Sustainable holiday gift ideas for the gardener
Every sustainable holiday season is about making changes to the way we approach gift giving. Environment Lethbridge has some great ideas about how to make an green holiday impact with friends and family. Make sure you check out our Green Gift Guide for ideas before you head out to brave the mall or order online. For gardeners, Canadian winter is the time for summer dreaming, if only just to stay warm. If you know a special person who is planning to make their yard more drought-tolerant next season or you’d like to make a statement at your office gift exchange, we have a few great gift ideas for the sustainable gardener who doesn’t YET have everything.
Seed Packets
Right now is the BEST time to purchase seeds for the upcoming season and seed packets make great, inexpensive stocking stuffers. Canadians have several large-scale seed companies: West Coast Seeds (west coast, obviously), McKenzie Seeds (central), and Vesseys (east coast). They are ready for next year’s growing season now and do rigorous germination testing and seed cleaning to offer you excellent products. West Coast Seeds offers great advice, even for the prairie gardener, in their catalog and on their website, McKenzie seeds specialises in short-season cultivars, and Vesseys has an outstanding varieties of bulbs. Go for a mixed seed packet, wildflowers, pre-order a gift of spring bulbs, or go wild with a fun short season pumpkin to grow for Halloween. If you want something hyper-local, check out the seeds at ALCLA Native Plants or Wildrose Heritage Seed Company.
Ollas
Buried terra-cotta watering vessels (pronounced “oya”) are probably the best investment you can make for the patio gardener in our arid region. Ollas are a very old technology that offers plants water directly to their roots, while simultaneously protecting the water source from evaporation and heat. Ollas can be used for flowering annuals as well as vegetables and herbs in containers, raised beds, in-ground beds, and smaller varieties can also be used inside with houseplants. They are definitely a value-added gift that keeps on giving season after season (but in our climate, they do need to be removed, cleaned, and dried before storing in the fall to avoid damage, but that’s another blog). There are no local suppliers of this product but here are some DIY instructions for an interesting homemade present!
Books
Books are always a great gift option and even a holiday tradition in some cultures. Consider some of the following books for the beautiful colour photos, garden plans for inspiration, and important ways to benefit and/or recognise the species in your yard.
The revised Victory Gardens for Bees by Lori Weidnhammer is a great choice to learn about our hardworking pollinators and the author was just featured at Lethbridge’s Word on the Street. The book includes plans for container gardening and in-ground plants that benefit & support our native bee population.
Another great choice is the long-time favourite of beneficial and medicinal plant lovers (and one that never gathers dust in my house), The Boreal Herbal by Beverly Gray. This book highlights the most important forage native plants of the north, offers ways to recognise the plant in the wild (or in your yard), and also includes recipes!
Finally, consider 100 Easy-to-Grow Native Plants for Canadian Gardens by “cultivation activist” Lorraine Johnson, revised with attention to drought-tolerance. This author has written many amazing Canadian gardening books (be forewarned on checking hardiness zones, though, as she lives in southern Ontario). Remember, we have a great local bookstore that can order all of these just in time for giving: Analog Books, of course!
Art supplies
Mapping, planning, and plant-based art is the stuff of a gardener’s winter dreams. Graph paper, tracing paper, watercolour pencils, rulers, and garden journals are always welcome to the forward-thinking garden planner. In the spirit of green giving, please consider locally made art products or purchase from local stores.
Hose timer
This simple but effective device can save everyone time and water in the summer! Every water-conscious gardener with a hose should have one. The simplest version, a mechanical timer with a wind mechanism, is also inexpensive enough to make an interesting addition to the office gift exchange!
We hope you have the merriest of sustainable holidays this year! If you’re still looking for ideas, here are a couple former Green Your Everyday blogs: one about alternative Christmas giving to augment the experience of holidays and another about reusable wrapping which you can store with your holiday decorations. Enjoy your sweets, treats, some restful quiet time, and we will see you in the new year!
