On Thu, 17 May 2012 08:55:05 +0000, Mayners67
wrote:


A friend of mine whose greatest passion is gardening is turning 50 in a
few weeks and I'd like to get them a present related to gardening..but I
could do with some help with ideas!

Ideas (none of these were received as gifts - I'm solidly in the "let
me buy what I actually want, not what you think I do" camp):

If they start their own plants:

Hydrofarm seedling heat mat

A good grow light germination tray

Gift Certificate to a reputable seed vendor
(Baker Creek, Sustainable Seed, etc)

Perhaps they've been mentioning that there's some plant
they'd really like to grow? Find the seed for it.

Do they have many seeds? Get them something good to store and
organize them in.

If you're local to them and they manage a large garden:

A "gift certificate" of your time - to come over for a solid day
or two to dig, plant, weed, run irrigation, whatever.

Call around and find a good soil amendment source (with a variety
of composts available) and get a gift certificate for so many
cubic yards of that delivered. Depending on the humour of your
friend, you could provide them with a card saying you've gotten
them a load of comopost ... no $#!t!

Tools:
I love tools, but selection of such things is highly personal,
both for 'fit', likes and dislikes, and general utility. Powered
(a Mantis or similar cultivator is awesome for raised beds) vs.
hand (a good scuffle hoe, a Rogue hoe, etc - all good to have, but
does your friend already have such things, or do they eschew the
manual labour?)

Gizmos - light, moisture, and pH metres (available in a 3-way
combo even) can be useful, but some gardeners just wing it and
such a thing would be a waste.

Pruners - surely your friend has a good set already, but if not, a
new Felco, Fiskars, or Corona pruner might be good. Perhaps
they've got arthritis creeping in, or lack hand strength - an
offset gear type (adds leverage for more power) or ratcheting
model might be good.

Services:
if they've got a gopher problem, perhaps arrange to hire a gopher
erradication service. This of course needs to be done with the
cooperation of your friend.

Kitch/Wimsy/Decorative:

Solar lights

Copper plant markers.

Suncatcher

Decorative windmill or windsock

Park bench (or arrange to construct one on-site - I just built and
installed an 8' plank bench under a willow in my yard yesterday,
and expect it'll be a nice spot to rest).

Hardwa

Trellis' (for growing vining plants, or pole beans, etc). They
come in many forms.

Nice heavy duty tomato cages.

Drip irrigation system (avoid the schlocky "starter kits") - how
do they currently water their garden?

A good high quality spray nozzle (or two). I like DRAMM nozzles.

Garb (most of which needs sizing for your friend):

A good sun hat for working in the garden

Garden clogs

Gardening gloves

Gardening apron (pouches to hold a few tools and supplies, plus
keeps some of the crud off of you).


Perhaps they'd like a rain barrel setup? A nice decorative pot (or
two or three).


You'd probably have an easier time of determining what they might like
or need in their garden if you spent time out there with them, and
casually asked questions. Perhaps company is what they'd appreciate -
or perhaps not, as sometimes gardening is a personal endeavour and an
opportunity to contemplate.