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The Impatient Gardener

Garden, Other

Practical gifts for real gardeners

December 13, 2022

I’m thinking about starting my holiday shopping soon. It appears that I’ve been having a bit too much fun planning for next gardening season and forgot about things like Christmas shopping.

If you’re like me and you have, well, all your shopping to do I can at least help out with any gardeners on your list. 

gift ideas for vegetable gardeners

If you have a keen vegetable gardener on your list make a gift basket full of gear they’ll love.

  • French galvanized harvest basket (I use mine all the time). 
  • Harvest knife (also works great for cutting back perennials).
  • Pick up a collection of seeds, like this vegetable medley from Sow Right Seeds.
  • I’ve been trying out these gloves lately and they might be my new favorites. I size down to a small from my usual Atlas Gloves size medium.

gifts for beginner gardeners

This kit is perfect for a budding gardener who wants to dip their toe into growing from seed.

  • Those gloves again ($14 for six pairs!)
  • Park Seed’s Bio-dome kit is an all-in-one solution to start an entire garden worth of seeds. *
  • A small grow light is all they need to get those plants growing. This one is a tabletop kit. *
  • Pick up a few packets of seeds too!*

* Use the Promo code ImpatientGardener15 at Park Seed for 15% off.

gifts for advanced seed starters

Serious seed starters will actually use what might look like otherwise pretty boring gear. This is all high quality gear that they’ll use for years.

  • It’s pricey, but this is still my favorite grow light. I’ve had some of mine for years.
  • These seed cell trays are gone changers. These are designed by the legendary Charles Dowding and they should last for decades.
  • Make sure you pick up the bottom watering trays that fit perfectly.
  • I love this heat mat, which fits four trays (smaller sizes are available).
  • I did a plant label test last year and these were my favorite.

books for gRDENERS

Everyone loves a book. Gardeners, I’ve found, really love books. These are some of my favorites.

 

(Click on the covers to shop.)

  • American Roots features gardeners from around the U.S. (including me!) who share their distinct style.
  • I refer to Tropical Plants all the time.
  • The Well-Tended Perennial Garden is the book I give to everyone.

 

  • Delightful and informational letters shared by friends Beth Chatto and Christopher Lloyd.
  • Need container inspiration? Look no further than Claus Dalby.
  • My only problem with Margaret Roach’s books is that she doesn’t write more of them.

 

  • The shade bible.
  • Niki Jabbour’s books are all great but I always go back to this fun offering for new ideas.
  • Lee Reich is a pruning master and he writes in a way that makes it feel like he’s standing next to you telling you where to cut.

 

I featured lots of my favorite tools as gift ideas on Instagram. Check out my Gifts for Gardeners reels for a few ideas for yourself too. 

gift guide gifts
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
8 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

View all posts by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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previous post: Don’t give hand pruners as a gift. Here’s why.
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Comments

  1. Jill says: December 13, 2022 at 2:27 pm

    These are wonderful gift ideas. I’ve used those gloves the last few years and love them! They last really well, even with the abuse I give them. They last for a long time. Some of those books might just be the gifts I give myself this year!

    Reply
  2. Kat says: December 13, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    There are some great ideas on here. I want this one and that one and that one and that one!
    I’m intrigued by the serrations on the folding garden knife. I’ve been drooling over an Opinel curved blade folding pruning knife, which does not have a serrated blade, but the curve is similar to my favorite multi-use tool–the cheap ol’ wood-handled, curved-balde Irwin linoleum cutter.
    Decisions, decisions!

    Reply
    • Abby Muller says: December 17, 2022 at 3:54 pm

      I think you will like the serrated blade on the folding knife. I have a Corona folding knife that I have used for many years to saw through branches!

      Reply
  3. timmyd says: December 13, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    Merry Merry Happy Happy Everything!!!

    Reply
  4. Susan Kilpatrick says: December 13, 2022 at 3:49 pm

    Thanks Erin – lots of great ideas for ME! Interested in the gardening gloves and can even get them up here in Canada 🇨🇦.
    You suggested your favourite grow light – when I went to the link it showed a bunch of them – could you indicate the brand name please if possible? Thanks.

    Reply
  5. Daisee says: December 14, 2022 at 6:40 am

    Great gift Ideas! I have American Roots on my list, I need to add The New Shade Garden. Thank for the suggestions! Happy Holidays!

    Reply
  6. Sandra S. Elam says: December 14, 2022 at 2:40 pm

    I like the black T labels with a silver Sharpie marker also! They don’t ruin my view because they are invisible until I get within a few feet and they sit flush to the ground. I use them to label my perennials so that I remember where they are in the winter.

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
Get your dahlia engines running. All the dahlia th Get your dahlia engines running. All the dahlia things are happening very soon. I actually started dividing my dahlias last weekend, about two weeks earlier than I usually do because the weather kept me cooped up inside. I’m glad I did it because I had some (not unexpected) losses that I’ll have to adjust some plans for. So stay tuned: we’ll be talking lots about dahlias soon. 😀
Want to give a gift to your future self? This fall Want to give a gift to your future self? This fall plant snowdrops and winter aconites and I guarantee you that it will bring you happiness the next spring. They are tiny blooms of joy.
A favorite groundcover and a favorite reseeder. Fi A favorite groundcover and a favorite reseeder. First off, you should know that I really love groundcovers. I would rather see a plant than bark mulch any time. Ajuga is a favorite because there are several forms (my favorites are ‘Black Scallop’, shown here, and ‘Chocolate Chip’) and because they can handle most conditions from sun to shade. Popping up next to it is Talinum paniculatum ‘Limon’ (Jewels of Opar). It reseeds around the garden and I just move it around where I want the chartreuse, succulent foliage. Tiny flowers in red and pink bobble on with stems, looking a bit like peppercorns. Then they drop their seed and come back the next year.
Make this the year that you grow a plant you know Make this the year that you grow a plant you know very little about. If you love your garden that’s all that matters. BUT I promise you’ll find even more joy it it when you broaden your horizons. I feel like I’m starting to see the same plants in gardens over and over again. By all means appreciate and love those plants, but also add something you have to learn about. There is great reward in getting to know new-to-you plants. 

Here are two good candidates you might consider: Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) ‘Crested Surf’ and Persicaria (or Bistorta, thanks to the taxonomists) amplexicaulis ‘Golden Arrow’.
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