Gifts for the gardener

There are lots of things you can make and services you can offer without spending a lot of cash, writes JANE POWERS

RECENTLY, I ASKED a few of my fellow gardeners what gift had they received in the past that they remembered with the most warmth. Their answers included: “a huge load of home-made potting compost”, “a pledge to clean the greenhouse”, and “a bag of well-rotted manure”.

I’m not surprised, actually, because among my own fond gift memories are a trailer-load of farmyard manure from a friend in Wicklow (you really do need to be a gardener to appreciate the possibilities offered by a consignment of dung), a basket of logs from another friend, and a home-made birdhouse from my DIY-phobic husband.

BIRD HOUSES

The fact that someone cares enough to make a gift so personal makes their offering priceless. The skill in warming others’ hearts with your gifts, is working out what it is that they really want or need, what is it that will make their lives easier, fuller and more fun.

Birdhouses definitely fall into the fuller and more fun category, and they are not too difficult to make. There are many designs on the web. The British Trust for Ornithology has a simple-to-follow plan, which can be adapted for tit species, robins or sparrows (bto.org/nnbw/make.htm). The size and shape of the opening is important, as different birds favour different formats. Don’t be tempted to add a perch, as this may help unwanted visitors gain access.

BIRD FEEDERS

Bird feeders are also simple to construct. A search on Google images for “bird feeder plans” will reveal dozens of different designs. I like the little hanging one on the website My Backyard Plans; it has transparent plexiglass sides so you can see when the food needs topping up (mybackyardplans.com/howtobuildabirdfeeder.php). Small hanging feeders don’t allow large brutes such as magpies and feral pigeons to get a toehold, so your seed lasts longer.

If you want to stay in the building business for your gifts, do also consider a bat box. There are plans for one at the BBC Gardeners’ World website (gardenersworld.com/how-to/ projects/bat-box). The same website tells you how to make a hotel for solitary bees – a structure so uncomplicated that it could be made by a child as a present for a gardening or nature-loving adult. For more information on constructing housing for solitary bees, see the Gardens for Wildlife website (foxleas.com/bee_house.htm).

SPRING BULBS

A gift that is always cheering to receive, is a pot of surprise spring bulbs. Choose one variety of small flowers such as crocus or miniature iris, tulip or narcissus, and pot the bulbs up, spaced closely together, in a terracotta pot or other container (you can use anything as long as it has a drainage hole).

Cover the surface with horticultural grit, decorative stones or seashells, and add a bow if you like. Tie on a label saying something like: “Leave me outside until my green tips start to show, and water me if my compost gets dry. Then bring me in to a cool room.” (If the idea of bulbs talking is too fey, just deliver the instructions in a more utilitarian manner).

This is a bit of a mystery gift, because the receiver won’t know what kind of bulbs they are until they bloom in February or March – a time when we all need some perking up.

SAVED SEEDS

If you are an experienced gardener, and know all about the intricacies of saving seeds – that is, how to do it properly, and which varieties produce viable, true seed – then why not gather together a few of packets of your best heirloom vegetable seeds and other specialities and present them to a gardening friend?

Or, still in seed dispersal mode, you could give themed gifts of seeds (your own, or bought). For instance, you could have a “tomato salad” with a couple of varieties of good-looking and tasty tomatoes, some basil, and some spring onion seeds; a “green salad bowl” with several kinds of lettuce, rocket and other leaves, or a “hotter than Hades” selection of chilli peppers.

You could add a salad bowl or a pretty plate (check out charity shops for hidden treasures), or, if your funds run to it, some oil and vinegar, or (for the chillies) some organic fertiliser.

LEAF MOULD

Another present that most die-hard gardeners would fall down and thank you for is a bag of leafmould. This is a deluxe ingredient in homemade potting composts – the horticultural equivalent of truffles or saffron. But don’t go scraping it off someone else’s woodland floor: this is a material that has to come from your own property.

FREE LABOUR

Perhaps the present that is most valuable to gardening folks is where you actually do something for them, especially if they are older, or under pressure. For example, the promise of a session (or more) of heavy or skilled work, such as mowing, hedge-clipping, digging or pruning is a generous way to show your appreciation for a friend. Give them your own homemade gift certificate, so that they can exchange it for your labours at the appropriate time.

Consider also acting as a taxi for a morning or afternoon, and taking a non-driving friend out to a garden centre, or to visit a garden.

Finally, all gardeners love to think of others tending the soil and raising food. There are many charities and NGOs where you can buy gift aid certificates in your friends’ names. Among them are Trocaire’s Global Gift campaign (trocaire.org); Oxfam’s Unwrapped scheme (oxfamirelandunwrapped.com); the Hope Foundation’s Gifts of Hope (hopefoundation.ie), World Vision Ireland’s gifts (worldvision.ie), and the microfinance organisation Kiva (kiva.org).