26 Best Gifts For Beginner Gardeners

Plant lovers can be difficult to shop for because they don’t always desire classic holiday gifts like technology or clothing. People who want to start growing food and get their hands in the dirt tend to have different priorities on their minds, like the best seeds to sow next spring or ways to fit more growing space on their patio. If you don’t have the time or skills to get your hands dirty, gifting quality tools and supplies is the best thing you can do to support the beginner gardener in your life. 

From raised beds to grow bags to detailed gardening books, let’s dig into the 26 best gifts for beginner gardeners, no matter your budget!

Seeds

Seeds are an obvious gift for a beginner gardener. Unfortunately, it can be overwhelming to choose individual packets from a seed catalog randomly. How will you know exactly what they want to grow or how much space they have? Instead of playing a guessing game, opt for one of these gift-ready seed packet bundles. Each is perfectly themed for particular garden interests.

Kevin’s Balcony and Patio Picks

Urban and balcony gardeners don’t need to stress over having enough space to grow food. An homage to Epic Gardening founder Kevin Espiritu’s very first gardens, this bundle includes only compact varieties. They will grow happily in containers and pots wherever beginners can find the space!

Water-Wise Garden Flower Mix

Flower lovers in dry climates will appreciate this blend of 19 drought-tolerant, hardy flowers. They nurture pollinators and put on a beautiful display even with little rainfall or minimal irrigation.

The gorgeously illustrated package front is only a glimpse at the diverse beauty that this seed blend yields in the spring garden. While water is needed to establish the plants, beginner growers may be pleasantly surprised by how resilient these species are. They practically grow themselves!

Fall Grow Along Bundle

For the gardener who wants to get started ASAP, this bundle includes a large fabric pot, seed starting trays, and an array of seed varieties that can be sown in the autumn for fresh harvests around the time of holiday feasts.

Complete this present with a bag of high-quality organic soil mix or worm castings for a fun planting activity on the day of a gift exchange.

Epic Staff Picks – Early Sow

Beginning gardeners are likely excited to dive into growing as soon as possible. While snow may be on the ground outside, these seeds will be ready to plant in just a couple of months for an early start to spring. Developed by our horticulture department, this selection of staff favorites provides a great kick-off to an abundant veggie season!

This is a great complementary gift to seed-starting supplies like the Epic 6-Cell Seed Starting Trays. The recipient can get a head start on spring planting right inside their home!

Kevin’s Weird and Unique Seed Picks

Gardening doesn’t only need to include the classic cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchini. Adventurous cooks and crafty decorators will greatly appreciate this eclectic blend of unique seeds you’ve probably never heard of before.

This seed bundle comes in a nice giftable bag with attractively illustrated Botanical Interests seed packets and a descriptive card about why Kevin chose these unusual curiosities. 

Briana’s Cocktail Garden Picks

Mixologists and cocktail lovers crave fresh herbaceous ingredients for unforgettable happy hour drinks! This hand-picked seed bundle includes everything from anise hyssop and chamomile to mint, sage, and chile peppers. All are bundled in a cute bag for easy gifting.

Grow Bags

Fabric grow bags are an easy way to grow food practically anywhere. These durable fabric planters are eco-friendly, lightweight, and easy to move around as needed. They’re a perfect gift for anyone growing on a balcony, patio, windowsill, or porch. Grow bags are also great for gardeners nervous about shoveling into hard native soils. 

Better yet, they won’t need to worry about moving heavy pots or accidentally cracking ceramic planters! Couple any of these grow bag planters with Kevin Espiritu’s detailed book on Grow Bag Gardening.

Epic Grow Bags – Unlined

These bags come in 9 versatile sizes, from 3 gallons to 100 gallons. They can handle everything from a few lettuce plants to a compact rose bush! The BPA-free woven felt fabric is extremely lightweight and porous, allowing excess water to drain out easily.

The fabric is advantageous because it encourages root pruning when a plant’s roots naturally stop growing when they sense they’ve reached the air. Root pruning creates a denser root ball without the risks of root binding that you see in traditional pots.

The unlined bags are extremely sturdy and thick. Compared to lined bags, unlined containers allow more circulation and drainage for humid climates or plants prone to root rot. For example, if your gift recipient wants to grow plants like rosemary, lavender, aloe vera, compact rhododendrons, or hostas, the unlined bags are perfect for ensuring airflow in the root zone.

Epic Grow Bags – Lined

Lined grow bags are designed for more moisture retention in areas with hot summers. This grow bag liner has a natural UV treatment for long-term use. The exterior fabric is still BPA-free and woven felt for lightweight portability. It is permeable enough to promote root pruning yet moisture-retentive enough to preserve soil moisture in drought-prone climates.

Grow bags are extra awesome for gardeners in locations with high weed pressure, poor soils, or a lack of drainage. The built-in irrigation strip helps tidy up water lines so grow bags can be lined together in an automated container gardening system with drip irrigation. The robust handles are twice as thick as our competitors and make it easy to move plants around without the risk of ripping the bag.

Like unlined bags, you can get lined grow bags in several sizes. They’re available in a small 3-gallon bag ideal for a lettuce plant, a 10-gallon bag for a tomato plant, or a 100-gallon bag for compact shrubs or young trees. The non-woven felt and liner should last at least four years or longer! 

This video explains more about how to use grow bags for portable quick-start gardening:

Books

Winter is the ideal time for aspiring gardeners to cuddle up by the fire and learn all the information they need for a successful season ahead. These books are wonderful stocking stuffers or dinner table conversation starters loaded with gorgeous full-color photographs, detailed guides, and handy DIY projects that beginners can dive into right away. 

Field Guide to Urban Gardening

This practical and attractive book is the kind of gift that will stay sitting on the coffee table for years to come. Kevin Espiritu of Epic Gardening shares his secrets and tips for starting and tending an urban garden using containers, raised beds, vertical growing, indoor edibles, and even hydroponics.

The book has in-depth garden plans, stunning full-page photographs, and simplified explanations of daunting tasks like building, pruning, and pollinating. If you know a gardener who needs a detailed roadmap to start growing right away, this is the gift for them!

Epic Garden Journal

Beginners often underestimate the power of their early garden mistakes. As you learn to grow diverse veggies and vibrant flowers, it’s important to document your epic successes and your lesson-teaching crop failures. 

A garden journal is a lovely gift to help new growers stay organized. They can design their growing space, document seed starting days, record their transplanting days, and keep track of their harvests. Next season, they can look back on their journal to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. In the process, they’ll remember you— the lovely friend or family member who gifted them this handy progress journal!

Vertical Planters

No outdoor growing space? No problem! Vertical planters allow you to grow a huge diversity of compact edible crops by a window, on a patio, or directly in the kitchen! GreenStalk Original is a patented soil-based vertical gardening system made in Tennessee. 

All of their vertical planters are made with food-grade plastic free of toxins like BPA, BPS, and PVC. This means indoor and small-space gardeners can grow vertically without fears of contaminating their crops. Every GreenStalk includes a 5-year warranty for long-lasting food production. Watering disks and reservoirs are included for functionality and mess-free irrigation. 

Choose from 2 sizes to wrap up for your favorite beginner gardener:

GreenStalk 5-Tier Vertical Planter

For a gardener who wants to start an attractive vertical garden right away, this planter is the ultimate holiday gift! The 5-tier GreenStalk includes 30 planting pockets for a multitude of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and strawberries.

Each planting tier has six pockets that are 10” deep and arranged circularly to support anything from kale to petunias to thyme. It is quick and easy to set up. Fill with one cubic foot (about 8 gallons) of quality potting mix per tier, and start seeding.

Remember that a fully planted and watered 5-tier planter weighs around 150 lbs. It needs a solid, level base to sit on to avoid toppling over. If you know that they plan to grow indoors, you may want to purchase the GreenStalk Mover or Ultimate Spinner Base for them to place under the planter to direct the water via a hose so it doesn’t drain onto the floor.

GreenStalk 7-Tier Vertical Planter

For beginners who mostly want to grow greens and small root veggies, this shallow version of the GreenStalk has 42 smaller planting pockets that are 7” deep. Perfect for a bright kitchen corner window or a full-sun patio, this planter is attractive, functional, and compact. It only takes up a little more than 2 square feet!

By growing vertically, beginners can maximize their space and practice producing food without as much investment in soil and supplies. With attractive colors like stone, terracotta, or Epic Oasis green, this planter can easily fit into any interior or exterior color palette.

As with the 5-tier model, you will need a base to help direct any runoff from watering so it doesn’t spill onto the floor. Use one of our bases and connect a hose to a receptacle to catch any water for indoor use.

Seed Starting Supplies

If seeds feel like too small of a gift, consider throwing in some seed-starting supplies that will help your favorite beginner gardener start growing their seeds! Most vegetable growers start seeds indoors in the spring to get a head start on planting while waiting for the weather to warm. 

Starting in cell trays also provides seeds with a more stable germination environment, making it easier for beginners to grow their own starts successfully. Unlike the flimsy disposable seedling pots at garden stores, heavy-duty Epic cell trays and starting supplies are specifically designed to be used for decades to come. They produce high-quality starts that are easy to grow indoors without any mess and transplant in the garden when the risk of frost has passed.

Small Garden Starter Kit

This giftable kit includes everything needed to start seeds in one handy pack (except the soil). The signature Epic Cell Trays are rigid yet flexible and virtually unbreakable, meaning your generous gift could lead to a lifetime of seed starting! The #5 polypropylene plastic is recycled, BPA-free, food-grade, and made in the USA!

The kit is available in a 6-cell starter 12-pack, 4-cell starter 8-pack (3” or 4” deep cells), or a mixed-cell starter pack for diverse crops. It includes germination domes to increase humidity and warmth for emerging seedlings. 

The bottom water trays ensure growers can start seeds indoors without dripping moisture everywhere. Specially designed holes in the cells also allow plant roots to suck up moisture from the tray to prevent overwatering (which is one of the most common mistakes made by beginner gardeners).

Espoma Bio-tone Starter Plus Organic Plant Food

All-purpose fertilizer is the easiest for beginner growers because it can be used on everything you plant with very little risk. This ultimate starter fertilizer blend includes everything plants need to establish quickly, avoid transplant shock, produce larger flowers, and grow nutrient-dense foods without any fillers, sludges, or chemicals. 

Epic 6-Cell Seed Starting Trays – Pink

Seed starting just got even more fun with these adorable bright pink trays! Like all Epic Cell Trays, they are still BPA-free, UV-treated, and ultra-durable! They also include air-pruning slots on all four corners to promote strong root growth that won’t result in root circling or binding.

Growers can easily fit these vibrant starter trays into a nursery tray or bottom watering setup. The cute pink hue ensures they’ll never lose cell trays in the garden or tool shed!

Americana Epic 6-Cell Seed Tray

For the patriotic gardener, add more colorful fun to the seed-starting process with this set of 24 seed-starting trays in red, white, and blue. The rigid material is so durable you can step on it without breaking it (but I still prefer to handle it gently to ensure longevity!)

These cell trays are engineered for perfect plant growth and are brightly colored so they never get lost amongst the sea of brown, black, and green garden tools.

Fun Stocking Stuffers for Beginner Gardeners

Garden gifts don’t have to be massive or expensive. If you’re on a budget or just need a quick stocking stuffer, these smaller gifts offer just as much delight for new growers!

Felco 701 Garden Gloves

It’s nice to get your hands dirty, but not all scraped up! Beginner gardeners will appreciate this gift of durable and comfortable garden gloves made of knitted HPPE fiber that is highly resistant to abrasion and tearing. The palm has a nitrile rubber coating for strength and grip while performing any garden task.

From transplanting to weeding to pruning thorny shrubs, they’ll be grateful you gifted them with something to protect their hands for years of growing to come.

Epic Candles

Who doesn’t love a holiday candle? These pure soy wax candles take the gardening spirit to the next level with all-natural earthy scents like First Rain, Fresh Mint, Tomato Leaf, Lavender Fields, and Squeeze of the Day. Each 12-ounce garden-inspired candle comes in an attractive painted glass vessel and a nice gift box for illuminating the dark days of winter.

Epic Gift Cards

A digital gift card isn’t as fun to open from a stocking or gift card! That’s why we started offering physical gift cards with a vibrant photo of Epic Gardener Kevin’s smile and the inspiring words “Keep on Growing.” If you don’t know what to give the beginner gardener in your life, let them choose from a range of exciting and practical products that best suit their growing needs.

Epic Farmers Market Tote Bag

In a world of single-use plastics and flimsy shopping bags, we could all use more sustainable bag options. This tote bag is extra eco-friendly with its Supernatural Paper construction that comes from tree cellulose. The interior can fit an impressive amount of fresh produce and groceries, and you never have to worry about the sturdy handles breaking.

This bag is sustainable, reusable, and water-resistant, plus it features the iconic Epic radish logo to look great on the go. Growing your food doesn’t mean you won’t need to supplement with delicious farmer’s market produce! 

Plant Daddy T-Shirt

Kevin is nicknamed the Potato Daddy, but you can be a plant parent for any garden species! This minimalist spring green tee is a fun way to share your gardener status in an understated way. The material is outrageously soft and made from recycled fabrics that reduce our environmental impact.

You Grow Girl T-Shirt

Simple and cute, this ladies’ shirt empowers female gardeners to show off their garden message in style. The silky-soft fabric is made of recycled materials that keep textile waste out of the landfill. The snow white color and subdued text are eloquent but not over the top. 

Raised Beds

Starting a garden in the ground isn’t as easy as it sounds. You need yard space, tools, and many amendments to make the native soil workable and amenable to crop growth. It’s far easier for a beginner gardener to start with a raised bed. 

If you want to “wow” the beginner gardener in your life, gift a raised bed to have them leaping joyfully! Raised beds offer a more controlled growing environment for beginners to experiment and learn. They can fill with a soil blend of their choosing and get growing in one weekend with less work.

Elevated gardening containers are warmer and better-draining than their in-ground counterparts. They are less prone to weeds and pest issues, too! Best of all, they look beautiful in any yard or patio.

Birdies Small Raised Garden Bed, 15″ Short

The perfect starter bed for an urban or suburban yard, this pristinely designed metal raised bed is as functional as it is aesthetic. Birdie’s Metal Raised Beds have set the gold standard for raised beds for over 20 years.

The food-safe painted aluzinc steel construction and stainless steel hardware can last for decades without rusting or degrading in the elements. That means your favorite gardener will remember you every time they grow in this bed for seasons to come!

This gift is also special because it is customizable. The kit has everything you need to assemble a raised bed in six different configurations. The beginner-friendly assembly makes for a fun family project after the gift-giving has concluded. Better yet, the 15” height is kid-friendly to inspire little aspiring gardeners.

Birdies Medium Raised Garden Bed, 15″

For a larger footprint raised bed, this medium-sized metal planting bed will get any beginner gardener off to the races! With up to 20 square feet of planting space, the gift recipient can use square-foot planting principles to easily grow a multitude of vegetables, from kale and cauliflower to roots and herbs.

The 24-gauge cold-rolled aluzinc galvanized steel is the most lightweight and durable raised bed material on the market. It is 7x more rust-resistant than regular galvanized steel. The material is 100% food-safe, so you don’t have to worry about nasty chemicals leaching into garden soil.

This kit includes a reinforced bracing kit to help provide extra support in storms or windy areas. Like all Birdie’s Metal Raised Beds, you can order this bed in mist green, slate gray, or light clay-colored food-grade paint. Choose the option that complements your giftee’s landscape aesthetic!  

Birdies Small Raised Garden Bed, 29″

Is your favorite beginner gardener hesitant about hurting their back in the garden? An easily accessible tall raised bed is the solution! This compact but elevated bed offers superior drainage and easy access to plants. The 29” depth allows ultra-deep root growth for crops like tomatoes, squash, melons, and sweet potatoes. 

Like all Birdies beds, this kit includes all the hardware and materials you need for six customizable configurations. Each provides up to 12 square feet of growing space. This bed looks gorgeous on a patio, in a yard, or even on a balcony. Beginners will appreciate the user-friendly setup and quick start to growing.

Birdies Medium Raised Garden Bed, 29″

For the ultimate beginner gardener gift, this tall raised bed offers enough growing space for several tomato plants, loads of greens, or compact perennials. No more hunching over or cramming plants together! Your beloved beginner gardener will feel like you just bought them the Ferrari of raised beds! 

This Birdies Metal Raised Bed is made of weatherproof and rust-resistant aluminum and steel. The cross bracing, quality hardware, and attractive, non-toxic paint make it even better. Any eco-conscious grower will be especially delighted to know it was made using green energy, ethical labor, and recycled steel.

The vinyl safety edging ensures nobody gets their hands cut on raw edges. Plus, the extra tall 29″ height ensures that pests, kids, or dogs can’t access edible crops.