Have you finished buying all of your presents yet? If you have a gardener on your list, I have a few last minute suggestions. Many gardeners have problems with ants, chiggers, flies, mosquitoes, ticks and other insect pests that interfere with the enjoyment of the garden. Sometimes we forget to apply repellents and are surprised by the intrusion while we are out in the garden and don't want to go back in to find the repellent. Wouldn't it be great if the clothes we were wearing had an insect repellent built in? And it didn't wash out, didn't come off on our skin and actually worked to repel the pests?

Well, the technology already exists. It is called Insect Shield and it is built into many clothing and outdoor gear products like blankets, tents and pet and horse products. The Insect Shield process binds a proprietary permethrin formula tightly to fabric fibers. The insect repellent is odorless and stays in place for the expected lifetime of apparel, which for a shirt is up to 70 washings. Permethrin has been an EPA registered product since 1977 and is used in flea and lice shampoos for people and pets.

Many outdoor clothing brands and retail stores carry Insect Shield products. The Insect Shield website has many items and it even has an order form for you to send them your own clothes to be processed. Check them out at www.insectshield.com

Did your gardener have problems with insects or diseases in the vegetable garden last year? Get them Ed Rosenthal's "Protect Your Garden" book. It has great photos and thorough text that help diagnose many common insect and disease problems.

Ed lists solutions in two long sections of the book. The first is Eco-Friendly Solutions and the second is Beneficial Biologicals. This is an excellent book for the natural or organic gardener.

Is your gardener a mudder? Race horses that do well on a wet track full of mud are known as mudders. A Tough Mudder is a person who has survived a 10-mile military style obstacle course involving fire, electricity, ice, running and of course; mud. I will let you look it up.

Anyway, a gardener who is a mudder is not afraid or getting their shoes muddy. A tough garden mudder is not afraid to walk into the house with their muddy shoes still on. But now you don't have to go in with muddy shoes, you can wear your Wellington Boots by Garden Girl. These tall rubber boots are not just functional, they are decorated with beautiful roses. Even though the boots have a knitted nylon lining, the appropriately named Boot Socks are long enough to come up and fold over the top edge of the boot, giving more comfort and a great look.

Garden Girl garden clothing products are designed by women for women, so they are not just pretty capris, shorts, gloves, etc., they are designed to work in the garden. For instance, the gardening pants have Wonderfit side stretch panels at the hips and waist for easy movement. The pants also have anti-fray nylon bottoms and interior knee pockets to receive knee pads plus multi-sized pockets and straps designed to carry all the stuff gardeners routinely lug about: small tools, phone, gloves, bandana, shades, twine, pen, paper and more.

To find out more, check www.gardengirlusa.com.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at [email protected]. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.