I have the pleasure of meeting a lot of people in my store in December who are not gardeners. They are grandchildren, wives, husbands, children, friends, sometimes business associates of gardening people. They have all the right instincts. There is a person in their life whom they love and admire, who gardens. They have a mind to speak to that love with a gift. I am asked, what do you recommend? These topiary tree ornaments- a traditional landscape form transformed into a tree ornament-I do love these.
Baileys, a well known English purveyor of anything fabulous and vintage, home and garden is a supplier to us; we carried their orange scented candles for the better part of ten years. The jar assembly makes it easy to put a lid on, when the candle is not in use. That delicious orange scent lasts and lasts. Though they quit making these candles a few years ago, they have recently resumed production-I am sure Rob had a big hand in this. Irresistibly citrusy-doesn’t this sound good?
These hobnail glass pitchers are pure Americana. Filled with iced tea, summer flowers, drying fall grasses-versatile. Equally at home on the dining room table or the picnic bench, they would make much of a few stems of flowers from the garden.
I am not much for gloves, but gardening people swear by these Pallinas made in Red Wing, Minnesota. These soft goatskin gloves have sturdy boarhide gauntlets in two lengths, making them perfect for working with roses. They fit well and look good. When I have to wear gloves, these are what I want.
Pinus coulteri is a long needled pine native to the coastal mountains of southern California. This tree produces the largest pine cones in the world. They can weigh in excess of five pounds each; the locals call the “widowmakers”. A grove of coulter pines is most definitely a hard hat zone. They are harvested for sale for the beautiful object that they are.
Gardeners are steady consumers of soap. Why not a soap whose fragrance instantly brings the garden to mind? Though we carry Nesti Dante from Italy in pumpkin, tomato, lettuce, fig, cucumber and artichoke, the shop favorite is Cupresso. The cool woodsy scent of the Italian cypress makes washing your dirty hands an event.
Another great smelling holiday gift comes from an old family business in the Bronx. Individual cloves are wreathed in silver filigree wire, and attached one by one to any number of classic garden topiary forms. This traditional holiday hand craft has its origin in the garden.
These plant climbers, designed and manufactured by us, make a great perch for these holiday bird ornaments. They would also make a great gift for a gardener who likes growing climbing plants. Galvanized and acid washed for a maintenance free, lead look finish, these climbers come in all shapes and sizes.
Last but not least, our collection of garden glassware with its bee medallion is a favorite for outdoor entertaining. The glass is thick, heavy and serviceable in a garden setting. Most gardeners, me included, like to pick their own tools, books, soil,plants and pots. But there are plenty of great gifts available that reference the garden in a way that is sure to be appreciated by the gardener on your list.
In my business, there are machines that are engineered to do the heavy lifting. Though my crew can handle a lot, there are those projects which could not be done efficiently without the help of machines. Two landscape projects of considerable scope and size need finishing before we loose our working weather. The first phase of this project-the installation of a new driveway. The original drive, set much too low, flooded with every rain. The drivecourt was set some six inches above grade; water draining off the drivecourt was finding its way to the basement of the house. 
Given that a new driveway was a necessity, I suggested an alternate location that would provide a great view of the lake and property, and gracefully deposit guests at the front door. A large tree in very poor condition would come down. As the driveway would come through this area with eight inches of road gravel and decomposed granite, an oversized stump grinder was used to remove the top 14 inches of stump. There is no digging out the stump of a tree this size; nature intended that the forty feet above ground would have a solid foundation. This large four wheeled machine is designed to power a giant blade, that sweeps back and forth over the stump, chewing up and spewing out the bits. 
The original drivecourt, partly hand made brick pavers from the early twentieth century, and asphalt, needed complete removal, so as to lower the grade around the house. This excavator makes two days work of this big job. A front end loader collected the intact bricks, so they could be stacked on pallets for use in the new drive, and later dumped the asphalt into a truck for removal from the property. Was I fascinated by steamshovels as a child-absolutely. 
At some point concrete was added to the existing drive. As the house is a long distance from the street, any guest parking had to be provided for on the property. As a driveway is not something one takes out on a whim, and redoes, if there is a need for more parking, the add on was just that-an add on. This machine cuts concrete; as the blade turns, a spray of water keeps the blade from overheating. I understand little about how machines work, but how this works made a monumental job possible. 
In conjunction with a new driveway, an asphalt go-cart track. I will admit, this is my first. I had my clients drive the proposed drive and cart path many times. Once any driving surface is done, its not easy to make changes. Over a period of four days, we tuned up the final design. This machine, rolling back and forth over the freshly laid asphalt, is solely intended to compact the oily mixture into a tough and durable surface. You can tell from all the steam we are in a race aginst the cold weather. Asphalt plants typically close the end of October; our late fall weather has been unseasonably warm.
The particulate asphalt is hot, and set with this machine. I have no idea what drove the design, but it enables the two operators to lay out a layer of asphalt in the desired width, at a consistent thickness. Bush Brothers Asphalt is just that-five brothers who quote, install and finish driveways, parking lots, roads-and in this case, a driving course.
Buck builds things from steel; much of what he builds is impossibly unwieldy and heavy. He has another pair of hands that enables him to position and move material, how, where and when he needs it. A bridge crane, affixed to an overhead track, can pick up 5 tons worth of any material he needs moved at a time. A control gauge at the floor level enables him to move materials up and down-and finally out. His eyes are always on the object he is moving, not on those buttons. An object of great size and weight he moves with great attention and respect. Machine operators are as much a marvel as the machines themselves.
We spent over a week tearing apart a thirty year old landscape for this client. They had decided that though their kids were grown and gone, they would stay, and renovate both the inside and out of their family home. They had not ever spent much time outdoors; a very small back yard with no privacy from neighboring terrraces and play structures kept them indoors. New screening, and an enlarged gravel addition to their terrace opened the door to a new living space for them. The finishing touch-a collection of Italian style, English made concrete planters.
Their children are all coming home for Thanksgiving; they asked if I could dress the pots in their winter coats in time. They are very excited at the prospect of their kids seeing how their home has been transformed in the past 3 months, and the landscape is part of that. Four of the five pots on the rear terrace would be planted for winter. As they have little in the way of outdoor lighting in the back, we installed lights in every pot. The electrician just installed outdoor plugs for them yesterday, in time for the holiday gathering. 
Preserved and dyed eucalyptus provdes a leafy texture much like the magnolia. The chocolate brown color is surprisingly lightfast outdoors. The container looks dreesed for the weather; the colors perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday will go on looking good as winter settles in. 
The pots are positioned to provide good views of the outdoors from the inside. I will move pots from a summer location to a winter one, if need be. I spend a lot more time looking at my garden in the winter from indoors; I am outdoors as much as possible in the summer. These pots can help alleviate that cooped up feeling invariably creeps up on any northern gardener. 
After the rear terrace pots were installed, they called-could I please do three more. Though they plan to replace these front door pots in the spring, they are not the center of attention here. Red bud pussy willow and dark purple eucalyptus make a formal and quietly beautiful statement at the door. My landscape crews construct and install all of this work; they do such a beautiful job. Clients who have winter pots done for the first time are surprised at what a difference they make. I hear about how nice it feels to have something beautiful to look at outdoors at this time.
The side door has the same pot as the front, but a different treatment. As variety is a very precious commodity this time of year, I avoid repeating the same materials everywhere. These snow branches are all plastic; they look just as good up close, as they do in this picture. I try to include a third, mid-level element in all the winter pots; just sticks and greens is a little too spare for my taste. 