When struggling to find the best gift for green thumbs — whether it's Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays or other occasions — look to the garden.

With so many options it is easy to match the gardening gift to the recipient and your budget. Plants are always a great choice for gardening enthusiasts.

Small, more affordable plants are fun for gardeners to tend, nurture and watch grow. Giving larger plants or unique varieties provides a gift the recipient may be reluctant to purchase for themselves.

Do-it-yourself gardening gifts are good choices for both beginners and experienced gardeners who like the process as well as the results. An attractive container, some seeds or plants and potting mix is a good place to start.

Consider giving a self-watering pot to increase success and reduce maintenance. Add some plant tags to your purchase or put your artistic talents to work creating your own.

Those who like to cook will appreciate garden gifts that help them grow their own fresh herbs. Combine plants or seeds with containers like the Provence self-watering planter that is compact and spill-proof for indoors. An elevated garden like the VegTrug herb planter or the VegTrug Self-Watering Herb Planter Box is a great way to grow, tend and harvest herbs in a sunny spot on the patio, deck or balcony.

For those who like to garden outdoors, containers, stakes, trellises and tools are always welcome gifts. A tool caddy that holds pruners, plant tags and other small garden accessories is an easy way to store and transport hand tools to the garden. Consider a cart like a mobile tool storage caddy that allows easy transporting of long-handled tools, space for hand tools and a basket for other supplies.

Make gardening more accessible with a gift of a kneeler, kneeling pad or garden bench. Protecting joints and making kneeling and reaching into the garden easier reduces fatigue and extends the time and enjoyment of gardening. The GSC bamboo garden bench and basket offers dual functions, allowing gardeners to sit and weed or easily carry their harvest from the garden to the house.

Vegetable and flower gardeners will appreciate a harvest basket like a garden hod. Hods were originally used by Maine clam diggers to hold and rinse their catch. The oil-finished pine-and-maple frame and food-grade vinyl-covered mesh lets you rinse dirt and debris from your veggies right in the garden.

Help your gift recipient bring in the birds with gifts of bird feeders and birdbaths. Adding these items to their landscape can help increase the number and variety of winged visitors.

Consider adding the gift of time. Help assemble, place or plant the gardening gift. Spending time together makes any gift more special and enjoyable for you both.

Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including "The Midwest Gardener's Handbook" and "Small Space Gardening." She hosts the Great Courses' "How to Grow Anything" DVD series and the syndicated "Melinda's Garden Moment" program on TV and radio.