The holidays will soon be here. There are plenty of holiday gift ideas for gardeners, friends and family (and maybe even for you). Gardeners can never have too many plants, tools, books, or other items to make their garden a work of art. Here are some suggestions to inspire you.

Garden tools for gift giving

Inexpensive gardening tools have a short life. They often bend, break or rust. Well-made tools cost more, but with proper maintenance, they’ll last for years. What gardener couldn’t use another trowel, pruner, weeder, shovel, fork, rake or hoe? Add a DIY tool-sharpening kit that includes WD-40 (oil), a rasp (for sharpening tool edges) and some coarse sandpaper.

Soil thermometers for an early start

Gardeners in cold climates can start a crop of cool-season greens such as spinach, lettuce, collards, mustard greens, Swiss chard, and kale as soon as the soil thaws next spring. Lettuce and Swiss chard seeds, for example, start to germinate when the top inch of soil reaches about 45^o. This is when an inexpensive soil thermometer comes in handy. Look for one at your local garden center or online.

A rain gauge can save water

This useful device shows gardeners exactly how much rain their garden receives so they know how to water wisely. In the summer, when the weather is hot and water quickly evaporates, proper watering is particularly important. Soil typically needs an inch of water a week to keep plants thriving. An inch of rain or water moves downward 6 inches into clay soil, and 8 to 12 inches in loamy soil. Check out rain gauges at big box stores, garden centers and online. There is even a free app in the Apple iTunes store that provides rainfall information for your location via GPS.

A lightweight hose will lighten the load

I don’t know many gardeners who enjoy lugging heavy rubber hoses around their garden. But there is a solution. Many garden centers now offer lightweight, collapsible hoses that curl up when the water is shut off. They’re easy to carry and easy to store. Your favorite gardener could likely use a spare watering can, too.

Wind chimes will add sound

Give the gift of sound in the garden with a set of wind chimes. With each breeze, chimes provide tinkling bell-like tones. Look for long-lasting, heavy duty chimes that have strings that won’t break and chimes that won’t rust after the first season.

Gift the makings for a compost pile

A gardener can never have too much compost (organic matter that adds nutrients to soil and helps hold moisture). Compost can be purchased in bags, but it’s easy to convert leaves, discarded plant material and grass clippings into rich compost at home — and for free! Avoid adding weeds and plants that have been treated with herbicides. I also caution against using kitchen scraps that will attract vermin unless the composter has a lid. Compost bins, tumblers, and buckets make great gifts because they help to keep the debris in place while it decomposes. While you’re at it, include a microorganisms starter kit.

You can’t garden without a hand trowel

These small tools are great for planting, cultivating and weeding. Look for a lightweight trowel with a strong stainless steel blade and a smooth wooden handle. Some trowels have “toothed” edges, which helps remove deep-rooted weeds.

Hand pruners 101

There are three basic types of hand pruners: bypass, anvil and ratchet. Bypass pruners have two curved blades that act like scissors and produce a clean cut. Anvil pruners have a single straight cutting blade that presses against a flat edge. Ratchet pruners are basically anvil pruners but the cutting action is done in stages.They are particularly useful for cutting small branches. Some garden centers offer smaller pruners for gardeners with smaller hands.

Sow seeds with a planting dibble

A dibble is a pointed hand tool that’s used for making small holes in the ground, pots or trays for sowing seeds. They’re made from wood or metal and you can find them at garden centers and online. Click for the dibble planting guide at My Frugal Home.

Use gardening gloves to protect hands

Weeding, pruning, and digging all take a toll on a gardener’s hands. Give a pair or two of durable gloves and add a jar of hand lotion and your gardener will be good to grow.

A harvest apron for pocket-less gardeners

A garden-inspired apron for the gardener-cook is a fun gift. You can also find gardening aprons for use outdoors that have plenty of pockets to hold seeds, keys, a notebook, small tools and more.

A boot scraper, seriously

April showers bring May flowers along with mud and debris that clings to gardeners’ boots and shoes. There are decorative boot scrapers made from iron, as well as more basic types made from rubber and brushes.

My favorite holiday plant, Amaryllis

During the holiday season, garden centers and big box stores carry boxes of amaryllis bulbs. One bulb can produce several large showy flowers indoors during winter, a warm welcome when the winds are howling. The flowers can be red, white, pink or bicolored. You’ll also find the bulbs in garden centers and gift shops as well as online.

Garden year-round with houseplants

Growing indoor plants brings cheer especially when you look out the window on a dull winter day. Ferns, orchids, African violets, succulents and tropical plants can add color (and sometimes fragrance) to a room.

Treat wild birds to a spa with a bird bath / heater

Our feathered friends need water all year long. For cold climates, a bird bath heater can keep the water from freezing. Don’t need a heater? Small bird baths and bird feeders make great gifts any time of year.

Garden books and magazines can make the day

There are countless field guides to help gardeners identify birds, butterflies, pollinators, wildflowers and weeds. For the vegetable gardener, there’s the new Fresh from the Garden: An Organic Guide to Growing Vegetables, Berries, and Herbs in Cold Climates, by John Whitman (University of Minnesota Press). How about a magazine subscription to Fine Gardening, Garden Design or a local garden publication?  The choices are endless. Happy shopping!

Membership in a local public garden

How about a membership to a local public garden or arboretum? Public gardens often provide classes and events for gardeners. Or, if your gift recipient already has a membership, consider a gift certificate for classes or the garden’s gift shop. 

When in doubt, gift certificates

You can’t go wrong with a gift certificate to a local garden center, a seed catalog, a garden-inspired gift shop, a garden product web site, or a book store. And, a gift certificate for a gardening or cooking class can inspire the recipient (and it might even pique the interest of the giver).