If you’re looking for some last-minute gift ideas for the gardeners on your Christmas list, try thinking outside the box. Sure, tools and toys always make good gifts, but if your gardeners really have all the trowels/spades/forks and doodads they need, there are plenty of ways to celebrate the garden spirit without getting them stuff they already have.

How about a gift certificate for a horticulture-based class at a local community college or botanical center? Extension services and botanical centers often offer classes for gardeners at all levels on diverse topics: herb gardens, roses, how to create a fairy garden, aromatherapy, working with native plants, gardening in a raised bed and flower arranging, as well as garden-centered crafts such as building a mosaic bird bath and plant photography. Your gardeners will love the opportunity to learn some new tricks of the trade.

You could give them a gardening book to keep their spirits up through the long, dark winter months. Well-recommended books for 2011 include Wildflower Wonders by Bob Gibbons; Growing Vegetables and Herbs by Ruth Lively; The Edible Front Yard by Ivette Soler; Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces by Susan Morrison; Slow Gardening by Felder Rushing; and Founding Gardeners by Andrea Wulf.

Most gardeners are conservation-oriented, so how about a membership in a group that works to preserve the environment? The Nature Conservancy, the Rainforest Action Committee and National Geographic Society are just three of many possibilities. Local conservation groups are always a good choice as well.

How about springing for a trip for your favorite gardener? The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) presents many opportunities to explore the world of gardening through trips in the United States and abroad. In 2012 PHS will take a group to the Amazon to discover the vast beauty of Peru as they go “In Search of Orchids.” They are also taking a trip to view some of England’s well-known gardens; unfortunately that’s filled up already, but other groups offer English tours, including to the Chelsea Flower Show, the world’s leading horticultural event.

If that’s a little too pricey, don’t worry. Gardeners are easy to please. Just give them a subscription to a good gardening magazine, like The English Garden, Garden Gate or Organic Gardening, and they’ll be happy planning for the next growing season.

Be very careful as you go about your gardening chores, especially in the autumn.

At this time of year in my little corner of the world, the daytime temperatures are a comfortable and pleasant 70 or so, but the evening temperatures dip into the low 40s. It gets cold at night. You need a jacket.

Such temperatures signal some of our garden friends to seek refuge, for they know winter is coming. One such garden friend is the snake.

My garden contains many snakes, but the ones most commonly seen are the garter snake, the black rat snake, and the copperhead. Among these snakes, the copperhead is poisonous and to be feared.

This year as we worked on the garden pathways, we piled stones and broken slates we could not use on the paths in two piles on either end of the garden. I was walking to the compost pile yesterday when I passed by one of the piles. I almost stepped on a large rat snake. He was sunning himself, partially on the pile and partially on the path. His body could easily be mistaken for a fallen tree branch.

After doing what most people do in such a situation – i.e., screaming and flapping my arms around, sending carrot peels, apple cores and egg shells from the compost bin flying in all directions – I ran. The snake slithered as quickly as he could back into the pile of slates. I suddenly realized that we had created the perfect garden habitat for snakes!

As you go about your gardening chores, be mindful of areas that may naturally attract garden visitors. Black widow spiders, for example, love enclosed spaces. I have turned over rocks in the garden while weeding to find large black windows underneath, and once I reached down to pick a cucumber and found one right under the shady leaves.

Snakes look for rocks and other places to hide. During these lovely fall days, they emerge during the warm hours and sun themselves, but they also like rock piles like the ones I have in my garden. The rocks absorb the sun’s rays and remain warmer than the surrounding area, something snakes like.

Rat snakes, garter snakes and all the rest are a useful part of the ecosystem, and as an organic gardener, I’m committed to keeping the environment in our farm and garden as natural as possible. Snakes, spiders and other creatures should live in the garden, but I must also use care and caution when working out here in the fall, a prime time to encounter the more dangerous forms of wildlife on the farm.

A few reminders:

- Wear long pants and long sleeves when gardening.

- Wear heavy gloves.

- Do not reach into rock piles or brush piles. Use a long-handled hoe or rake to do so if you need to move a rock or brush.

- Know the poisonous snakes and insects for your part of the world. If you believe you’ve been bitten, seek emergency treatment immediately and go to the nearest hospital.

Gardening is fun, enjoyable, and safer than many other hobbies. But be aware of your surroundings and get to know the inhabitants of your garden. They were there first, after all!