The holiday season is upon us! Do you have any gardeners that you’ll be shopping for this year? If so, you’ve come to the right place. This blog is all about gardening gear and gift ideas that will make any plant nerd happy! Trust me, a plant nerd like myself knows what a gardener wants! Don’t have a gardener on your holiday list? Don’t worry, you can totally treat yourself!
Tools and Tinsel
Tools are always a big hit with plant peeps but what most people don’t know is that there are some lesser known tools that are extremely useful and make great gifts. The soil knife from A.M. Leonard is a great place to start. It’s one-part hand trowel and one part knife. It even has a serrated blade for cutting string and opening potting soil bags. And if you’re wondering what a trowel is, it’s just a fancy name for the small handheld tool with a curved scoop that gardeners use to lift plants or soil.
All of the gardening tools from Opinel are awesome and readily available online. Opinel has been making high quality, low cost tools in France since 1890. I personally use the #10 pocket knife for everything I do in the greenhouse and I love it!
Lastly, padded kneelers are always great gifts and super helpful in the garden. You can never go wrong with rubber harvesting totes; they’re very versatile and useful.
Cheerful Containers
Containers of all shapes and sizes make thoughtful gifts! Small glazed pots are great for house plants and often come in a variety of colors and patterns. Multi-tiered containers, sometime called strawberry pots are cool and allow the grower to grow multiple plant types very easily. At Big Tex Urban Farms we love the colorful grow bags from Bootstrap Farmer. Right now, we’re using them to grow potatoes and peppers in the greenhouse but they can be used to grow almost anything. They are ideal for small space and I love the fun colors!
Indoor Garden Wonderland
Know a gardener that doesn’t have a lot of outdoors space? Consider a cool table-top indoor garden. They allow for growing herbs and veggies in convenient places like your own kitchen. There are different models and sizes available but most of consist of a reservoir to hold water and nutrients, a table for the plants to grow in and a grow light to keep the plants growing strong indoors. I like the design of the units made by a company called Aerogarden. Their products are well thought out, durable, and easy to use. These are not cheap but they’re worth the investment and start at different price points.
More than Mistletoe
Of course what gardening wish list would be complete without plants as gifts! Even if it feels like your shopping for the gardener who has every kind of plant imaginable, just know they could never have too many. This is a great time to plant fruit trees and if you visit your local nursery right now, you may be able to find some bareroot fruit trees still available. Bareroot fruit trees are young trees sold with the trees roots packed for transport and transplantation; for instance you may find one with the roots packed in sawdust and wrapped up in a plastic bag. These make the trees look like a Christmas present! If you are on a budget, seeds make a wonderful gift for a gardener; they’re always a fun gift when I receive them. House plants and succulent gardens are nice, low-maintenance gifts and allow you to get creative. For instance, gift something cool and unique like a Venus fly trap.
Spread the Holiday Cheer Locally
Don’t forget to support your local garden centers this holiday season. Most of them carry lots of the items I have listed here and usually have really great gift idea areas in their stores. In the Dallas area, I personally love Ruibal’s and they’re have multiple locations around own make them a convenient choice. The Ruibal’s downtown Farmer’s Market location has a huge gift store. Walton’s right across from the Dallas Arboretum is also a great place to do some holiday shopping. North Haven Gardens in North Dallas also has a great selection of plants and gift ideas.
Remember, there are no right or wrong gifts to gift that gardener on your list. But if you’re unsure, pick something from this list of gift ideas I gave above. They’re sure to please all the gardeners on your list because they came straight from a gardener!
Until next time happy gardening!