85+ Gift ideas for a gardener (who has everything)

So you're looking for good gift ideas for gardeners. Here's a few reasons why I hope I have the best list for you:

1. I've been gardening for over 10 years
2. I own a lot of these products myself, and love them
3. I spend an embarrassing amount of time researching products

Even if your gardener seems to have everything or you're worried the gift will not be good enough - I've got you!

I took photos of products that I already own to show you what some good gift ideas for gardeners can look like. I provide a section to buy what's in my photos, but you can also mix and match the product suggestions below each photo.

My goal is to explain which type of gardener each gift is good for and why. You'll see into the mind of a gardener after reading this post (it's a crazy, messy space, sorry!). What I'm trying to say is this isn't your typical gift list conjured up to just to get clicks.

And of course I've included options within different budget ranges for each gift idea.

Jump to:

• Gift baskets
• Gifts for vegetables gardeners
• Big gifts (literally)
• Gifts for an indoor gardener
• Indoor herb garden kit
• Seed starting kit
• Fun & unexpected gifts
• For the organizer
• For the kitchen
• Stocking stuffers and gift basket fillers
• More resources

Gift baskets

I think one of the biggest problems with existing gardener gift lists out there is they list individual items that can seem pretty boring on their own. "Here, have a garden spade, you're welcome."

The thing is, some of those mundane things actually make good gifts when presented properly. If you're asking my opinion. You are, right?!

To help you find the perfect gift for a gardener, I've taken the time to put together gift basket ideas. Everyone knows a gift basket is greater than the sum of the goods.

I've included practical gifts as well as fun and unexpected ideas that the women in your life will appreciate. Most of these gifts also work for men, but I really know my own audience, which is 30-50 something women!

Note: all of the Amazon links are affiliate, so I get a small commission if you buy something (at no extra cost to you). I try to make it clear when I'm recommended a specific product that I personally own and love, and when the products are just suggestions for inspiration. Almost none of the links outside of Amazon are affiliate links.

Gifts for vegetables gardeners

Some of these aren't exciting gifts on their own, I know that. But I'm including them so you can pull together a fun gift for vegetables gardeners for the holidays.

Fun fact: Most gardeners shop for veggie seeds in winter, most commonly in January and February.

Buy what's in the picture*:

*Replaced my free plant bucket with a garden basket, and the notebook from Target with another notebook.

Garden harvest baskets

Use a practical item, like a harvest basket, as the base for a fun gift basket for someone who grows vegetables. What if they already have one? Nonsense! Does she have too many cute tote bags? I didn't think so 🙂

• Fiskars Garden harvest basket - I own this one. It's large, sturdy, and very easy to wash. I use the narrow center to hold my garden sheers while I walk around and harvest vegetables. Don't pay more than $25, as other online vendors also sell it. Menards (a Midwest hardware store) has it currently on sale for $15, and they ship nationwide.
• Wire mesh harvest basket - These are adorable. They're slightly smaller and would be great for someone with a small or modest sized garden. It comes in black, light blue, mint green, gray, and white. (Yellow may not be a good Christmas color, but it's perfect for summer harvesting).
• A fancy basket if price is no concern: This basket is pretty and I admit I've wanted one but haven't splurged for it yet. I suspect it won't be as practical as the Fiskars basket, but it is adorable. Medium size.

Fill the basket with any of the other gift ideas for vegetables gardeners, or some of the other items in the rest of this post (like a cute garden notebook for logging plant progress, perhaps?)

Fun & unique seeds

This is a really fun gift for almost any gardener who grows vegetables. I don't know of a single gardener who would get seeds as a gift and be disappointed. You might be worried you'll pick out something they don't like... but here's the thing - that's almost impossible.

There are sooooo many seeds to choose from, gardeners just pick veggies based on pretty photos and fanciful descriptions. Then we hope for the best. No matter how they turn out, it's a fun adventure. Feel free to do the same.

The biggest problem we gardeners have is choosing which seeds to buy within a budget. So extra seeds are always exciting.

I have some ideas for you to buy for a gift. I would personally try (or have tried) these seeds from probably the most widely loved and recognized vendor for unique seeds. The seeds average $3-5 a pack with free shipping.

And for bonus points, buy the Rare Seeds (Baker's Creek) catalogue to give as a gift. It's a thick as a book, beautifully photographed, and I buy one every year. When she opens this as a present, I suspect she will be extremely excited, even as such a simple item.

• Tomato: Black strawberry - they look adorable
• Tomato: Apricot zebra - orange and stripey with a whimsical name
• Tomato: Queen of the night - dark purple with red-orange stripes and might resonate with women who are into dark fantasy books
• Tomato: Napa chardonnay blush - a pale yellow chardonnay color for the wine lover in your life
• Tomato: Spoon - tiny, pea-sized tomatoes that are really fun in salads (and for kids). A gift for Mom, perhaps?
• Pepper: Biquinho - tiny red peppers the size of a dime that have almost no heat (way less than a jalapeno and often no heat at all). They are usually marinated and served with olives. Perfect for someone who likes making charcuterie boards.
• Pepper: Habanada - a habanero pepper without any heat!
• Hot Pepper: Filius blue - a small, pretty hot pepper that's purple with really pretty purple flowers (normally pepper flowers are white).
• Winter squash: Honeynut - mini butternut squash that are easy to grow and make a perfect amount for two people when split in half and roasted.
• Beans: Chinese red noodle - these grow 18" long and are really fun to grow - it's hard not to smile when you see them hanging in the garden, especially when growing over a trellis.
• Beans: Dragon tongue - purple striped pods that are good fresh and shelled.

If you need a gift for a gardener with a balcony, try one of these miniature tomato plants that grow less than a foot tall. Try Gourmandise Yellow, the Orange Hat, or the red Micro Tom.

Or for the new vegetable gardener, you could get an assortment for a gift. Seed packet costs really add up, so a set like this will be appreciated for a gardener getting started on a budget. Note that this is a basic assortment probably not best for an experienced gardener.

Garden gloves

I easily have a favorite pair of gardening gloves. They protect my hands but are thin enough to give me full dexterity. Nothing's worse than trying to check on a plant, but the gloves are too thick or clunky that you can't accurately grab it or feel how soft or hard it is.

My favorite gloves come in a 4 pack from Atlas or a 2 pack from Wildflower. I've bought both brands and they seem pretty equal. The gloves are machine washable.

There's another brand that looks similar, but it's hard to tell. The coating on the palm and fingers of some brands is just the slightest bit thicker - enough to affect my dexterity. But if budget is a concern, you can try them as they are less than half the price.

Hori hori knife

Why she'll love this gift: it's the best garden tool I've ever used, and not many gardeners know it's even a thing. Even if she has one, it's nice to have extra. I have 3!

A hori hori is a versatile Japanese gardening tool. It's part knife, part hand-shovel, and part measuring tool. I am almost never in the garden without it.

I use it to quickly dig up weeds, prune my plants, and plant seeds. The inch markers on the knife might seem gimmicky, but it's turned out to be invaluable when planting seeds.

I don't like using a tape measure (because dirt gets in the body), but the hori hori knife lets me accurately space my seeds apart, and measure the correct depth for planting.

I have one from Vego Garden (it's sold out and too expensive anyway but I got it free when I bought some planters). The Amazon one I linked above looks very similar and the entire knife is 12.1" long, so it's very easy to measure out 1-foot spacing for plants.

It also has a notch that helps cut twine (used to tie up tomato plants, trellis peas, etc), and is supposed to be rust proof (the one I have is rust proof and made it 3 years before showing signs of rust after leaving it stabbed in the soil and not storing it properly most of the time).

Soil meter

I have 3 soil meters, I leave some in my indoor plants to measure the moisture and the other I use outdoors to test pH and moisture (and light levels). There's a 4-in-1 option that also measures soil temperature which I think is pretty handy (I don't have one yet, but might soon so I stop using my kitchen one and then scrubbing it off).

It's a good gift for any gardener, but especially someone who likes data, answers, and spends (too much?) time research stuff on the internet.

Outdoor remote thermometer

Here's another boring sounding gift for a gardener, but there's a specific person who will love it. If the gardener in your life has every expressed concern for a late spring cold snap or the damage a heat wave may cause, this gift is for them. Girl scout's honor!

It's cheap enough for a stocking stuffer too. I've linked to the one I own and am happy with it, especially for the price. I can set 3 thermometers outside throughout my garden, and monitor the temperature from the main console in the house. I can also set an alarm in case the temperature goes outside of my desired range.

Why is this a good gift?

When a late spring frost comes in, it can kill the flower buds on fruit trees. If that happens, the tree produces no fruit that year... a devastating prospect for a gardener. Meanwhile, heatwaves around 95F+ can cause pollination and yield problems for vegetable plants.

There are ways to save the trees and plants, with tarping and shading. But if your gardener is anything like me, they will worry all day and night if those tricks are working.

But with a thermometer - they'll know it's working (or can freak out and adjust as needed if it's not). Last year during a late spring cold snap of 20F, I placed buckets of hot water around my fruit trees, tarped them to trap in the heat, and they never got below 50F. I know this, because I had... wait for it... thermometers!

Gift a garden book

Most gardening books aren't that helpful... there, I said it and I can't take it back now. I know this because I've probably read several dozen from the library at this point.

That said, out of all of those books, I actually bought 3 because they were really helpful and I reference them all of the time.

• Grow More Food: The charts throughout this book make it worth every penny, like how much time you'll need to spend on a garden, based on it's size, or the general growth timelines of every vegetable, or how long seeds should last. It also has helpful explanations on things like the best way to log your plant's lifecycle, to the best ways to extend your growing season.
• The Edible Front Yard: This book is perfect for someone who wants a pretty garden, which isn't always easy with edible food. The book identifies the pretty vegetables that you can draw attention to, and how to fill it in with other edibles that might not be as pretty. There are also soooo many pictures for inspiration throughout.
• Plant Partners: a great gift for gardeners who are interested in companion planting or have had pest troubles in the past. The book uses research (not rumors) to make plant pairings and explains what those pairings can (and can't) do.

Big gifts (literally)

There's a couple more gifts for women who garden outdoors - they're just too big for a gift basket.

Garden trellis

Garden trellises add whimsy and practicality to a garden. I have 4 different trellises in my garden for growing peas, beans, winter squash, and tomatoes. The plants vine right up the trellis and look downright charming.

The ones I have are built in to the Vego garden beds I own - their products are great but they are so pricey I have a hard time recommending them.

Instead, below are some options to at least give you some gift ideas - and the round trellis also comes in gold... you're welcome. You can also check out some DIY trellis ideas.

Raised garden beds

Another fancy gift for gardeners is a raised bed (your wife or mom will thank you for assembly too!). Things to consider when buying a raised bed:

• Height: 18" tall is enough for vegetable gardening and even for fruit tree roots to do well before they reach the normal soil level. 32" (or taller) is needed to keep rabbits out.
• Material: I like the galvanized steel options because they should last 30 years or longer. Faux-wood options should also last a decent amount of time (like faux-wood fences). Real wood will last 3-5 years before they start to break down - they may last longer if you have a dryer climate.
• What I own: I have the Vego garden beds and they are a super high quality product (with a cost to match). You can also buy directly from Vego Garden and get more size options, trellises, and other accessories.
• DIY: You can buy cedar from a hardware store and build your own. Make it easy with some metal corner brackets, like these 11" tall ones, or these 17.5" tall ones.

Gifts for an indoor gardener

Spend enough time around someone who loves indoor plants and you will soon learn they can never have enough plants. This makes new (and unique) plants a perfect gift for an indoor plant lover.

Buy what's in the photo:

A unique plant

You can find some fun plants for gifts at Logee's for decent prices. Most are in the $25 range, in small 4" pots. Logee's is a trusted online source for unique plants and I've been happy with my purchases from them in the past.

Here's a link to a list of indoor plants so you can pick one (or many?) that stand out to you. If you want some specific gift recommendations, here's a few plants that caught my eye and I'm willing to bet they don't have.

• Best scented plant: Maid of Orleans Jasmine - very scented flowers, perfect for someone who lights candles all of the time. Not so much for someone who dislikes strong perfume smells.
• Best Christmas-y plant: Fairytale Princess Caladium - bright red leaves with green borders. The most Christmas gift for a plant lover that I can think of!
• Best culinary plant: Bay Laurel - The leaves are amazing in soups and stews and don't even compare to dried bay leaves. Easy to grow indoors (it will be a small mini-tree on arrival, not what is pictured on the site)
• A statement plant: Dwarf Tree Fern - For a statement plant that will make anyone smile. (It arrives smaller than pictured).
• Easiest to grow: Velvet Leaf Philodendron: A very easy to grow houseplant that vines down. Super cute on a windowsill or a shelf that gets at least some light (although these can handle low light).
• A twist on the popular: Mistletoe Fig - A relative to the popular fiddle leaf fig, this is easy to grow and doesn't mind neglect and low light conditions.
• Weirdest plant: Living Stones: A succulent they definitely don't have - they look like stones (or brains)?

Alternatively, you can get plants on Amazon, especially if you're doing some last minute gift buying! Costa Farms is a reliable brand to look for. Here are some options.

Gift a cute pot

If you buy a plant, make your gift extra special with a cute pot. I suggest buying a pot 1-2 inches larger than the one it comes in.

The Logee plants usually come in either 2.5 or 4 inch pots, so I suggest buying 4 or 6" pots (and a little bit of dirt for transplanting). There are soooo many cute pots out there, so browse around on Amazon or Etsy, stop in your local Target or Home Goods, or look at stores like Anthropology if you want to be a bit spendy.

Btw, the geode planter comes in a lot of colors and is ah-may-zing if I do say so myself. And the hanging planter would be adorable for a vining plant that trails down.

Grow lights - that look like normal light bulbs

Another great gift for someone who loves indoor plants is some grow lights. They look like normal light bulbs now with normal-looking white light.

So what makes them different? Even though they look white to our eyes, the spectrum is adjusted to help the plants grow as much as possible without us humans being able to detect the color shifts.

Pendants that hang above a plant can be really handy, for those of you not afraid of putting holes in the wall (or ceiling). All of these have an e26 base, which is your normal-sized screw in light bulb (like in almost every lamp, ever).

If you want to be fancy, you can find some plugin pendants to hang, then use a grow light bulb in the fixture. I personally like the boho macrame hanging lamp, so on trend - and she'll love it even if you don't! Ha.

Book: Decorating with Plants

As I mentioned earlier, I read nearly every plant book I can get my hands on thanks to the library. I feel like this makes me pretty qualified to provide good gift recommendations for gardeners, right?

Occasionally, one stands out. In this case, it's Decorating with Plants.

It includes care guides on over 25 types of plants and then has room-by-room guides on how to use plants as decor. For example, there are numerous ideas for the dining room, from plants that permanently live there, to others that move around, to the idea of giving away plants to guests.

There are sections for rooms with low light, plants that love bathroom humidity, the list goes on. And so do the pictures - there's so much inspiration in this book.

Indoor herb garden kit

I think you should make your own indoor herb garden kit to give as a gift. What's not to love?!

Buy what's in the photo (get herbs from Trader Joe's, or the link to Amazon below seems like it should be decent).

You can save $10 by getting a cheaper soil, and another $25 if you skip the fertilizer. Then the total would come down to $48. If you can't find live herbs at Trader Joes, swap in the Sereniseed Herb bundle listed below.

Indoor self watering planters

I highly recommend soil-wicking planters because they have worked extremely well for me. I've tried all other types of pots and the herbs dry out or die because they are more water sensitive than other houseplants. My herbs have flourished with these containers in a south-facing window.

I have the white Fasmov ones listed above and they are pretty sturdy but the white finish isn't perfect. They are 16x5" and hold 3 small herbs. I also recommend the black ones above (although I haven't tried them). They are bigger and deeper (16x12"), perfect for larger herbs with deeper roots like rosemary, parsley, or bay laurel.

Normally I'd tell you to use this as inspiration, but the two I shared above are some of the only listings with the right type of self watering bottom and holes for air-flow (which is also critical).

I also have both of these Vego Garden ones above, which are very expensive. That said, they are extremely sturdy, well built, with a flawless finish in multiple color options.

Soil & fertilizer

Giving an indoor herb kit as a gift to a gardener without soil is like giving a toy to a kid on Christmas without batteries. Good thing I know which soil you should buy!

Here's how much soil each of the pots I recommended require:

• Vego small pot: 3 quarts soil
• Vego long herb planter: 6 quarts soil
• Fasmov white planter: 4 quarts soil
• GardenBasix black planter: 5 quarts soil

The fertilizer is optional - it's nice to have, but not critical for your gardener to get started on their herb kit gift right away - although the Happy Herbs bag really is adorable!

The leafy greens soil is in a 4-quart bag which I recently bought but haven't had it long enough to do a side-by-side comparison to the MiracleGro. The MiracleGro is in 6-quart bags (which you can also buy at a local hardware store), and is more budget friendly.

If your gardener friend is into organic, eco-friendly things, go with the fancy leafy-greens soil. You can also buy worm castings (more below in the Fun & Unexpected Gifts section) which are great for indoor and outdoor plants. It doesn't smell and is magic for plants.

Herb plants or seeds

If this is a Christmas gift, you might have a hard time finding live plants. But I do have a little insider tip for you: check your local Trader Joe's for potted herb plants, usually near the front door.

Trader Joe's almost always has the rosemary plant shown in the picture in winter, in a Christmas tree shape. Most other stores that sell plants no longer have herbs.

For Mother's Day or Birthday gifts in spring and summer, any hardware store should have an abundant selection of herbs as well as my favorite online source, Richters. You can also buy seed sets online for $10 or so.

If you buy plants online, these looks like some decent options (but I haven't bought them myself). I also highly suggest Bay Laurel if it's in your budget - it's easy to grow indoors and the leaves are so much better fresh than the dried ones in spice stores.

Seed starting kit

The perfect gift for a gardener who's getting more serious? A seed starting kit so they can grow more interesting plants (and just have some fun).

Buy what's in my photo:*

*Replaced the seeds in the photo with a set from Sereniseed.

To gift a kit, you'll need the following items:

• Seed trays with humidity domes and lights
• Seed starting "soil"
• Heating mat
• Optional: they'll probably need grow lights once they transfer the seedlings to larger pots (but before they are transplanted outside). Without grow lights, they can get a little weak. If you have the budget, include 1-2 grow lights from the section above, "Gifts for an Indoor Gardener."
• Optional: A binder and sleeves to hold the seeds. Don't get a binder on Amazon, they are all oddly expensive... just go to Target!

Seed trays

You'll definitely want to buy seed trays that have a humidity dome. Without the dome, the seedlings easily dry out, but the grow light isn't as critical at this stage since they'll be transplanted once they get 1-2" tall.

How many do you need to buy? I tend to grow at least 3-4 seeds of each plant, because some seedlings might not live. If your gardener wants to grow a dozen varieties, then 24-48 cells is a good start. But let's be honest, anything you get will make a great gift for a gardener!

I like Sondiko ones for the sturdier cell tray with the flexible silicon bottoms, making it long-lasting. The 2-pack of with dome lights is nice and affordable. The Vivosun with the heat mat is a nice bundle price from a trusted brand (and the dome also has white grow light strips in the top).

Seed starting soil

Seeds are easier to start in an inorganic or sterile medium. I have had the best luck with these OrganiPlugs - they are spongy but made with natural materials and compost in the garden bed once transplanted. They hold water extremely well, which seeds desperately need to germinate.

They also don't mold (or it's very hard to make that happen), which is common when starting seeds in soil because of the moisture level that needs to be maintained.

This is another product where I highly recommend buying this exact item, rather than using it as inspiration. I have a bag of these myself and buy more every year when I need them. They come in a 50 pack, 100 pack, or more and last for years in the bag when sealed.

I've used nearly every seed starting medium and setup out there and have settled on this one for the ease and reliability. (As someone who gardens for a job, you'd be surprised as how often I forget to water my seedlings and accidentally let them dry out!)

Heat mat

Seedlings technically don't need a heat mat to germinate, but they really benefit from one. As an example, bell pepper seeds can germinate in 3-5 days with a heat mat vs 2 weeks without.

I don't have a brand or product preference for heat mats, so this product is for inspiration (although I think it's a good price for a good brand with over 27k reviews). Be sure to review the different size options before buying.

Seeds

If your gardener is pretty new, they might like a seed bundle that includes a little bit of everything. If they are pretty serious, they might like a variety pack for one specific vegetable (like 10 different tomato seeds). Alternatively, check out the unique seed suggestions from Baker Creek (rareseeds.com) in the section above, Gifts for Gardening Outdoors.

Fun & unexpected gifts

A real citrus tree

For a guaranteed really fun gift idea for a gardener, get them a real lemon, lime, or a kumquat tree. In cooler climates, you bring them outside in summer, and back indoors in winter. Pair it with a grow light or two (see Indoor Plant Gifts section for more info on grow lights).

And if you are wondering, yes they will flower and fruit indoors. I currently live in the Chicago area and my plants were indoors, flowering and fruiting mid to late winter.

I like to buy my citrus trees from Four Winds Growers. I've bought other trees (just not citrus) from Fast Growing Trees and they've arrived in good condition as well. The prices range from $65 - $100+ depending on the size you get.

• Meyer lemon from Four Winds or Fast Growing Trees
• Calamondin orange tree (tiny oranges!) from Four Winds or Fast Growing Trees
• Bearss seedless lime tree from Four Winds or Fast Growing Trees
• Kumquat tree from Four Winds or Fast Growing Trees
• Yuzu tree from Four Winds
• Meyer lemon and limequat combo tree from Fast Growing Trees

If you buy a tree as a gift, you'll want to unbox it right away. Make sure it gets any water it needs. It can go a couple of days without light if you hide it in the basement or garage, but you'll want to make sure it gets light sooner than later. Perhaps a friend or neighbor would care for it for a week or two while you wait to give her the present?

You can also keep the tree in the garage as long as temperatures aren't below 32F. It can also live in the basement if you hang a couple grow lights above it. Any temperature between 55-85F is ideal.

Here's a guide on growing citrus trees indoors from Four Winds Growers.

Propagation station

A great gift for a gardener who already has a lot of houseplants, or even outdoor herbs, is a way to propagate them. Most of them can make new plants from a simple cutting rooted in water (or soil).

So that gardener with a beautiful pothos plant? With this gift they can make a whole bunch of baby pothos for the rest of their house or to give as gifts. And like I said before, it works with most houseplants, most herbs, and some outdoor vining plants and shrubs too.

Worm castings

Okay, so this might seem like the weirdest thing to give a gardener as a gift for Christmas, a birthday, or Mother's day. But hear me out.

Worm castings are the byproduct of worms munching on food (worm poop). They're full of nutrients and microbes that help keep plants healthy, grow faster, and won't burn the roots or increase salt levels in the soil like many fertilizers can. This is even backed up by numerous research studies:

When using worm castings, "fruit and vegetable tests have resulted in yield improvements from 57% to over 200% as well as improvement in taste and appearance." - University of California publication (pdf)

In case you're wondering - it doesn't smell. It smells like earthy dirt. So you won't have weird smells if used on house plants.

Most experienced gardeners have come across articles about magic of worm castings, but might not have pulled the trigger because it takes some research to figure out how much to buy and how to use it. So do the hard part for them and give this as a super eco-friendly, life-giving gift!

How much to buy & where to buy it

If you give this as a gift, attach some instructions on the best way to use it.

• House plants: 1 Tablespoon for a 4" pot, increasing by 1 Tablespoon for each extra pot-inch. (So a 10" pot is 6 inches larger, so you'd want 6 extra tablespoons). Sprinkle on the surface and water it in.
• Succulent house plants: add a pinch to the top soil - they don't need as much fertilizer, and too much can make them overgrow.
• Fruit & vegetables (transplants): Add 1 cup to each planting hole when you transplant. Add 1 additional cup to each plant every other month around the plant, on the top soil.
• Fruit & vegetable beds (seeds): Sprinkle ¼ cup per square foot of planting area. Add 1 additional cup to each plant every other month on the top soil.
• Raised garden beds: Sprinkle ¼ cup per square foot and mix in before your planting begins, or leave it on the top.

I highly suggest buying your worm compost from Northern Illinois Worm Farm. It's two brothers just making a good product and I've had the pleasure to chat with them about all things worms. They also assured me this won't cause any bug or disease problems (which you have to be careful of with some sources of soil and compost).

Their pricing is excellent, shipping (nationwide) is free, and they bag the castings fresh (never pre-packaged and stored in a warehouse, and never packaged in solid plastic bags which kills the beneficial microbes).

• 5 pound bag: $20 and contains about 15 cups
• 50 pound bag: $103 and should contain about 150 cups
• They some some 12 and 20 pound bag options too

(This is not a paid endorsement and I don't get affiliate commissions if you buy from them. They are just a couple of guys running a down to earth business (pun 100% intended)).

For the organizer

Does the person you are shopping for love writing lists, organizing things like the pantry, or labeling everything? Then there's a good chance they'll appreciate one of these gift ideas - all tailored for a gardener.

Planning notebook

You might be surprised to hear this, but gardening takes a lot of note taking. Which seeds do they want to buy (with a pro/con list, I'm not joking)? Where should each one be planted?

And most importantly, tracking the plant - like when did it first flower, first set fruit, and first harvest? Why do they care? Because it's fun to look forward to knowing you should get your first tomatoes the first week of August next year!

I've found a couple of blank-page notebooks and a couple of garden planners that will make a great gift for gardeners. The notebook in some of my gift kit photos came from Target and aren't shown below.

A note about the garden planners: when researching products for this list, I found that most of the planners are cluttered with prompts that aren't useful, cluttering up the notebook and not leaving enough space for real notes. But the two planners that I listed have good prompts and spots for notes that I would personally enjoy using.

Seed binder

Most gardeners start out collecting seeds and throw them in a shoebox or something similar. It's a mess. A seed binder is the ultimate solution... you know how people keep baseball cards in plastic slips in a binder? That's exactly what I'm suggesting as a gift for your gardener.

I don't know why the binders on Amazon are so expensive. You'll probably get better pricing at a Target or craft store.

You're going to want to buy a binder with a spine that's at least 1.5", but for even a modest seed collector, get a 2 to 3" binder. Some seeds, like beans, peas, and corn, take up a lot of space.

Don't forget the organizer sleeves!

Graph paper notebook

This gift is for a gardener that has a lot of different vegetable beds. They are probably rotating the plants and trying to figure out not only what goes where, but if they can squeeze in as many plants as they want to buy 😉

Plant labels

There are two types of plant labels. One is for cute indoor herbs and they are pre-printed (like cute clay or metal markers). These are solely for aesthetics.

For a gardener starting outdoor plants from seeds, they need to make custom labels. Why? Because they need to be able to tell the 5 different tomato varieties apart, for example.

Plant markers can be simply using a Sharpie marker on a white plastic plant tag, or my personal favorite, larger ones that don't get lost under the plant as they grow. Paint-can stir sticks work great for this, by the way!!

Sharpie markers will fade in the sun, so I face them away from it when possible. I've also considered using a wood burning tool on paint sticks to make it more permanent, but I'd have to get a wood burning tool first!

And that organizer in your life might want a colorful assortment to, you know, color code plants by type, harvest time, etc.

For the kitchen

Most gardeners also like to cook - it would be weird to want to grow all of those fruits and vegetables and then not use them, right? Here are some more garden-specific gift ideas for that someone.

Gift a kit for canning

Water bath canning is easy. You follow a recipe then boil a jar in a large pot of water for a specific amount of time. That sterilizes and seals the jar, and that's basically it! This is perfect for preserving fruit in jams or tomatoes in a pizza sauce or salsa.

To properly can, you want the following:

• A pot deep enough so the jars are covered by at least 1-2 inches of water while boiling
• A rack to keep the jars off the bottom
• A funnel for filling the jars
• A jar grabber to get them out of hot water
• Jars (jars are overpriced on Amazon, but I have a post about other places to buy canning jars and check your local hardware stores. You shouldn't have to pay more than $1-ish per jar). 8 ounce jars are a good start and stick with Ball, Kerr, Bernardin, and Golden Harvest brands (you don't want the jars to crack or fail).
• Optional: plastic lids to use after the jar is opened (instead of putting the metal lid and ring back on a jar of jam). I use these allllll the time.

Build around what you think they might have. If you are unsure, you can go big and get a kit with a pot (if they have induction, make sure it's compatible, which the one I listed is!).

Alternatively, leave out the pot and guess at a wire rack that will fit in what they have (the rack can be smaller than the pot diameter if you have to guess one way or the other).

A food dehydrator

This is a fun appliance to make apple chips, fruit leathers, sun dried tomatoes, and dried herbs. I have only used a very old one from a thrift store, so I can't comment on what might be best on Amazon.

Cookbooks for gardeners

I read probably 10 cookbooks a month from the library. A few stand out as especially good gift ideas for gardeners. Why? Because they are vegetable focused and include a variety of produce your gardener might be growing.

Stocking stuffers and gift basket fillers

If you want a few gift ideas for stocking stuffers, a small inexpensive gift for a gift exchange, or something to round out a gift basket, I've got a few gift ideas for people who garden.

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