Now that Black Friday has come and gone, you can head out to the stores and do your Christmas shopping without fear of being trampled for cheap merchandise. If someone you know is obsessive over their lawn and garden, it can be tempting just to grab them a gift card and let them go at it. Some people don’t like to go the gift card route, though, so here are some suggestions.
For the obsessive fertilizer, pay to have their soil professionally analyzed at a local university. Home pH test kits are nice, but that’s all they test for. Taking a soil sample to a testing center can provide information regarding the levels of nitrogen and carbon, the pH balance, and recommended actions to be taken dependent on the type of lawn and types of flowers or crops they may want to grow.
For the grease monkey, give a complete maintenance kit including oil, a new oil filter , an air filter, a pre-cleaner, spark plugs, fuel stabilizer, new fuel filter and and oil bag. If you doubt if they have any of the proper maintenance tools, it never hurts to have extras – repair parts such as washers, funnels, and o-rings are easy to misplace, so anyone who wants to fix their own equipment will always be happy to have spares on hand. Gift packs are sometimes available from the manufacturer for different models, or piece one together yourself. Just make sure to get the right parts for the right makes and models.
On the other hand, a good gift for the mechanically inept would be to pay for their lawn mower to be tuned up by a professional, and provide the transport for it yourself. Some lawn mower repair shops are fairly slow in the winter, so you may be able to get a half-decent deal from them as well.
For the constant gardener, let them keep going through the winter with a vertical indoor succulent planter that lets them keep their green thumb active even when it’s freezing outside. This gift provides pleasant decoration for inside, and if you don’t feel succulents are up their alley, there are other choices available, including herb and vegetables.
For the guys who can never find the right tool, a pegboard kit will help them get organized and cut down on the amount of time digging through buckets trying to find the right tool. The best part about pegboard kits, versus shelves that are anchored into the wall, is that they are customizable to fit the tools that the person has, and adding more storage is a snap. Another option is a stand-up organizer with holes for the handles of tools, but these don’t address the other miscellaneous lawn and garden things like spare parts, seeds, and the like.
For the new lawn owner, give them the gift of knowledge. While the internet is great for information, see about paying for them to go to basic lawn and garden maintenance classes. These are often available at a local home store, university extension office, or through community events.
So get shopping, you don’t want to wait until the last minute.
