17 Unusual Gifts for Gardeners of All Levels

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Finding unusual gifts for gardeners is hard to do when you’re limited to local nurseries because everything sold are necessities that most gardeners already have too much off.

There’s only so many seeds they need, a limited number of plant pots they can use depending on space and they likely already have the essential hand tools they need to get their gardening chores done.

Gifts for gardeners that are always appreciated are those that are practical, serve a functional purpose or add to their garden landscape such as ornamentals or decorative watering spikes that help keep plants watered from the roots.

Whether you’re buying a gift for a gardener you know for their Christmas, birthday, or as a Valentine’s gift for a lover who adores their garden, you’ll find plenty of ideas in this list of unusual gifts for novice to experienced gardeners who seem to already have it all.

Unusual Gifts for Gardeners

1 – A Pencil with Seeds

A pencil with seeds in the tip of it instead of the usual eraser tip is a gift that gardeners will find unique and helpful as they can use it for labeling herbs or various plants around the garden.

It’ll be even more appealing to those who journal, write frequently or enjoy drawing because once the pencil has been sharpened away to a stub, it can then be planted in the garden where the seed capsule in the tip of it blossoms into gorgeous flowers, herbs or even vegetables.

Find a pencil with seeds here (on Amazon).

2 – Animal Planter

Ornamentals are always a good gift for gardeners as it adds color and character into the landscape.

Animal planters are available for almost all types of pets and wildlife from giraffes and rhinos, to small corgi dogs, cats, squirrels, owls, hedgehogs and even frogs.

Find animal planters here (on Amazon).

3 – Nasturtium Seeds and/or Suitable Containers for Butterfly Gardening

Gardeners have a lot of respect for wildlife and some will grow specific plants for environmental reasons, one of which are to attract and care for butterflies as they’re becoming increasingly at risk of disappearing due to less green space being available.

Nasturtium plants can be grown in suitably sized containers (to prevent spreading) that are planted in the ground close to a vegetable patch.

Caterpillars are attracted to Nasturtium, which some gardeners will consider to be pests but grown strategically, they can be used as suitable housing plants for caterpillars to use until they mature and flourish into beautiful butterflies.

You can find nasturtium seeds and/or containers for butterfly gardening at a local garden center.

4 – A Microscope

Gardeners need a hand lens or small microscope to inspect plants close-up to identify various parts of the plant so they can spot potential problems before they become a problem. They’re also handy for identifying insects to determine if they’re beneficial or indeed pests that’ll cause the plant problems.

A hand lens for gardeners usually magnifies from 30x up to as high as 80x and are used more by gardeners than binoculars with 7x to 10x magnification which are more suitable to use for spotting flying wildlife such as bees, butterflies and birds.

For a practical gardening gift that’ll be used the most, the hand lens microscope is more practical than binoculars.

Find a 40x microscope here (on Amazon).

5 – Plant Inspired Meditation Deck of Cards

These are cards printed with unique flower art based on plants from the artists garden and surrounding woods in Maine. They could be an ideal gift for someone on a journey of self-reflection who enjoys time in solitude in their garden or with nature for quiet self-reflection – a personal journey of growth.

Another way to use these would be create framed collage art by pairing various flower art cards together to display in a summer house or a conservatory.

Find a plant inspired meditation deck here (at Uncommon Goods).

6 – Wall Plaque Herb Drier

Drying herbs can be a great way to make herbs last longer. It’s possible to have fresh herbs year-round that still pack a potent punch by using a hanging herb drier rather than a cooker.

Herbs can be dried two ways.

• Cooked
• Air dried

Air drying is the best method because it keeps the flavors in the herbs rather being lost due to the cooking process, even if it is in an oven at a very low temperature.

Hooks and twine are all someone needs to make their own herb hanger but when those hooks are attached to a natural wood plaque with word art, it adds to the décor and creates a more homely feel.

Find a wooden herb drier here (on Amazon).

7 – Garden Hose Guide Spikes

Getting the garden hose around the garden or through a garden to a driveway to wash a car or even to clean the patio can be problematic for gardeners.

What tends to happen a lot of the time is the hose gets dragged through plants and shrubs as it’s moved around the garden. Garden hose spikes are used to create a guide line, preventing the hose from damaging plants.

Hose spikes can be as simple as small pegs placed into the ground around the areas you want to protect, or they can be decorative to add more décor to the garden while serving a functional purpose.

A neat aspect of giving hose spike guides as a gardening gift is that they just need to be sturdy. They are available as brass spikes, gold, bronze, silver and many are decorated with things like butterflies or ornamental flowers.

Small and sturdy garden solar lights are another option that gardeners can use to make a guide to keep the hose off plants and shrubs.

Find garden hose guide spikes here (on Amazon).

8 – Potting Bench

For potting plants, a dedicated potting bench beats trying to work on a flat countertop or even the picnic bench in the backyard as there’s dedicated storage space for gardening tools too.

Some potting benches are entire workstations with sinks and a water connection to hook up a hose for rinsing the roots of plants, whereas others are simple wood designs with integrated shelving and hanging hooks to keep all the necessary tools organized.

For someone who has recently installed a new garden shed, a potting bench would be an appreciated gift as it will be used.

Find a garden potting bench here (on Amazon).

9 – Boot Scraper

You don’t need to be a gardener to know that dirty boots are a nuisance. More so for gardeners as welly boots or gardening clogs are likely to be caked in dirt each time they tend to their garden even if it is just to mow the lawn.

A boot scraper that’s installed outdoors lets gardeners clean their boots, possibly before stepping on decking depending where they install it.

These can be used to prevent dirt getting trailed from the garden indoors, or to clean boots before walking onto an outdoor decked area of the garden as they’re heading back inside. They can even be used at the entrances of greenhouses and sheds to keep the mess to a minimum.

Find a boot scraper here (on Amazon).

10 – O’keefes Workers Hand Cream

Gardeners use a variety of hand tools with various degrees of intensity, work with soils frequently and their skin is in contact with the sap from plants. Overtime, dry and cracked skin can become a painful problem.

Workers hand cream can be used to strengthen the skin, preventing dry and cracked chipped from becoming a problem.

O’Keefe’s is listed here as it’s developed by a pharmacologist for her father who had dry skin from working as a rancher, but any skin cream that’s designed for working hands will be an appreciated gift for a gardener.

Find O’keefes Working Hands cream here (on Amazon).

11 – Kneeling Pad

Kneeling pads are a more practical solution to knee pads for gardeners as they’re simply put in front of the bedding plants or shrubs to be pruned.

The more padding there is, the comfier the board will be. Some have no padding though and are just for keeping the knees of gardeners clean.

For anyone who’s partner tends to do a lot of bending while pruning plants, the kneeling pad will be a welcome addition to their gardening tool kit as it promotes a healthier way of gardening by kneeling instead of bending as much.

The result is less back pain from gardening activities and it sure beats putting on two knee pads like skateboarders wear.

Find a kneeling pad here (on Amazon).

12 – Ride-on Garden Scooter

The ride-on garden scooter is a step-up from the kneeling pad as gardeners can sit on their backside close to ground level, making it comfier and easier to prune their garden plants and shrubs.

Instead of getting up and down and moving a kneeling pad to different positions, gardeners with a ride-on scooter can just wheel along rows of shrubs, tending to their plants standing and kneeling.

For anyone with a larger garden or spends a lot of time on their knees, they’ll appreciate the more comfortable approach of sitting close to ground level and the ease of moving along rows and plants or around larger shrubs.

Find a garden scooter here (on Amazon).

13 – Overshoe Pullover Slippers

Pushover slippers use the same idea as slipping a plastic carrier bag over dirty shoes before stepping indoors. Gardeners can’t spend all their days outdoors. On occasion, they need to step inside again, be it to answer the phone, a knock at the door or to make a cup of tea.

Without pullover slippers (or shoe liners), dirt will be dragged inside and there’s going to be nagging about getting the floors dirty. Pullover shoes are shoes for your shoes, boots, or wellies.

Find overshoe pullover slippers here (at BigFoot of Maine).

14 – Gathering Apron

It’s estimated that 1% of US homeowners have backyard chickens, primarily to have fresh eggs on demand. A gathering apron is the ideal gift for a gardener with backyard chickens.

It’s a mess-free and convenient way to collect eggs instead of trying to juggle over a half dozen eggs or folding up sweaters into makeshift carrying cradles.

You can find a gathering apron at a local farm and fleet store.

15 – Trail Camera or Garden Camera

A trail camera is used by outdoor enthusiasts on camping trips as they’re motion activated so they’re great for capturing video footage of wildlife.

For the gardener though, they serve a more practical purpose of identifying the type of wildlife that’s destroying plants through the night.

Gardeners spend a lot of time and money on their gardens and on wildlife protection methods to keep their garden in one piece, instead of being food for the local wildlife.

When a gardener finds their garden is being eaten by something through the night, the garden or trail cam is the solution to find out the type of animal, and then they can put protection methods in place to steer the animals away.

There are other compact garden cameras that aren’t motion activated but instead, they’re placed in the garden to take periodic photos showing your plant grow.

Gardeners can use these to record still images taken at set intervals, such as every hour, to either watch an area of their garden come together as various plants grow, or to hone in and watch a particular plant bloom.

Find a motion activated trail camera here (on Amazon).

16 – Flower Press

A flower press would be a great gift for someone who loves their garden and is interested in art. It lets them combine two of their favorite pastimes by making art from pressed dried flowers.

These can be applied to thick card, inserted into frames and put on display either in a summer house, or on shelves either within a conservatory or on the shelf of a potting bench as a little piece of garden art to decorate their work area.

Find a flower press here (on Amazon).

17 – Decorative Root Watering Systems

Gardeners know the best plants are grown from healthy and well-fed routes so watering is hugely important. Deep drip spikes and other types of root watering systems are available and make for great gifts.

In particular, when the design of the root watering system is complimentary to their garden or a particular potted plant.

A range of root watering systems are available on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, which can be difficult to shop for unique gardeners’ gifts as so many are cheap imports and designed for function without aesthetics.

Getting both is rare but it’s been done by a US-based husband and wife duo at Water Blossoms Creations.

Watch the video demo:

And check out the Water Blossoms Flower and Stem collection here.

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