Never-ending list of gardening gifts> Books, tools, plants make shopping easy

With just a few days left in the holiday shopping season, many of us enter stores with a pained look on our face, horrified by, rather than indulgent of, the whole process of holiday gift-giving.

Whether the gardener on your list is a novice or master, holiday shopping should be a breeze. Even gardeners with the most resources can’t possibly have it all. From novelty items to books to tools, a range of gardening-related gifts awaits you.

Gardening is Americans’ No. 1 outdoor pastime, so it comes as no surprise that so many retail shops have gifts for those who enjoy the hobby.

To begin shopping for your gardener, stop by local farm and garden stores which have oodles of gifts. From bird feeders to specialty tools, these stores and local garden centers will help you find necessary gardening items.

Find small items such as gardening knee pads, gloves, trowels, ergonomically designed shovels and garden tool carriers. Large buckets or a wheelbarrow filled with small gardening items will be a treasured gift.

For the serious gardener, order a small greenhouse, a prefabricated work bench or a deep sink for cleaning pots in the shed.

Hoses, simple irrigation systems and plastic mulches will go to good use. A gift certificate for a couple of yards of bark mulch, stone mulch or sawdust are a real treat for the perennial gardener or fastidious landscaper.

For gardeners who start their own seeds, purchase a bale of potting soil, trays and lids, a paper pot-maker or cell packs and fertilizer.

If you’re leery of buying seeds, give your gardener a gift certificate to a garden center or seed company. Vesey’s, Burpee’s, Johnny’s, FedCo and Pinetree Seeds are favorites of many Maine gardeners.

If the gardener on your holiday list has physical limitations, consider giving a gift certificate to a local building supply store. This will allow shopping for lumber to build a small cold frame, raised beds or planters that might make gardening efforts easier and more enjoyable. Give a gift certificate for five or 10 hours of your own labor and help your friend build these items or plant, maintain and harvest the garden next summer.

Consider making that special gardener on your list a gift basket of useful personal products.

Start with a large basket the gardener can reuse for gathering summer flowers and line it with cedar shavings. Place a book on basic gardening or one on a topic of special interest, then look for small items that might be useful during the gardening season.

Include some handmade soap — lavender to calm, sage for wisdom, oatmeal and peppermint to cool and refresh. Toss in fragrant candles and bath salts for relaxation and a little aromatherapy. Lotion for dry hands will be much appreciated. Top it off with a pair of work gloves and a bottle of sunscreen for protection during those sunny work hours.

Since Maine’s winter is so long, perhaps the answer for some gardeners is to bring indoors a bit of nature and the garden. Houseplants from local florists or greenhouses that operate year round or the materials to force some bulbs into bloom — pots, planting medium and bulbs — will be the answer to your gift dilemma.

If these ideas don’t suit you, there are always books, books, books, books. So many have been published on every aspect of gardening, you’ll surely find one that satisfies the gardeners on your list.

And long after the holidays have passed, they’ll have a reminder of your gift, on the bookshelf and in the garden.

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, c/o Maine Weekend, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.