Growing gifts

Stumped on what to get a gardening lover? here’s a harvest of ideas.

By JOAN S. BOLTON
The South Coast Beacon

With just one week until Christmas, are you still stumped about what to give your favorite gardener? The following items are bound to delight anyone who loves digging in the dirt, from the most novice to the savviest of experts. What's more, none of the gifts should break your bank, as they range in price from less than $5 to no more than $50.

Books

Sunset Western Garden Book

This venerable tome, published by the folks at Sunset Magazine, is a great start for new gardeners. Avid gardeners are likely to already own at least one. But if they don't have this latest version (which was published two years ago), they're sure to enjoy it. It runs a beefy 768 pages. There's also, for the first time, an index to the 1,300 color photos scattered through the book. (Sunset Publishing Corporation, 2001, $36.95 in hardback.)

The California Gardener's Book of Lists

The only color in this slim paperback is on the cover. But that hardly matters, because inside are more than 200 plant lists by problem or topic. Whether you're looking for “Trees with Inconvenient Litter,” “Narrow, Upright Shrubs for Tight Spaces” or “Easy Annuals for Poor, Sandy Soil,” you'll find dozens of suggestions. Flipping through the headings, you may discover you have problems that you didn't even know existed — but at least now you'll have the solutions. (Catherine Yronwode with Eileen Smith, Taylor Publishing, 1998, $17.95.)

Home Landscaping, California Region

I bought this book at Costco a few years ago because I liked the pictures. However, I quickly realized its value when I read the text. The authors asked six California landscape designers and architects to tackle 20 typical garden situations. For each of the setups, such as creating a garden beneath a shade tree or landscaping a low wall, two designs are offered. While this book does not provide enough guidance to landscape an entire yard, it does provide inspiring ideas for smaller, niche spaces. (Roger Holmes and Lance Walheim, Creative Homeowner, $19.95.)

Gloves

Most gardeners can't resist a nice pair of gloves. I like just about anything that has an elastic wristband, so loose twigs and stickers don't slip inside and stab me. For variations on a theme, try Mud Gloves, which are waterproof. Gauntlet gloves come all the way up to the elbows and offer excellent protection when pruning bougainvillea, roses or anything else with thorns. Goatskin gloves are soft and supple, although they don't hold up to rougher tasks, such as clearing brush. Lightweight cotton gloves, with leather reinforcing the fingertips, help prevent sweaty hands. Expect to spend $4 to $40, depending on the materials.

Watering

For years, I used an inexpensive watering wand. It dripped a bit but I didn't mind. Then, a couple of years ago, I was given a Dramm wand in metallic blue. What a quantum leap. The shutoff valve worked effortlessly. And there were no more leaks. Dramm is not the only game in town. Other brands may work just as well. However, the plastic wands, while less costly, may crack with repeated use.

Watering buckets tender to suffer a similar fate in my garden, since I leave them out all the time. I have a combination of inexpensive, plastic buckets from Longs, as well as a heavy-duty, injection-molded Dramm that's guaranteed for a lifetime. The cheap ones split apart after a few years, but they don't cost much to replace. That special gardener on your list, however, will appreciate the balance and durability of a longer lasting can like the Dramm.

Tools

As with gloves, most gardeners can always make room for another set of hand pruners. But also consider upping the size to long-handled loppers. Bypass styles feature a curved blade that swings past the other blade as they slice through the wood. Anvil clippers have two straight edges that close against each other.

A small crescent saw comes in handy for weaklings like me, who have trouble making a clean cut with pruners — or even loppers — on larger branches, such as tough rose canes or fruit trees. The saw cuts cleanly, then folds when done, so the blade doesn't accidentally hurt anyone.

Half a dozen weeders sit at the bottom of my tool bin. I'd always been satisfied with the $1.99 “pokers” until I tried a Winged Weeder.

This is my absolute favorite hand tool. Slightly longer and bulkier than my cheap weeders, it has a sharp-for-life triangular head that slices right into my heaviest clay soil. A small crossbar at the end of the handle is rotated 90 degrees. It seems awkward at first, but is actually quite comfortable for using your entire hand to work the weeder. There's also a long-handled hoe. (Creative Enterprises, 800.388.4539 or www.wingedweeder.com.)

I spend a lot of time on my knees in the garden, and have tried many incarnations of strap-on knee pads. But my old, flat, $2 kneeling pad is more comfy than anything else. Flat pads under $5 are easy to find. Or you can buy one of the newer versions that has arms. Set down one way, the pad is just off the ground, and you can use the arms to lower yourself or push up. Flip the device over, and it serves as a seat for taller projects. (A “Garden Kneeler” from Gardener's Supply Company, 800.427.3363 or www.gardeners.com, sells for $34.95.)

Clogs

What plastic garden clogs lack in comfort, they make up for in convenience. Look for plastic clogs with removable liners. That way you can hose off the shoes and the liners, inside and out. Expect to pay $15 to $30.

Weather instruments

Even if you don't have a gardener on your list, most folks enjoy knowing what the temperature is — and what it's been. You can find anything from an inexpensive outdoor thermometer at the drug store to decorative or remote digital versions that easily reach $50 or more and display or record other aspects about the weather as well.

Min-max thermometers, often found in hardware stores, are a fun, low-tech alternative to the digitals. They're composed of a U-shaped channel containing a temperature-sensitive liquid and two magnets. When temperatures drop, the liquid swings up the left side of the U, pushing one of the magnets ahead of it. When temperatures warm and the liquid swings down and back up the right side, the magnet stays behind, marking the low. The other magnet, on the right side of the U, measures high temperatures the same way, but in reverse. They range in price from $15 to $25.

Joan S. Bolton is a freelance writer and garden designer who lives in Goleta.

Her In the Garden column appears biweekly.

She can be contacted at www.santabarbaragardens.com.