Gifts for gardeners
They say that the greatest joy is in giving, but I think most gardeners would be pretty joyful about finding any of these gardening gifts under the tree this Christmas, writes FIONNUALA FALLON
Gifts under €25
1. A pear tree from Irish Seed Savers – all you’ll need is the partridge! (bare-root, €19 irishseedsavers.ie, and let them know it’s a Christmas gift to ensure on-time delivery)
2. A festively red-berried, evergreen shrub, Skimmia “Obsession” from Johnstown Garden Centre (€20, johnstowngardencentre.ie)
3. A scented bulb/flower arrangement in a variety of containers from Formality (€10 upwards, formalityonline.com)
4. Any of Emma Bridgewater’s handmade, hand-decorated “Bird” mugs (€17, birdwatchireland.ie)
5. The promise of a few hours help in the garden (design your own voucher or see uniquevouchers.com)
6. Three of the ultra-hardy, bronze-foliaged Kennedy Irish primrose varieties raised by breeder Joe Kennedy, now produced by Fitzgerald Nurseries and available from Mr Middleton (€9.95 for three, mrmiddleton.com)
7. A voucher, or a pot of “Castlegar” snowdrops from Robert Miller’s nursery, Altamont Plant Sales in Co Carlow (€15, sales@altamontplants.com)
8. A quirky “Robin” watering can from the Secret Garden Centre (€16.95, thesecretgardener.com)
9. Greeting cards by botanical artist Wendy Walsh (from €3, burtownhouse.ie)
10. A plant from your own garden, raised from a cutting, division or by seed
11. A handy disc-shaped, rotating vegetable planner that tells you what and when to plant, from Fruithill Farm (€4.98, fruithillfarm.com. Prices do not include postage and packaging)
12. Postcarden – a pop-up Christmas card that you can grow into your own mini-garden (€9.95, articledublin.com)
13. A gift set containing a pair of Showa Floreo gardening gloves, gardener’s hand soaps and handcream (€23.85, ballymaloeshop.ie) From €25-€50
14. A one-year subscription to the Irish Garden, Ireland’s best-selling gardening monthly (€46 for 10 issues, irishgardensubs.com)
15. A well-made, genuinely useful garden tool (harder to find than you might think) such as the oscillating hoe or the multi-purpose Golden Gark which rakes, sifts and shovels (both €37.50 from quickcrop.ie), the swoe (€33.95, handyhardware.ie) or any from the Viktor Schauberger range of copper hand tools stocked by Fruithill Farm (from €33, fruithillfarm.com)
16. One of Mount Venus Nursery’s sweetly-scented, spidery-flowered witch hazels to light up the winter garden (Hammamelis “Aphrodite”, €35, 10-litre pot, mountvenusnursery.com)
17. The Irish Kitchen Garden gift set containing an Irish Kitchen Garden calendar designed by horticulturist Lynn O’Keeffe-Lascar, four packets of Irish seeds from Brown Envelope Seeds and two tickets to visit Blarney Castle and its gardens (€29.90, see theirishkitchengarden.com)
18. A flower pot hand-made in the Louis Mulcahy Pottery workshop in Dingle (from €29.90, louismulcahy.com). A 15-inch window-box planted for seasonal cheer with colourful cyclamen, primulas and evergreen ivies and underplanted with dwarf bulbs, from the Powerscourt Garden Pavilion (€35, powerscourt.ie)
