Christmas Gifts for Greenhouse Gardeners: Holiday Gifts a Gardener will Love and Use
Hobby gardeners use greenhouses to extend their growing season. Creative technologists and hobby greenhouse suppliers regularly offer new and useful products. Choosing a gift for the greenhouse gardener that adds to his capability or knowledge is always welcome.
Carts
Carts are used to move around plants and dirt. Greenhouse garden carts are not wheelbarrows. They are lightweight, heavy-duty plastic or wood carriers with deep sides to support plants and dirt. The wheels are much larger than a wheelbarrow, and the platform is more stable, so the cart is less likely to tip over while being moved.
Tools
Hand tools such as trowels and mini-spades are always in use in a greenhouse garden. Sometimes, though, the tools can become lost or broken. If purchasing a hand tool set for a greenhouse gardener, choose tools that are one piece with dipped handles rather than ones where the working end is stuck into the handle. These tend to break or bend under the efforts of a greenhouse gardener.
A useful tool that is not always in a gardener’s tool set is the dipple. Dipples are cone shaped tools made of wood or metal that makes pushing a bulb or plant hole in the soil easy. Add a garden tool belt or bucket-shaped carrier onto the Christmas list. Another tool-related gift is the organizer. Garden tool organizers for greenhouses need a small footprint that can be hung or freestanding. One can find an organizer at hardware stores and on-line.
A power sprayer is useful to clean dirt and muck from the greenhouse floor and to clean tools before putting them away. Every greenhouse gardener knows that clean tools last longer, and clean floors keep down pests and diseases according to the Cornell University Integrated Pest Management Guide for Greenhouses.
Job Aids
Computer software is available for the greenhouse grower that helps with planning, production, and inventory, and accounting. Texas A&M University offers a few suggestions on nursery software offerings. Another thoughtful gift for the greenhouse gardener is a subscription to one of the several greenhouse gardening and management magazines. Some good greenhouse grower magazines include Greenhouse Grower, Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouse Magazine and The Growing Edge.
Giving a greenhouse gardener a gift that recognizes his interests and passions is both thoughtful and useful. For those occasions that one is not sure what gift is needed by the gardener, one can always resort to the ubiquitous gift card to a special purpose Nursery Grower Supply or Home Harvest.
