The November/December issue of Northern Gardener includes a great list of suggestions for holiday gifts that gardeners can give — especially if the recipient is a fellow gardener. Here are a three of my favorites from the suggestions:

A Gift of Brains or Brawn. Whether your garden needs a tweak, a reboot or you are in a new space, getting some outside advice or help is always great. If you have a friend planning new garden spaces next year, why not give them the gift of a garden consultation. Many nurseries and garden centers have a designer on staff who is willing to come out and look at a space and make suggestions. Costs vary depending on whether you just talk or they do a full on garden plan, but I’ve always found the advice worth the money. If the plan is in place, how about helping with the work or better yet, paying for some strong person with power tools to give an assist. What a great gift idea.

Garden Goodies. Due to a move, I was pretty much garden-less this summer and I’m just starting to realize what that means — no red pepper relish to add to bland dishes, no homemade bread and butter pickles with my sandwiches, no frozen raspberries to use in cobblers or smoothies! If you preserve some of your garden harvests, share the love this holiday season! Your friends will appreciate it.

Plant a Bar. How fun is this? A planter built into a bar, so your visitors can enjoy the view of the garden while enjoying a beverage. This is one of many kinds of planting boxes and beds that are being made now. Raised beds, with or without bar stools, are a great gift for gardeners who want to grow food but don’t have a lot of space.

You can see all of the ideas for holiday gifts in the November/December issue, which is on newsstands now. Just look for the bright cover with a holiday pot on it.

What’s your favorite garden gift ever?

—Mary Lahr Schier