Gifts for Gardeners: Tools, Vases and Seeds for the Person With Dirt Under Their Nails

Gifts for Gardeners: Tools, Vases and Seeds for the Person With Dirt Under Their Nails

Gifts for gardeners who are always outside: hand creams for working hands, well made tools, pots and vases, aprons and boots, and seeds and books.

For the Person Outside at Seven

Gifts for gardeners are easiest when you pick the thing she will use on a Saturday morning. I look for tools that last, soft things for tired hands and a few pretty extras for the cut flowers. These are my gifts for gardeners.

Hands and Skin

Gardening is hard on hands. Grown Alchemist and Corpus make hand creams that feel like a treat after a day in the soil, and the Hudson Valley Gotta Grow gardener's balm is made for exactly this. The C. Atherley geranium hand wash lives by the sink.

Numbered collage: 1. Corpus Hand Cream Amalgam 5; 2. Maison Louis Marie No.04 Bois de Balincourt Hand Crème; 3. Grown Alchemist Restorative Hand Cream; 4. Grown Alchemist Hand Care Set: Chrome Edition; 5. Sangre de Fruta Garden of Earthly Delights Hand and Body Lotion; 6. Sangre de Fruta Garden of Earthly Delights Botanical Hand Soap; 7. C. Atherley C. Atherley Geranium No. 1 Hand Wash; 8. Hudson Valley Skin Care Gotta Grow Gardener's Balm

Tools

A good tool changes how the work feels. The Barebones hori hori and pruner are workhorses, and the Red Pig Tools trowel is hand forged. The Haws watering can is the pretty one that stays on the porch.

Numbered collage: 1. Barebones Hori Hori Ultimate II; 2. Barebones Pruner; 3. Womanswork Goat Skin Gardening Gloves; 4. PKS Bronze Copper Mira Trowel; 5. Haws England Haws England 1 Liter Metal Watering Can in Graphite; 6. Red Pig Tools Hand Forged Trowel; 7. Niwaki Niwaki Mainichi Secateurs Japanese Pruners; 8. Whiteley English Pruning Scissors

Pots and Vases

Every gardener ends up with cut flowers. The Heath Ceramics bud vase and the Aerin cachepot are the ones I would pick. A KikiCo flower frog is a small gift only a real arranger understands.

Numbered collage: 1. Aerin Corvo Cachepot; 2. Heath Ceramics Bud Vase in Sunflower; 3. KikiCo Handmade Ceramic Flower Frog; 4. Vaiselle Painted Teardrop Vase - Nude/Olive; 5. Sheldon Ceramics Oval Vase In Stone; 6. Judy Jackson Stoneware Bottle Vase, White; 7. DBO Home Stucco Textured Porcelain Vase; 8. Seibert & Rice Italian Terracotta Basket Planter

Aprons and Totes

A good apron means pockets for everything. The Le Laboureur cotton apron is French and sturdy, and Gardenheir's waxed canvas pieces and tall boots are made for wet ground. The Underwater Weaving baskets are for the harvest.

Numbered collage: 1. Le Laboureur Le Laboureur French Cotton Apron in Green; 2. Underwater Weaving Underwater Weaving X Gardenheir Big Shopper Basket in Rustic Pine; 3. Gardenheir Gardenheir Waxed Canvas Origami Harvesting Trug/Tote in Red; 4. John Williamson Traditional Handmade English Egg Basket; 5. Niwaki Nizyū Kanō X Niwaki Rucksack in Marigold; 6. Gardenheir Tall Rubber Garden Boot in Black; 7. Rivalin x Gardenheir French Leather Clogs in Black; 8. Underwater Weaving Underwater Weaving Big Shopper Basket in Chocolate

Seeds, Books and Plants

Seeds are a gift for next spring. Botanical Interests and Baker Creek have zinnias that bloom for months, and the Sprigbox grow kits are good for a windowsill. The Phaidon garden books are for the winter evenings.

Numbered collage: 1. Botanical Interests Rose Zinnia Seeds; 2. Botanical Interests Nasturtium Fiesta Blend Org Seed Shaker; 3. The Gardener's Workshop Seed Set, Zinnia Garden; 4. Sprigbox Wooden Planter Grow Kit - Oregano; 5. Sprigbox Wooden Planter Grow Kit - Mint; 6. Phaidon Press Garden: Exploring the Horticultural World; 7. Phaidon Press The Garden Book: Mini Format; 8. Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. Zinnia Seeds, Zinnita Orange

For Winter Planning

If it is cold where she lives, I would send seeds and a book. She can plan the whole garden from the sofa. Tools and a good hand cream are for when the ground thaws.