Gifts for gardeners

When December gets closer and the gift side of your Christmas list is still blank, it helps to consider what would really help the gardeners in your life, especially the ones who are getting older or dealing with special conditions like containers or extra-high raised-beds.
Lots of us garden using whatever’s handy and will kind of work. My father gardened all his life with a garden line that was two sticks and a bit of string, and the same was good enough for me.
But one Christmas I was given an elegant wrought iron garden line with pointed-end stakes that could be hung up, wouldn’t rot and had string that unwound in one pull. At the time, I secretly felt it was pointlessly fancy. But now I wouldn’t be without it.
A few years later, I was startled to receive a birthday gift: the Easy Kneeler, which converts to a seat. I felt far too young and healthy to actually use it, so I stored it for many years. It’s now out of storage and well-used, and my back is so grateful.
At last it’s possible to find ergonomic tools with large, soft handles for arthritic hands. For older gardeners, spades and forks are available in lighter, smaller sizes, and it’s easy to get long-handled trowels.
People who garden in very large containers, thigh-high planters or extra tall raised beds may find very short, sturdy spades, shovels and forks useful.
Meanwhile, another present that can save a lot of container-crop grief is copper slug tape. It’s now expensive enough to qualify as a thoughtful gift, since one new roll eats up most of $20.
Slug pickers don’t get much respect, but I found a superb one years ago in an artisan market. I think it could be made at home by anyone who’s handy with wood. It’s a 3.5-centimetre-square block of wood with narrow strips of flat, springy wood attached to either side and stapled into the block twice each side with heavy staples.
These lathes measure 40 cm long by 2.5 cm wide and about half a centimetre thick. The wood strips are flexible enough to pick up slugs. A string loop for hanging passes through a hole drilled into the block.
Long rubber gloves for people with container ponds is another useful gift idea. People who have to prune roses would probably like a pair of soft leather gloves. But with those it’s vital to find out the person’s hand size. Some gloves stretch to some degree – but not leather.
Another huge help for a gardener is a sharpener that can handle loppers, pruners or knives. Gift pruners often get a big welcome since, like trowels, they are easily mislaid. The price range is very wide with pruners. Inexpensive ones are easy to find and not a bad choice for chronic pruner losers.
Anne Marrison is happy to answer garden questions sent to [email protected].