, Summer, Autumn).
- Phase branches — stages of a longer plan (Site Clearance, Soil Building, First Planting).
- Experimental branches — parallel treatments in a trial (No-Dig Bed, Double-Dig Bed, Raised Hugelkultur).
Linking Activities to a Branch
When you create a new activity, select the branch it belongs to. The activity then appears in both the branch view and the parent project view. You can also move an existing activity into a branch from the activity detail page by editing its branch field.
For example, if your project is "Allotment 2026" and your branch is "Spring Sowing", you might link activities such as:
- Sow broad beans — Bed A (12 February)
- Sow peas — Bed C (25 February)
- Plant early potatoes — Bed D (10 March)
Comparing Results Across Branches
One of the most powerful uses of branches is comparing results between seasons or treatments. The branch comparison view lets you place two or more branches side by side and see how key metrics differ.
| Metric | Spring 2025 | Spring 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Soil pH (Bed A) | 5.8 | 6.3 |
| Germination rate (peas) | 62 % | 84 % |
| First harvest date (broad beans) | 18 June | 4 June |
| Total yield (potatoes, kg) | 11.2 | 14.7 |
This kind of season-over-season comparison makes it easy to see whether soil amendments, new varieties, or different sowing dates have made a measurable difference. Because every activity is linked to a branch and every branch to a project, Libre Grow can build these comparisons automatically from the data you already recorded.
Organising Large Projects
For multi-year projects, branches keep things manageable. Rather than scrolling through hundreds of activities, you can focus on a single branch and see only the work relevant to that phase. Use the branch filter on the project page to switch between phases quickly.