Gardeners come in many forms. Some have green thumbs; others are of the brown thumb variety. Either type — and those who fall somewhere in between — will end up on your gifting list from time to time.
“If I’m shopping for a gardener, I would consider their experience level first, then growing environment,” said Marion Brewer, a content strategist at OpenTable who has a backyard garden of her own in Asbury Park, New Jersey. “Are you equipping someone from scratch? If so, maybe get them a nice set of tools. If someone is more experienced, upgrade them by buying the hori hori knife.”
From the basic essentials to the higher-level gear, here’s what to buy for the gardener in your life.
Hori Hori Garden Tool
This knife is essential for every gardener to have in their arsenal. “The Hori Hori garden tool seems universally beloved by every gardener I know,” said Brewer. Also known as a Japanese weeding knife or Japanese trowel, the stainless tool is ready to go to work, capable of weeding, digging, planting, and more.
Japanese Weeding Hoe
What is it with Japanese garden tools that make them so good? According to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden’s blog, the craftsmanship is better “because garden blade-making in Japan grew out of the sword-making tradition.” In addition to the Hori Hori, a Japanese wedding hoe is a good tool to have on-hand. It can cut through root systems underneath the soil, making it easy to remove pesky weeds from any bed.
Garden Heir Gardening Smock
For the gardener who also subscribes to the Throwing Fits patreon, consider this Garden Heir smock, which is available in many different colors and fabrics. (This one is high-quality Japanese denim.) Brewer said she’s been eyeing a lot of things on Garden Heir’s site. “[I want] basically everything they sell, specifically the clogs and the gardening smocks,” she says. “I don’t own them yet but I very much want them.”
LL Bean Gardening Gloves
Is there anything more classic than LL Bean? The Maine-based brand knows the outdoors, which, of course, includes gardening. And every gardener needs a good set of gloves. In fact, they may need more than one, which means this durable leather set is a worthwhile gift for anyone who’s digging around in the dirt on a regular basis.
Flat Basket
According to Joe Brown, the journalist behind one5c, a newsletter focused on the ways individuals can help mitigate the climate crisis, a flat basket is good to have for harvesting. Is it time to pick those tomatoes and squash from the backyard garden? Time to use a flat basket. Plus, they can double as a décor item when they’re not in use.
Steel Canvas Garden Utility Tote Bag
A gardener needs lots of tools — and they only have so many hands with which to carry trowels, seeds, gloves, and so forth. Made of duck canvas, this heavy-duty bag has room for all of that. There’s also probably room for a portable speaker for the gardener who wants to rock out while they prune.
Grow Bags
Fun fact: you can grow fruits and veggies in bags on your patio. Brewer suggested these for the urban gardener, who might not need a pair of clogs but might appreciate some essentials for compact growing environments like these.
Hunter Gardening Clogs
Gardening is a messy endeavor. It’s an activity that involves trouncing around in dirt, after all. So any gardener needs a good pair of sturdy, if not waterproof, clogs. Hunter, which is most known for its beloved wellies, makes some of the best gardening footwear around.
Hudson Valley Seed Co. Vegetable Collection
Maybe your gardener has all the tools in the world. But do they have seeds? “[Hudson Valley Seed Co.] does custom seed blends,” Brown said, noting that seeds make excellent presents. So no matter where the recipient lives and what the environment is like, Hudson Valley Seed Co. probably has what they want, whether it’s pollinator- or wild bird-friendly blends.
Good Pruning Shears
Sure, pruning shears are a fairly basic item, but everyone needs shears. Just like garden gloves, this is the type of item they might need more than one of. At around $60, Felco’s shears are pricier than some, but they are the best-reviewed hand pruners on Amazon and they’ve been reviewed more than 16,000 times. Hard to argue with that.