Gift Ideas for Gardeners

Yes, Christmas is fast approaching, and since gardening is one the most popular hobbies, it’s a safe bet that someone you know will appreciate a horticultural gift. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of choice… but it’s sometimes hard to find gardening gifts in garden centers at this time of year, as most turn into Christmas décor stores for the occasion and put away their outdoor gardening equipment. As a result, we sometimes have to ask our clerks to fetch the desired gift from the stockroom, as there are so few gardening products in sight!

Of course, these days, you can also buy horticultural gifts online, where there are a host of sellers. So if there’s something on your loved one’s list that you can’t find at your local garden center, don’t hesitate to do a little research on the Web. Here are a few gift ideas for gardeners!

Book

This is the traditional Christmas gift for amateur gardeners. No doubt your loved one has already put a few titles on their or her wish list. If not, go and see for yourself in a bookshop: the choice is vast!

Amaryllis Growing Kit

An amaryllis growing kit containsan amaryllis bulb, potting soil, pot and saucer, all in a decorative box. It’s a great gift idea for gardeners of all levels.

Pest-Deterring Jet Sprayer

Does your gardening friend go on and on about their problems with squirrels, raccoons, cats, white-tailed deer, etc.? Buy him a pest-deterring jet sprayer with a motion detector. As soon as the animal refuses to cross the forbidden zone, it receives a physical warning it won’t soon forget. Simple, but effective!

Bonsai Tool Kit

Bonsai is an art for which you need to be well equipped. There are bonsai toolkits made in Japan for bonsai enthusiasts. To complete the package, don’t forget to enclose a book on bonsai and, in particular, on bonsai pruning.

Felco Pruning Shears

Felco pruning shears are considered the best in the world and are widely used by professionals. Well-maintained, they last a lifetime. You’ll find them in every garden center. There are different models to suit different hand sizes.

Canvas Bag

A wide range of canvas bags, baskets and baskets are available for carrying things around the garden, and they often come with a tool holder for hand tools. So your gardening friend can weed and prune with the tools and put the waste in the basket for transport to the compost heap.

Gardening Hats

We all know you need to cover up when working in the garden. Fortunately, there’s a wide range of garden hats to suit all tastes: floral or simple, water-resistant or simply cotton.

Multi-Connector for Taps

Most homes are equipped with a single outside faucet… but the gardener has a host of hoses to connect to it. You could save him a lot of time and effort by offering him a multiple tap connection. There are several models available, in plastic or bronze, with 2 to 4 different connections, each fitted with an opening or closing valve.

For Out-of-Reach Branches

If your gardener friend has trees, sooner or later he’ll have branches to remove. But climbing a ladder to prune is very dangerous. Instead, give him a lopper with a telescopic handle. That way, he can prune branches as high as 3 m (10 feet) from the ground with their feet firmly on the ground.

Tools to Prevent Back Pain and Other Discomforts

Working in the garden no longer has to be painful. There are now a host of ergonomic tools designed to make work easier while giving aching limbs a rest. There are, for example, short-handled tools with forearm support for people with tendonitis or arthritis, and long-handled ergonomic tools that reduce pressure on the back for people with spinal pain. Some of these tools are available in garden centers, but for tools more adapted to specific cases, there are suppliers who specialize in tools for people with disabilities that can be found on the Internet.

Gift Certificate

For many gardeners with an obsession for plants, this is the ideal Christmas gift. In winter, the plants they love are in the nursery, far from the store, and they can’t plant them anyway. With a gift certificate, however, they’ll be able to take advantage of the vast number of new products that will be launched in the spring.

Larry Hodgson published thousands of articles and 65 books over the course of his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This text was originally published in Le Soleil on December 4, 2005.