Wondering what to gift your loved one who loves gardening? Whether it be flowers or vegetables I've got you covered with 10 ideas every grower is sure to love. These are my most used, go-to items as a professional cut flower grower. I grow thousands of cut stems each season and I'm always looking for tools and equipment to make cultivating and harvesting buckets and buckets of flowers more efficient and comfortable. None of these links are affiliates, sponsors, or advertisements I am simply sharing the things I love with fellow plant lovers.
In no particular order these are the must have things I cannot imagine growing without.
#1 - Felco pruners & sharpener
Felco brand pruners are the gold standard for cut flower growers and are worth the money. The craftsmanship is unbeatable and they come in a variety of sizes to fit your hand so they aren't too bulky (I have small hands) and easily become an extension of your body. They also offer replacement parts to repair the pruners you have, instead of buying if something begins to fail. One small thing I really appreciate about these is the locking mechanism is small, so I don't accidentally bump the lock mid-job (sooo irritating!).
Don't forget to buy the sharpener! Have ruthlessly sharp pruners is a requirement especially when harvesting cut flowers. Cleanly cut stems help flowers last longer in the vase when the xylem and phloem are cut and not crushed by a dull blade. I clean and sharpen my pruners multiple times a season and this sharpener helps me do it.
#2 - Tool belt
Working in the field it's so important to have all of my tools at hand to minimize walking back and forth but also keep my hands free to plant, weed, harvest or haul buckets. That's where the tool belt comes in. This belt has everything I need, and I wouldn't be caught without it! A big pouch for hand weeding tools, seed packets, rubber bands or cash for when I'm selling at the market. The small pockets are perfect for pruners, my florist knife, and plant markers. There's pen pockets I use for ink pens and garden markers. And my favorite... the phone pocket! It keeps my phone in place where it's easy to find and won't get scratched by the other tools in the belt.
#3 - Knee pads
I like to consider myself young, and I would like to keep it that way. Especially when it comes to my joints. Growing flowers is a very physically demanding job and knee pads were a game changer for me. I spend hours kneeling while planting and hand weeding, and that takes a toll on my knees (no matter how "young" they are). Kneeling pads are great, but knee pads that go wherever you go without having to carry them is even better. These knee pads are designed for carpenters and they are a dream for gardeners. They are so cushy and comfortable, but also stand up to the mud and dirt in the flower field. I love them and would buy them again and again.
#4 - Wire weeder
Ugh weeds. The bane of every grower's existence. The faster I can weed the better. I plant my rows of flowers very intensively to help choke out weeds. But that sometimes makes it difficult to use other long handled weeders when working around small seedlings. The right hand tools can make the job quick and almost painless. This Wire Weeder from Johnny's Selected Seeds make short work of the small weeds you would normally be pinching, without disturbing the soil. It also comes in a long handled model, which I will most likely be purchasing this spring because I love the handheld one so much!
#5 - Garden Marker
Take it from me, permanent markers aren't permanent in the field. UV light fades your standard marker so by the time summer and fall roll around all your plant labels are illegible. What variety was this again? Of course, in a perfect world we would all also document on a electronic or paper schematic of our garden what we grew where. But when the weather is good you plant, and documenting what you planted and where it went often goes to the wayside (at least for me)! This garden marker solves that problem. It really is fade resistant. I occasionally find a lost tag from a season (or two) ago and I can still read it!
#6 - Tool Bag
This one is for anyone who gardens any distance from their home. Whether it be across a large yard or like me, a few miles down the road having a tool bag to store all my tools and supplies in something I can grab and toss in the car is essential. It's big enough to store and organize extra items I use in my tool belt (pruners, weeders, seeds, markers, plant tags and even my knee pads) but small enough to live in my car and can be easily removed if need be.
#7 - Garden Gloves
Every grower can use new leather gloves. I go through at least one to two pairs every season. Spring planting is wet and cold, weeding tools give you blisters, and stripping the leaves off stems for cut flower production all take a toll on your hands. Leather gloves are durable and can withstand the hard tasks that gardening requires. These, along with a high quality moisturizing hand lotion, will make any grower happy.
#8 - Worm Bin
Give the gift of worms! The easiest, quietest and most well behaved pet you can ever have, worms give back more than they take. This vermicompost kit has everything you need to make black gold for your garden. I personally own this kit and it lives in a corner of my kitchen. Yes, I have worms in my kitchen. Every few days I throw in some produce that's gone bad or trimmings while chopping veggies for dinner, cover them with some shredded newspaper or coffee grounds with the filter and voila! Castings to make worm tea or to add to my seedling starting mix. I purchased worms from Midwest Worms and they mailed them to me, otherwise if your local bait and tackle shop sells red wrigglers buy a couple tubs and you're good to go! And if you're curious about possible odors, a well maintained bin is odorless. My dog who eats EVERYTHING doesn't bother my worms in the slightest.
#9 - Open Ear Headphones
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