Give the Gardening Gift This Season

(ARA) - Trying to think of the perfect holiday gift for that special someone on your list? Gardening and lawn care accessories make great gift ideas for the holidays, and in the spirit of the season, here are 12 gardening gift ideas to get you started:

1. Spruce up your loved one’s garden with some metal plant markers/identification tags.

2. How about a tasteful vase so your gardeners can bring the fruits of their labors indoors?

3. Decorate the lawn of someone on your list with a beautiful piece of yard art.

4. How about a spring tune-up kit? John Deere offers a maintenance kit that includes two quarts of oil, an oil filter, a new spark plug and a new air filter. If you don’t know what to get, just tell a dealer the model number of your mower or tractor and let them assemble the package.

5. Replace some of those “old favorite” tools that have been around for decades. Maybe a new garden trowel to replace the one with the bent handle. Or how about a pair of sharp pruning shears, or even a new mower blade? (They’ll never guess what that is sitting under the tree).

6. Bring someone’s garden inside this winter with some indoor bulbs.

7. Upgrade with a power tool -- a garden tiller, backpack blower or even a new string trimmer. Hand tools and power equipment improve every year, so for gardeners there’s always something new under the sun.

8. Commemorate a special occasion by purchasing a new tree or shrub that a family could plant and grow together.

9. Surprise your well-equipped gardener with a useful attachment for his/her lawn tractor -- an aerator, dethatcher to remove dead grass, or a utility cart that’s perfect for hauling compost and fertilizer.

10. How about something a little out of the ordinary? Consider a sturdy plastic gasoline can that won’t rust or build up a charge of static electricity.

11. If your lawn care enthusiast truly does have everything, stuff a gift certificate to a local gardening or home improvement store in their stocking.

12. Or give your loved one the ultimate gift -- a new riding lawn tractor! Visit your local dealership or home improvement store for the latest models.

And if none of these ideas is truly a perfect match, visit your local John Deere dealer or home improvement shop -- they will have plenty of ideas to help you find gifts for everyone on your list.

For more information, contact John Deere customer communications at (800) 537-8233.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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Courtesy of ARA Content

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Let’s Plant Potatoes in the Garden

Potatoes, taters, spuds…call them what you will, potatoes are a staple in the diet of many people all over the planet. Potatoes are a nutritious, versatile vegetable, and they’re incredibly easy to grow. But before you run out to the garden with your shovel and hoe, there are a few things you should know about planting potatoes.

You may have heard old timers say that potatoes should always be planted on Good Friday. This old wives’ tale is absolutely absurd. Good Friday does not fall on the same calendar date each year and can fall anywhere from early March to mid April. If folks in New England or the upper Midwest tried to plant potatoes on Good Friday, many years they’d be digging through rock-hard soil that was still frozen solid.

Do not plant potatoes too early, while the ground is still icy. If the ground is too cold and wet, the seed potatoes will delay sprouting until the growing conditions are more favorable. This is usually in early March to late April, depending on the climate. Potatoes do tolerate cool soil and a light frost, but not much growth will take place until the soil warms up a bit.

Read Full Article HERE : Let’s Plant Potatoes in the Garden