This gift guide for backyard gardeners and permaculture gardeners will give you all kinds of ideas for the holiday and Christmas season. Find ideas for garden tools, gloves, seed starting, mini greenhouses, and more. You’ll find the perfect holiday gift for the gardener in your life!
If you know someone who has a backyard garden, and I’m sure that you do, I have some great gift ideas that they will love!
Many of these items are a little different than the normal gardening fare, and some of them even have a bit of a permaculture twist.
This gift guide for backyard gardeners is perfect for anyone who likes to grow their own food in a small space, whether it’s in a mini forest garden, permaculture swale planting bed, or in more traditional raised garden beds.
Be sure to check out my other gift guides as well, I have one for Foragers and Wildcrafters, another for Fermenters and Homebrewers, and a third one for Herbalists.
Related: 6 Easy Backyard Permaculture Projects for Beginners, and 12 Best Permaculture Books for Garden Planning.
Small Garden Tools
There are tons of different small garden tools out there, but there are a few that are a little bit more special. The first one is this Hori Hori Garden Knife.
It’s a multipurpose digging, landscaping, and weeding tool all in one, and is perfect for the small scale permaculture gardener!
Next up is the super cool CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator. It’s perfect for getting out tough weeds and for small cultivation projects.
Along those same lines is this Estwing Rock Pick. It’s not exactly marketed as a gardening tool, but it’s one that Joel uses all the time and couldn’t live without!
Then there are the famous Felco Pruners, which are pretty much known in the gardening world as “The Best Pruners in the World.” They are high quality pruners that will last a lifetime!
Of course, with that title and reputation comes a higher price tag, but these Corona Pruners are less than half the price and still good quality.
For pruning larger items and harvesting plants by the handful like lavender, lettuce mix, and greens, these Corona Shears are essential!
Another one of Joel’s must-haves in the garden is this Laplander Folding Saw. He uses it for cutting small branches and twigs of trees, which also works great for camping and backpacking!
Watering Cans & Hoses
While irrigation and automatic watering systems are great if you have something like that set up, nothing beats an old fashioned watering can!
This galvanized metal watering can will do the job perfectly, and it looks great too!
Kids need a watering can too! Not only do kids love to help in the garden, they also love watering! My son has this Green Toys watering can set and has used it for years. It’s perfect!
Hoses are also important, and I prioritize them being non-toxic and drinking water safe! Water Right hoses are the best, and they even have a soaker hose if that’s something you are looking for.
Garden Gloves
Of course, every gardener needs a good pair of gloves!
These bamboo gloves are perfect, and I love the green color!
For the kids out in the garden, these kids gardening gloves are great and come in different sizes. My toddler loves wearing them when he’s helping out in the garden (or with stacking wood)!
Seed Starting
There are a few handy items that will help out the seed starting efforts of the gardeners on your list this spring.
First up are seed starting trays. These come in all shapes and sizes for every situation!
There is also this super cool soil block maker if you want to give a DIY-type gift. I definitely want to get one of these for myself!
Then there are the seeds themselves, of course!
This Organic Herb Garden Seeds Kit with ten different seed packets from Garden Republic looks great and even comes with a wooden box and plant markers.
For a vegetable seed kit, this Home Garden Vegetable Seed Vault from Survival Garden Seeds looks perfect and gets great reviews (unlike many of the other seed vaults out there).
There are a couple of ways to help extend the growing season, too. This mini greenhouse is great for small spaces and perfect for getting seeds going early.
This cute little microgreens kit also makes a perfect gift for those who want to eat greens year-round!
Backyard Garden and Permaculture Books
I also have the perfect gardening and permaculture books for you to give as gifts! I either own these myself, or have checked them out from the library, and they are all great.
The Suburban Micro-Farm by my good friend Amy Stross of Tenth Acre Farm is an awesome beginner’s guide for building your own backyard permaculture garden!
Then there is the classic Gardening Without Work by Ruth Stout.
Next we have two books on growing more vegetables in a smaller space.
The first one is one of my very favorites, Square Foot Gardening: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space by Mel Bartholomew. We planted our fall garden this year using his methods and it’s been amazing!
The second one is How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine by John Jeavons.
The last two books I recommend are more Permaculture related.
Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway, is a great book to learn about pemaculture principles for beginners.
For those who want to learn more about permaculture in a whole systems approach, The Resilient Farm and Homestead by Ben Falk is an amazing resource!
The Backyard Forest Garden eBook
If you or someone you know wants to learn more about forest gardening, check out my ebook: The Backyard Forest Garden: How to Create a Small-Scale Food Forest.
It includes step-by-step instructions on how to design and build a forest garden right in your own backyard!
You’ll also find an extensive list of perennial permaculture food forest plants to consider including trees, shrubs, ground covers, and vines.
That’s all the gardening gift ideas I have for you today. I hope this gives you some inspiration for what to get your gardening friends for the holidays.
Karla says
I, too, love my hori hori. I don’t know how I gardened without it! My favorite one is the Miracle Gro hori hori. It has a split tip and a serrated edge for sawing.
city girl k says
Oh man, I loooooooove my hori hori knife. I got one as a gift – and I can testify – BEST GARDEN GIFT EVER.
Linda (@LeeLindaE) says
Thanks Colleen. This comes in handy as I’m always wondering what kind of tools and other implements gardeners love. So not only a gift guide to myself but to other gardeners.