Gifts for gardeners
Get creative — ideas will propagate
It’s November, and the Christmas music is blaring in the mall. I am not sure that is altogether a bad thing: there are those among us who actually get their Christmas shopping done early and relax for most of December, amusing themselves by watching the rest of us drive ourselves crazy playing a game of beat the clock.
It is to both the early birds and to the rest of us that I address my “gardening” column this week, with a list of gift ideas for both the gardeners on your list and for the readers who are gardeners who are making a wish list.
OUTSIDE THE BOX
Try to think outside of the box and ask yourself, ‘What do gardeners really enjoy?’ Let me put it this way: gardeners do not plant plants in the garden so much as they create an environment that attracts hummingbirds, butterflies and song birds. We craft quiet spaces in our yard for reading or private places where we can entertain. When you begin to think of gardeners as people who are more than just tillers of the soil, the possibilities for gift giving become endless.
GARDENERS LOVE IMAGES
We are visual people. A photo book of favourite plants/flowers from your garden or theirs would be appreciated by any gardener. If you do not have access to photos from the gardener’s garden, then give them a gift card that allows them to put together their own album next year. They can upload photos online to any number of websites, including Black’s and some mass merchants. The retailer will produce a hardcover photo book from your pictures, and you can add a storyline if you wish.
Also, consider an inexpensive digital camera (with a memory card of course) that can be left out of the weather in the garden shed or garage for the sole purpose of capturing a special moment in the garden with a snapshot or video when the light is just perfect or when a hummingbird is visiting. The key here is the convenience of having a camera dedicated to this purpose close at hand.
COUPON FOR GARDEN HELP
Interesting thing about garden work: it never arrives consistently. Weather, insects, weeds and our own timetable determine when we have to cut down, dig in, mulch or weed. There are times in every gardening season when a gardener could use some help, no matter how independent they are by nature. That is where you come in. Provide some hours of free labour; provide snacks and a Thermos of tea or a cooler of cold drinks — you get the idea. Remember that anyone who loves to garden loves to share their gardening experience.
HANG LOOSE
There is a problem that most gardeners have that goes like this: we work so hard at making the garden look the way that we want it to that we forget to sit down and enjoy it. Ask anyone with OGD (obsessive gardening disorder), and you will get the same answer, if they are honest. Once I get started in the garden, I can’t stop.
That is where a nice hammock comes in. Or a comfy chair or bench for use outdoors. The suggestion is obvious: “Slow down and smell the roses.” The grower of them is often the last to do just that.
GARDEN DESIGN
Soon it will be winter, and the furthest thing from your mind will be calling a professional garden designer. No matter the level of expertise at which your gardening friends and relatives enjoy this hobby, they can always use some advice from an experienced professional.
When I moved onto my 10-acre garden six years ago I hired a garden designer for two days of consultation and advice (and some people suggest that I know something about this topic). The results were a garden design that never ceases to satisfy, and I know that I would not have achieved this on my own. Buy your gardening friends the services of a professional garden designer or a tree expert (surgeon) who can advise on the horticultural investment that already exists in their yard.
LOW-HANGING FRUIT
If you are truly looking for the easy gardening crowd pleasers for Christmas gifts, consider a quality pair of hand pruners, a broadbrimmed garden hat, paper whites or amaryllis bulbs, a sundial, bird bath, quality digging tool or (if all else fails) a gift card to the recipient’s favourite retailer.
In the end, the gardeners on your list should be the easiest of all to buy for.