Gift Ideas for the Gardener in Your Life

 It's that time of year again! I sincerely hope you are able to enjoy the holiday season and not get

My daughter holding a gift that sadly, isn't
garden related.

bogged down in obligations and stress. In writing a post on gift ideas, I realize I may be buying into the more materialistic side of Christmas but rest assured, I make no money whatsoever for writing this blog and there are no affiliate links. It is my belief that a thoughtful gift builds relationships and warms the heart. If you have a loved one who enjoys gardening, or even just has a yard to take care of, then this post is designed to get your creativity going. 

1. Gardening gloves. You can never have enough. They wear out and you need new ones. I find both the leather work gloves and the rubber tipped gloves handy for different tasks. 

2. Hand tools like a soil knife or hand pruners. Don't ever buy adults plastic tools. You can find good, steal hand tools at any hardware or home improvement store. 

3. Larger tools like a spade or leaf rake are harder to wrap but are just as necessary to anyone who has a yard. 

4. A gardening magazine subscription! I suggest going to a large bookstore and looking at their magazine section. Buy the one you like best and then fill out the subscription card to on behalf of your friend. 

5. In the same vein, we gardeners love books. There are gardening books on everything from preserving food to composting to growing wildflowers. I recommend anything by Monty Don. 

6. A good sun hat is very helpful for gardening. 

7. A lovely house plant can help us plant lovers get through the winter. 

8. Gift cards to local garden centers are fantastic. The last time someone gave me a gift card for that, I spent about half of it on mulch and soil and was happy to do so. 

9. There are a multitude of funny gardening t shirts out there from "Introverted but will talk about plants" to "Save the galaxy, plant a Groot." 

10. Interesting and rare seeds. Just be sure they will grow in the climate zone your friend lives in. I will say, I recommend Baker Creek Seeds for this. 

Contrary to what you might be thinking, this post is NOT to drop hints about what I want for Christmas. However, I hope it gives you some ideas. Are you into gardening? What do you want for Christmas?

Gift Ideas for Gardeners

 So, I thought when my master gardener classes started, I'd blog about all the stuff I was learning. I am learning a lot but I just got swamped and now it's been too long since my last post. However, I feel like I'm starting to get caught up on life and have time to help you all out with your Christmas shopping. 

Please note, I make no money for this blog so my recommendations are not biased, it's just what I honestly thing would be great gifts for anyone with a green thumb. Yes, I'm kinda dropping hints for what I'd like for Christmas too. ha ha ha

First, tools. Anyone with a lawn to take care of needs certain things like a spade, leaf rake, soil knife and pruners. My advice it to check with anyone the recipient lives with to see what they already have and what needs replacing. Fiskars is an affordable brand available at most hardware stores but I'm really excited about my new higher end pruners I got from my mom for my birthday. 

Second, gloves. All gardeners need gloves, both thick leather gloves and the finer, rubber tipped ones. Even if they already have gloves, they will eventually wear out and need replacing. Honestly, you could put gloves in my stocking every year and I'd be happy. 

Third, books and magazines. We gardeners really need reading material to keep us occupied in the winter while our gardens rest. Anything from insect and plant identification books, to how too manuals, to garden travel memoirs ( I read Monty Don's book on French Gardens last winter and it was great.) Magazine subscriptions are also a great idea. Who doesn't love looking at magazines about their favorite hobby?

Finally, gift cards to local garden centers. You really can't go wrong with this one. We gardeners will just hold onto them till Spring and then pick out the plants we want. Actually, someone gave me a $50 gift card to a garden center once and I spent over half of it on mulch and dirt. It was awesome. 

Well, I hope that got you thinking. If you're a gardener and have some gift ideas in addition, please comment about them below!

DIY A Basic Fresh Evergreen Centerpiece

Nothing says traditional Christmas centerpiece like fresh evergreens. The options for crafting a fresh evergreen centerpiece are limitless so this post will focus on the basics. Once you have that down, you can experiment with loads of colors and materials.

What you'll need:
1. Waterproof container
2. Wet floral foam (dry foam is just for silk flowers)
3.  Floral Tape, wire or glue to attach foam to container.
4. At least two types of evergreens, preferably 3. I prefer a short needle spruce or fir, a long needle pine and something fun like cyprus or holly.
5. Ribbon
6. Taper Candles if you want them.
7. Pine cones and real or fake berries
8. Sharp pruners
9. Leaf Shine (optional)


First, attach the foam to the container. It's ok to use a sharp knife to cut the foam down to the size you need. I fi
nd tape is the easiest method to use. Then thoroughly, and I mean thoroughly soak the foam.

Second, and this is important, if you want to use taper candles you must put them in now. Be careful because you really only get one chance to put the candles in strait and even. Large, multiple holes in the foam will cause it to fall apart.

Third, use greens around the bottom to outline the shape of centerpiece you want. Be sure to strip the needles off the stem where it will go into the foam. The needles can rip up the foam. Then fill in completely with evergreens. You should not be able to see any foam when you're done putting in greens.

If you're using leaf shine (available at craft stores) now is the time to use it. It improves the appearance of your greens and can lengthen their shelf life.

Fourth, add your decorations! I made two simple bows to put on each side. I also wired pine cones and artificial berries to add color and texture. You can also add fresh flowers of course but they won't last as long as the greens will.

This can be a hard skill to learn. I've literally created hundreds of them. Be patient, practice and don't demand perfection of yourself. It should be fun! Merry Christmas!

Toddler Proof Christmas Decorating Part 2

Last week I wrote about how to enjoy beautiful Christmas decorating even if you have young children in the house. This week, I want to focus in on the ultimate Christmas decoration - the tree. We've all heard of or experienced a pet or child related Christmas tree disaster. While I can't make any guarantees, I will share what's worked well for us.

First, a smaller tree might help if you have a younger toddler. In our old home, we had a really small living room so we would buy a fresh, four foot tree and tie it to the top of a side table. We then put a small skirt over the stand and the rope and it looked lovely and was, for the most part, out of our daughter's reach.

If you love a full size tree, as I do, then you can tie it to the wall in the back to help prevent the tree from being pulled over. While the tree is up, you can't see it at all. When the tree is done, there is just a very small nail that no one ever notices.

Second, many writers suggest that if you have pets or children, then you should buy a tree with soft needles (assuming you're buying fresh, if you like artificial trees then this won't apply). However, I see things differently. It's a pain to decorate but if you use a fresh tree with very prickly needles - like a spruce tree - will act as a deterrent to the smaller inhabitants of your home. 

Third, everyone knows to put the fragile ornaments at the top of your tree out of the kids reach. Be sure to affix them firmly so if the tree is shaken for any reason the ornaments stay put. Also, be sure to have plenty of unbreakable ornaments around the bottom of the tree to keep your kids distracted from the ones higher up.

Finally, keep a sense of humor and remember that this is your kids home too. Even as perfectionist as I can be, last year I was fine with my daughter pulling ornaments off and playing with them. As long as she left the lights alone, we were fine with her "messing it up".

I know some people put gates or fences around their tree to keep the kids away but I never liked that idea. It takes up too much space, it looks bad and it sends the message to the kids that Christmas is hands off. However, every home is different and you've gotta do what works for you.

Also, I should mention that safety is crucial. Be sure to use relatively new lights that have less or no heat and won't start a fire. Keep all open flames well away from your tree.

How do you keep your Christmas tree beautiful? Be sure to post your tips in the comments below.

Toddler Proof Christmas Decorating Part 1

I realize this post is a departure from my normal subject matter but my garden is all but done for the year and this topic is very pertinent right now. Before becoming a stay at home mom, I actually got paid to decorate private homes and businesses for Christmas and I miss it, but having a two year old has brought new challenges. If you too, would like a festive home but have little ones (or pets, come to think of it) then this post is for you!

First, and I hate to state the obvious, consider scaling back on decorations in general. I'm a flaming hypocrite for saying it but think of it this way: you may love that wooden nativity set (and yes, it's not fragile) but do you want to pick it up off the floor six times a day? Me neither.

Second, embrace soft textiles. The stores are full of festive throw blankets and decorative pillows. You kids can't break them and they'll also keep you warm and comfortable - win, win! Just keep the grape juice and sharpies out of the family room....

Third, floating shelves are your friends. If you do want to display figurines, candles and vases that are breakable, then clear off your floating shelves and re-decorate them for Christmas. You can get your regular stuff back out in January. Floating shelves can make your house look festive and beautiful without your heirlooms getting broken.

Fourth, have a designated mess zone. I've actually heard moms say they dread making cookies with their kids because of the mess. How sad, because crafts and baking projects are the stuff that priceless memories are made of! So, designate a place in your house, for me it's my dining area, where the kids are allowed to make a mess. Ideally, there won't be carpet or anything else you don't want getting dirty.

Finally, be careful with poinsettia's and decorative berries like Holly and pepper berry. None of them are good for your pets or kids. They're beautiful but I'm not having them in my home until my kids are old enough that I don't have to worry about them eating them.

So, those are my best tips. How do you decorate with kids in mind? Stay tuned for next week when I share my tips for your Christmas tree.

Finding Enough

As I write this, it's only 4 short days till Christmas. I could post last minute cooking tips or gift ideas but the internet is full of them. So, even though I have loads of ideas for winter posts (stay tuned!) I'm going to stray a little bit from the norm and talk about simplicity. When is life good enough?

A few weeks ago I was thinking about everything I needed to do before Christmas and it felt like I heard God whisper

"Isn't Jesus enough?" 

How incredibly thought provoking. The creator of the universe becomes a lowly human baby in order to teach us about Himself, show us how to live and die for our sins but we feel it isn't enough. We invent stories about fat men in the north pole, spend more and more money on people who already have tons of stuff, and gorge ourselves on sugar. Now, I love Christmas traditions and I'm not saying any of those things are bad, per se. It's just that they stress us out and take our minds off of the things that really matter.

Why am I writing this? Because it's only 4 days till Christmas. Wherever you're at in the planning, know when to call it enough. Jesus is enough. If you possibly can, enjoy some quiet time and decide to call it good enough.

How to Create the Perfect Evergreen Decorations Part 2

The first Christmas in a new home means figuring out how to do decorations. It can be very easy to get into a decorating rut: the tree always goes in the same corner, the nativity is placed on the same table and so forth. So this year feels like a clean slate for me, which is fun. On the other hand, I didn't want to go crazy and set the bar too high for future years. Here is what I came up with:

The window boxes where a gift from my father in law who is great at building things from wood. They were installed last month so this is the first thing I've ever put in them. Seriously, if you're going to do window boxes, you've gotta put some evergreen in them. It's not just for Christmas either, you can keep greens and pine cones out all winter and it looks great.

First, fill in with evergreens, keeping in mind the height and width you want. I didn't want to block the view out the window so I kept it short. You'll definitely want to use at least two different kinds of evergreen - typically a short needled fir and a long needled pine. I also added holly. The greens should completely cover the dirt underneath.

Second, add any ribbon, berries, sticks or pine cones that you have on hand. I've been loving burlap which will look great all winter. Pretty, huh?









Making your own wreaths is a bit hard core. It really takes time to wire that all together. If you're a purist like me and are determined to make your own, then you really need to check out a few youtube videos on how to do it. It's not that complicated but you've gotta see video to really get it. Alternatively, you could always buy the $8 wreath at Walmart and then decorate it yourself. The one I did here is a mixture of douglas fir, white pine and holly. I then added burlap ribbon, pine cones and artificial berries. I love real berries but with a toddler, I don't feel it's safe.

Pinterest gave me an idea for a porch light swag which was a snap to make. If you've never worked with evergreen before, swags are the place to start. You can do it!

Finally, you got to have a real tree. We had a blast discovering a local tree farm (just 5 minutes away!) and cutting our own tree (ok, Brian did all of that). My daughter is almost two and loved putting ornaments on. I'd love to hear about your evergreen projects and family traditions in the comments below!

How To Create The Perfect Evergreen Decorations Part 1

 Even after years of retail work, and seeing all of the materialism and consumerism it can entail, I still love the holidays. Singing carols, giving gifts, baking and so much more make December just fabulous. Every year, I also just love decorating, especially with fresh evergreens. The pictures in this post are from our old home last year.

1. Pine Roping is a favorite for me. It's classic, beautiful and very affordable. If you're made of money, you can go with cedar roping but I think the pine looks great and costs much less.

2. Containers can be so beautiful filled with a mix of fresh evergreens, red berries, and pine cones. Most gardeners have containers lying around unused in the winter. Put them to good use!

3. Who can resist a beautiful wreath? It's not hard to make your own with a wire frame and a good mix of greens, pine cones and a pretty bow. Check out youtube for some great how to videos on making your own wreath.

4. Of course, you've gotta have  a great, fresh tree. Our old house was so small, we could only get a small tree. I think it was really cute with pretty ribbon, lights and a very eclectic mix of ornaments that really represent our family. I can't wait to get a large, full size tree for our new living room!

5. When you think about decorating with fresh evergreens, maybe the first thing you think of is a beautiful centerpiece. I'm not going to lie, these are difficult to make yourself. As someone who not only has made hundreds of them, but has tried to teach others how to make them, I know. However, you can find them at any local florist and some grocery stores.



That's a look back at last year. After I get the new place decorated, I'll be sure to post pictures of that as well. Hopefully, this post will get you excited and inspired to make your own home beautiful and festive this holiday season.