Buying Christmas gifts for gardeners is not as easy as it sounds. We can be quite a particular bunch, we know what we like and we usually have it covered. For example, I’m not a big fan of people buying me vegetable seed sets any more. Seed buying is one of the fun jobs I like to reserve for myself on dark winter evenings – most gardeners long for that task and we don’t want to feel obliged to grow something we don’t want. I also don’t recommend giving the gift of a garden ornament unless one has been very specifically requested or dropped into a conversation – you might like that solar powered meerkat light but expecting a gardener to share your delight (in their personal paradise) is a huge gamble.
The good news is we do like getting cold and grubby, we enjoy our own company, nature and learning from others. I thought it would be helpful to list some affordable, practical and fun Christmas gift ideas for the gardener or allotmenteer in your life. One or two were inspired by some of the ideas we saw suggested during #AllotmentFashionWeek back in October. If you’re totally stuck then one of the suggestions below is sure to bring a smile to a gardener’s face on Christmas morning (yes even a box of Vitax Q4):
The Great Dixter Cookbook: Recipes from an English Garden (Author signed £24.95) – A number of this book’s recipes have been taken from the Lloyd family’s personal kitchen notebooks. With growing guides to more than twenty varieties of vegetables and fruit.
Copper Plated Row Marker (£14) – This sturdy and durable row marker can be used as an aid when planting flower beds and vegetable gardens.
Kitchen Garden Soap with Nail Brush (£9.95) –
Made in the UK for Highgrove. Wrapped in their unique Kitchen Garden design illustrated by artist Madeleine Floyd.
Personalised Gardening Tool Belt – Brown Suede Leather (£23.99) – With 2 large pouches (ideal for trowels, forks, and other small gardening tools), secateur holder pouch, a smaller pencil pouch and metal key ring loop.
Natural Coloured Wooden Insect Hotel (£7.99) – Place it in the garden and attract all sorts of insects.
Monty Don: Down to Earth: Gardening Wisdom (Hardback from £7.99) – Monty’s new book, written as he talks, this is Monty Don right beside you in the garden, challenging norms and sharing advice.
Bluedio T2S (Turbine 2 Shooting Brake) Bluetooth stereo headphones wireless headphones – (£19.99) – Bluetooth 4.1 headset on the Ear headphones Gift Package (Black)
Gold Leaf Gardening Gloves (£30.00) – The WINTER TOUCHâ„¢ Gardening Glove is a truly unique, hardwearing, yet luxurious glove for use in cold or wet conditions. Available for men and women.
Welly Socks For Her: Joules Hilston Fleece Welly Socks, French Navy (£11.96) – 100% Polyester, Trim: 100% Acrylic, Knitted Ribbed Cuff
Seedball Gift Box – Pick n’ mix your perfect gift selection (£18.99) – Bee mix, butterfly mix, urban meadow mix – choose three tins of throw and grow seed balls.
Esschert Design Garden Handy Tool Cutting Bag Belt Apron (£9.82) – This is a handy tool/cuttings bag for your garden. Dimensions 34 x 34cm. Tools not included.
Heathcote & Ivory Gardeners Hamper (£17) – Containing all the essentials to soothe achy muscles and revive the body from a hard day in the garden.
Handcream – 100ml, Hand Balm – 50ml, Bath Salts – 100g, cotton gloves.
VITAX Q4 FERTILISER 2.5KG (£2.10) – The all purpose pelleted fertiliser for plants, roses, fruit, flowers, vegetables and lawns. Contains the vital nutrients and trace elements which are slowly released.
Wooden Dibber (£5) – A beautifully crafted wooden dibber marked with depth calibrations for planting seedlings and bulbs.
Kew Antique Wash Wicker Trug Basket (£18) – Made from natural willow. With a nice strong handle, robust construction, this gardening basket / gardening trug is ideal for the serious gardener.
Venus Flytrap – Plant (£10.45) – The leaves consist of two lobes, with fringed edges, which snap together very quickly when activated, trapping the prey inside. Height supplied 8-10 cm, pot size Ø 8.5 cm.
Carnivorous Pitcher Plant ‘Maroon’ – Plant (£8.95) – This is an exceptional plant that will digest flies and other small insects that are attracted to the plant by the secretions on the lip of the trumpet shaped pitchers. Supplied in a nursery pot size Ø 8.5 cm
Matt is a web publishing and digital marketing consultant who in his free time enjoys allotmenteering and gardening. Horticulture is in the family genes (hence the socials name grow like grandad) and Matt has been growing his own vegetables since he was 7 years old. He also had a mad few years tweeting anonymously as Monty Don's dog Nigel from Gardeners World.
