Real Gifts for Real Gardens
Whether the person on your list is the gardener, reaps the benefits of a gardener, or is stuck with the yard chores, one of these hand selected tools will make a unique, personal gift. As an added bonus, they will last for decades.
Every household should have a pair of dedicated "garden scissors" - small and light weight with soft handles and narrow blades that stay sharp. I recommend the Joyce Chen Unlimited Scissor and ARS craft scissors, sometimes called Harvesting Scissors. At about 6" in length, they have all the qualities mentioned above, and the Joyce Chen even come in an array of bright colors. Use them to cut flowers for a bouquet, snip herbs for your dinner, or deadhead perennials.
Felco makes the gold standard of pruners, and they are worth it. If someone in your household does the pruning, they deserve these pruners. The mechanisms do not break, stick or rust. And you can send them to Felco for a sharpening, or a complete overhaul as I just did after 20 years of service. The recipient of this gift will know you did your research when he or she unwraps this.
The third unique, fun, and versatile gift is the Trake. I met the creator of this inventive tool soon after she started the patent process years ago. Confounded by the myriad of hand tools for small planting tasks, she combined a trowel and a rake into one. The main benefit, however, is not just the rake on the end, but the ergonomics of the whole tool. It just really works. The Trake is perfect for planting bulbs, plugs, and 4" plants as well as weeding and aerating root balls. It is not the tool for gardens that grow rocks. (If you don't know what that means, consider yourself lucky).
Best of all, these can all fit in a stocking! Click on the name below each product for more information.
