Gone Gardenin’ – It’s a cinch to Christmas shop for a gardener

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/12/2011 (5421 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you have a gardener on your Christmas list, you are lucky, because I think gardeners are the easiest people for whom to buy gifts.

There are so many things that we gardeners use for our everyday gardening activities as well as innumerable items that we only dream of having for our gardens.

I think the perfect gift for a gardener is to include a few of the former items — let’s call them gardening essentials — and then to splurge and get that special coveted item that the gardener has only dreamed of having.

You can wrap the whole thing up as a single gift — if, in fact, the special item is able to be wrapped! — or you can wrap each component of the gift separately to prolong the suspense, and perhaps label the special gift “open me last”.

What are some of the items that gardeners can always use, no matter how many they have?

• Garden gloves — get the good quality ones that have rubberized palms so that while still allowing the gardener to have the finger dexterity to handle small plants, the gloves keep fingers dry and give added protection when needed.

• If your gardener grows lots of plants in containers, get some plant food — a balanced 20-20-20 blend would be a good choice.

• What about a big bag of soilless mix? (This will be too big to wrap, so a note under the tree will have to suffice).

• A good quality hand trowel never comes amiss — you can even take this a step further and paint the handle bright red so that the trowel is always visible no matter where your gardener happens to leave it in the garden. Anything that you can do to personalize the gift will make it that much more special.

• Every gardener can use a pair of scissors and a set of secateurs. Other tools might be great ideas depending on the gardener’s practises and type of garden; maybe a pruning saw or an edging spade will be appreciated.

• Larger tools like rakes, hoes and shovels are all necessary; if your gardener has recently lamented that one of these staple tools is almost worn out and in need of replacement, here is you chance to be the hero and come to the rescue with a brand new one.

What about that special gift? Well, listen and learn! Casually ask whenever the opportunity presents itself, “What do you think of that?” “Would you like that sort of thing in your garden?”

It is a rare gardener who has not stated a desire to have such and such an item — whether it be a curtain fountain, a large bird bath, a set of very large ceramic planters, or a cedar arbour. You will have heard the yearning for at least one of these special gifts at one time or another during the gardening season.

• A subscription for a gardening magazine or a good gardening book (make sure it deals with plants that grow in our climate zone) will be well received.

• Contact you local garden club to see if they are holding a spring “garden day” (I know the Westman Gardeners of Brandon already have the date of their spring event set) and get a ticket for the event.

• Of course, any gardener will always welcome a special plant. Orchids are widely available nowadays at a reasonable price. Orchids bloom for months and surely will be enjoyed by any gardener. There is a wide range of lovely tropical plants available, both foliage and blooming types. Include a lovely jardinière when you give an indoor plant as a gift.

• A gift certificate to a local garden centre is always a welcome gift for any gardener. The gardener can spend an enjoyable time selecting a few items or maybe even wait until spring and spend the gift certificate on bedding plants — perhaps getting some special ones that would not necessarily be on his/her list if it wasn’t for the gift certificate.

Buying a few essentials for a gardener on your gift list, and then adding something that the gardener has only dreamed of having, will ensure that your gift is wholeheartedly appreciated.

If you haven’t finished your shopping, head to the garden centre and get shopping!

Albert Parsons is a consultant for garden design and landscaping who lives in Minnedosa.

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