If you know someone with a keen green thumb, chances are they’ve told you more about their garden than you ever really wanted to know. Whether they’re all about their allotment, or proud of their prize-winning roses, the time will come when you might well need to find a garden-themed gift for the horticulturist in your life. And hey, why not get them some plant-themed gifts in honour of National Gardening Week, which runs from April 27th – May 3rd? If you’re looking for perfect gardening gifts for your green-fingered friend or family member, you’re in the right place. Read on to find some of the best gardening gift ideas and funny gardening cards that they’re sure to love.
Gardening gifts for her
Is your mum obsessed with her chrysanthemums? Or perhaps your wife is dedicated to her wisteria? All of our plant-based punning aside, if you’re looking for a thoughtful gift for the lady gardener this National Gardening Week, for her birthday, or for a special occasion, here are some of the best gardening gifts for her that will bring a smile to her face.
Grow your own botanicals for gin
Toiling the soil is thirsty work… which seems all the more reason to reward her with this grow-your-own-botanicals gin kit from The Gluttonous Gardener. Including a personalised slate to show off her very own gin garden, the pre-packed seeds of angelica, coriander, liquorice and juniper will make perfect gardening gifts for her, ready to be stirred into an ice-cold gin and tonic after a day’s work in the garden. Don’t forget to check out our guide to the best gin cocktail recipes for some botanical inspiration!
Image credit: The Gluttonous Gardener
Stylish straw ribbon sunhat
If you ask us, gardening is hard work at the best of times, but de-weeding and pruning under a hot summer sun brings with it the risk of an unsightly back-of-the-neck sunburn. Make sure that the only tomato in the garden is a homegrown one plucked from the vine – and not her face and neck. Some stylish accessories will make for perfect gardening gifts for her – like this stylish straw sunhat from ASOS. The black ribbon adds an elegant touch, and the scalloped brim will be wide enough to keep the sun off her shoulders.
Image credit: ASOS
Gardening gifts for men
Men can be tricky to buy for, but luckily, there are plenty of inspired gardening gifts for men out there – here are a couple of our favourites for the gentleman gardener in your life, whether it’s your dad, husband, brother or friend.
Gentlemen’s Hardware multi-tool
It’s easy to poke fun at ‘boys and their toys’ but gardeners actually need to have a fair few implements to hand, from secateurs for pruning to root removers or weeding utensils. Well, this smart gardening gift can save his back from carrying around an entire toolkit – the Gentlemen’s Hardware Gardening Multi-Tool from John Lewis holds seven different tools within its smart acacia handles – including a bottle opener, for that all-important post-pruning beer.
Image credit: John Lewis
Clip Glove gardening gloves
Rated ‘best buy’ by Gardener’s World, these hardy gardening gloves available from the Glove Store might not be the most stylish pair out there, but they are guaranteed to keep his hands safe while he’s tackling spiky branches and thorny plants, and that’s guaranteed to get you brownie points as a gardening gift for him. They’re also perfect for bigger jobs, like digging or mowing, thanks to the foam padded-palm, so he can mess about in the garden to his heart’s content.
Image credit: The Glove Store
Unusual gardening gifts
Looking for something a bit out of the ordinary? Or perhaps a gift for the gardener who simply has it all? Here are a few ideas for unusual gardening gifts that will surprise and delight, while also helping to care for their beloved garden.
A bee brick
Alright, stick with us on this one. This might look like a simple ceramic brick with a couple of holes drilled into it, but it’s much more than that. Any gardener worth their pruning shears knows that the humble bumblebee is an essential part of our ecosystem, helping to cross-pollinate flowers. Attracting more bees will help your garden to thrive – and that’s where these little bee bricks from Crocus come in as great gardening gifts.
Each bee brick contains space for solitary bees to lay their eggs, giving them a home in areas where otherwise they wouldn’t be able to find a home. The bee bricks are designed and made in Cornwall, and can be mounted into an existing wall or left freestanding in the garden – making perfect unusual gardening gifts for anyone who wants to help protect the bees. For more tips on celebrating the natural world around us, check out our guide to Earth Day ideas.
Image credit: Crocus
Hedgehog boot brush
If you’re tired of your resident gardener tracking mud, leaves and various bits of garden debris into your house, we’ve got a solution that’s practical and deeply adorable while still making a sweet unusual gardening gift – this smart cast-iron hedgehog boot brush from Joules. It’s perfect for cleaning footwear, with stiff coir bristles to get even stubborn mud out of cracks. And the reason it makes a great gardening gift? Now they have no excuse at all for muddy footprints on your nice clean floors. Consider them warned.
Image credit: Joules
Plant gift ideas
It might be obvious, but often the best ideas are simple: plants make ideal gardening gifts. Whether it’s a special breed of bloom that will fit perfectly in a colour-coded bed of flowers or a hard-bearing tree you want to watch grow over years to come, here are some sweet plant ideas that make great gardening presents.
‘Wine and Roses’ rhododendrons
Honestly, who doesn’t love wine and roses? And while a classic rose might be the obvious option for a gift, some stunning-looking rhododendrons from RHS Plants make lovely gardening gifts as they’re sure to make their garden look like a riot of pinks and reds come spring.
Plum tree
The wild plum tree from The Present Tree is a perfect year-round gift for gardeners that just keeps on giving. Delivered carefully wrapped and parcelled, once planted, you can enjoy the beautiful pink blossoms that really encapsulate springtime, and in autumn, enjoy sweet, deep-red plums straight from the tree.
Gardening cards
Couple your charming gardening gifts with a perfect gardening card from thortful – for birthday cards for your mum to perfect sentiments for father’s day, we have a huge range to pick from.
Hopefully these gardening gift suggestions will help you to plant a little seed of kindness and grow some smiles this National Gardening Week. If you’re still with us after that pun, perhaps you’re looking for more suggestions for what to buy for a special anniversary, or maybe for a new home gift? Check out our gifting idea guides for some inspiration.
