Holiday Gifts for the Gardener 2023

Posted on Saturday, December 2, 2023 · Leave a Comment 

Once again it is time to find the perfect gifts for your loved ones. Gardeners are easy to shop for because there are so many good things to shop for, and they will be probably be pleased with whatever you choose. As a shopper, I always try to support local, family owned businesses – they support our community and I want to support them when possible. Let’s take a look at some ideas.

 

Sculpture in the woods at Bedrock Gardens

Think about buying tickets for you and your gardening friend to a special garden, or perhaps one of the spring flower shows. This will allow the two of you to have some time together and to get some ideas about what you both can do in your gardens. One of my favorite gardens is Bedrock Garden in Lee, NH. This garden was developed by plant guru Jill Nooney and her husband, Bob Munger, over a 25 year period and recently achieved 501-(c)-3 status as a non-profit. Not only does it have a fabulous collection of plants, Jill is a sculptor and welder who has created art that is displayed in the gardens. This is truly a gem of a place and worthy of visits. Suggested donation of $15. See their website for schedules.

 

Another garden I love is Saint Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, NH. Augustus Saint Gaudens was a world-known sculptor who lived and worked there in the early 20th century. The well-maintained formal gardens and grounds are enhanced by his fabuolous life-sized (or larger) bronze sculptures. The grounds are open year-round, and the galleries are open from Memorial Day weeknd through October 31. Admission is $10 and is valid for 7 days.

 

Of the Spring Flower Shows, the Connecticut show in Hartford is probably the biggest in New England, and well worth a visit. It will be February 22 to 25 in 2024 and although tickets are not yet on sale, you can make up a nice card inviting your gardening buddy to go with you.

 

Garden tools are generally a hit. On my second birthday I was given a child-sized wheelbarrow, a watering can and a shovel, all of which helped form me as a life-time gardener. Most garden centers sell good quality tools for kids made of metal, not plastic. See what you can find for a small person in your life.

 

I’ve had this Smart Cart for 20 years

Adults like tools, too. For 20 years now I’ve had a Smart Cart, a well balanced two-wheel cart. The frame is made of airplane-grade tubular aluminum and the 7-cubic ft body of heavy-duty plastic. It comes either with bike-type wheels or smaller, fatter wheels capable of traversing wet areas more easily and carrying heavier loads. I chose the wide wheels, which make the cart rated for 600 pounds. The narrower wheels are rated for 400 lbs. I’ve never had a flat tire and the cart has served me well. The bin pops out if you want to wash a dog in it, or carry home manure in your Subaru. It is not inexpensive, but worth the investment.

 

My favorite weeder is the CobraHead weeder, a single-tine, curved hook that teases out roots with ease and precision. It has become an extension of my body – I use it for planting, weeding, and more. About $29 and available not only on-line, but from good garden centers and seed companies everywhere.

 

Although there may be no better mousetrap to invent, amazingly there is a new design to the shovel, one called the Root Slayer. It is all one piece of steel; it has a straight leading edge that comes sharp and stays sharp. The edges are serrated and able to slice though roots like a hot knife through butter. Great for planting in the woods or near trees. I still use my regular shovel or spade for digging in my garden or filling a wheelbarrow with compost. But if I want to plant a tree in a field, it is great for slicing though sod. I use it for dividing big clumps of daylilies and other tough perennials. Available at good garden centers.

 

Root Slayer spade and CobraHead weeder are excellent tools

I know most of you probably keep track of garden events on your phone – things like when you planted lettuce seeds or when your delphinium bloom. I don’t. I like an old fashioned journal I can write in with a pen. Blank books are readily available, and some companies even sell special garden journals. Gardening is a slow and thoughtful pastime and lends itself to the handwritten word.

 

If you know that your gift-recipient starts seeds in the spring, or plans to, you might consider getting an electric heat mat as a gift. They considerably speed up the time needed for germination of weeds in the spring, So for example, corn seeds can take 2 or 3 weeks to germinate in cold, wet soil, but will pop up in 3 to 5 days when on a heat mat. If course, you then have to transplant the seedlings, but that is not bad for a small patch. I generally use a planting flat with 98 cells for corn and transplant them when they have leaves two inches tall.

 

Garlic clips are quite effective deer repellents

If deer are a problem, some garlic-oil clips will add some protection in winter for your tasty trees and shrubs. I’ve had excellent luck with them, specifically with a brand called “Plant Pro-Tec Deer and Rabbit Repellent”. They come in a package of 25 for about a dollar each, and seem to last all winter. The are advertised as working for 6 to 8 months. Of course, depending on how hungry the deer are, the may not be 100% effective.

 

Seeds are great gifts, and serve well as stocking stuffers. If you save heirloom tomato or flower seeds, you can package up some of your favorites for a friend, along with a good description. And you can gift a nice houseplant, particularly one in bloom. But most of us already have all the houseplants we need.

 

Lastly, books are great gifts for gardeners – especially now, in winter when we have time on our hands. If I could select just one book, I’d pick “Essential Native Trees and Shrubs for the Eastern United States” by Tony Dove and Ginger Woolridge (2018, Imagine, Bunker Hill Studio Books, $35 hardback). I’m totally behind the movement to plant native plants to support our birds, pollinators and wildlife and this book will answer all your questions – which are attractive to deer, salt tolerant, good for poor soils and much more. It has excellent photos.

 

Enjoy picking good gardening gifts as you play Santa this year. Your loved ones will love you even more.

 

Henry is writing just one gardening article per month this winter. You may reach him at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or by e-mail at henry.homeyere@comcast.net.

Filed under Article · Tagged with deer clips, gardening books, root slayer, smart cart

Holiday Gifts for the Gardener

          When I was a boy we made lots of our own Christmas gifts. I remember making a wooden whale for my dad that held pencils – it had little holes just the diameter of pencils I drilled into it. I must have been 8 or 9 when I made it, and I have no idea how I was able to do it without his help. Maybe it was a Cub Scout project. Not elegant, but there was lots of love in it.

As gardeners, we can make presents, too – if we have extra produce that we have put up. Dried tomatoes, pickles, even a frozen bag of blueberries or elderberries would be much appreciated, I’m sure – though putting frozen berries under the tree might not work well. And then there are heirloom seeds. I grow certain tomatoes and peppers that are not commercially available. I save seeds each year, and share with friends. These are all good presents that cost nothing.

Although seed catalogs used to come in the mail in mid-winter, now most seeds are available on-line before Christmas. A few packages of seeds are nice low-budget gift. I get many of my seeds from Johnny’s Select Seeds in Maine (www.johnnyseeds.com), High Mowing Seeds of Vermont (www.highmowingseeds.com) or Hudson Valley Seed Library (www.seedlibrary.org), which is a non-profit with nice heirloom seeds.  

From Johnny’s this year I got two kinds of tomato seeds that are fairly resistant to late blight. First there was the Defiant F-1which produced well early on, but then died off when other fungal diseases took over. Then there was Mountain Magic, a small salad-type tomato that was very disease resistant and productive for me. All of the High Mowing seeds are organic, which I like.  

Also in the cheap (or shall we say the ‘frugal’) category is a gift certificate for an hour or two of weeding. That’s a gift anyone would really appreciate. And feel free to send me one! Weeding is a pleasant enough task, but is always more fun if done with a friend.

Holiday Gifts

Before going on to more conventional gardening presents, let me point out that most things I will mention are available locally at your garden center, feed-and-grain or hardware store. I firmly believe that it is better to buy locally than on line, as that keeps our family-owned businesses healthy. And they are the ones that support our teams, schools and charities.

Gardening gloves are always useful. The Atlas Glove company now makes a thin, tough nitrile gardening glove that is sold for under $10. Stretchy nylon coated with waterproof nitrile. Buy them locally, or from Gardener’s Supply  Company (www.gardeners.com) in a variety of pretty colors.

Also from Gardener’s Supply is a nice expandable bamboo trellis. A friend gave me one, and I used it for growing my peas. Instead of letting it touch the soil, I tied it onto posts so the bottom was 6 inches off the ground, to minimize rot. Cost? $20-$25, depending on size.

Holiday Gifts

On the high end of the spectrum would be a new wheelbarrow. The best I have found is the Muller’s Smart Cart (www. mullerscarts.com). It is a 7 (or 12) cubic foot polyethylene bin that pops in (or out) of an aluminum frame. I have the 7-ft model and have used it hard to over 10 years, yet have never had a flat tire or any other problem with it. The fact that the barrow part is removable allows me to use it to wash the dog in it or carry manure in the back of my sedan. They cost $350, with free shipping. I chose the wide tires, not the bike tires, and find them great, even in soggy conditions. This is a very high quality wheelbarrow that is rated to carry up to 600 lbs.

Every year I recommend my favorite weeding tool, the CobraHead weeder (www.CobraHead.com). This tool is great for getting under weeds, teasing out roots, stirring compost or fertilizer into planting holes, planting bulbs and more. You should be able to find it locally. Cost? About $25.

A gardening magazine subscription would be nice, too. I get Fine Gardening magazine (www.finegardening.com). The magazine has a nice balance of growing information and design ideas. Excellent color photography. $29.95.

I’ve fallen in love with TubTrugs. These are brightly colored flexible buckets I use for carrying weeds, compost and even water. From 3 Gallons to 10 gallons, their flexible handles make them easy to carry. Found locally or from Gardeners Supply in a variety of sizes and colors, around $10.

Gardening books are good gifts, but look for quality info, not necessarily glossy pictures. My website, www.Gardening-guy.com, lists about 25 good ones. Just click on the “Gardener’s Basic Library” on the top bar.

So enjoy the holidays, but remember that Santa’s elves make lots of presents. Get creative and be an elf your self!

Henry Homeyer’s new book is for children ages 8 and up. It’s called Wobar and the Quest for the Magic Calumet, and is a fantasy-adventure about a boy with a mustache – and a cougar who is his best friend. Go to www.henryhomeyer.com to learn more.

Copyright © 2014 Henry Homeyer

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