gift for those who like gardening?

pavlovs_dog

nned inspiration for a cheap and cheerful pressie for OH's aunt and uncle. they have recently moved house, but winter has arrived before they have had chance to do much to the garden.

we know how much enjoyment they got out of their garden in their old house, so would like to give them a garden inspired pressie for the new house this christmas

i noticed on a recent visit that they had a lot of bird feeders, so i was thinking of perhaps something to help encourage birds to the garden? they already have a bird bath, so dont know what else to get?

or any present that you garden crazy people would like to recieve?

(budget - £10 ish ideally, £20 at max)

looking forward to your suggestions! :beer:

carolbee

you can get National Garden gift vouchers, then they can spend when they are ready, when we moved in here, we wanted to leave the garden a little while until we saw what came through in the spring. You could offer some time, if that is practical, ie a days digging maybe?

practical suggestions:

kneeling mat, trug, soil testing kit, bulbs,

jetty

how about a gardening hamper? get a basket, put in gloves, seeds, nuts for the birds and a bird seed holder etc, then wrap it in cellophane (sp?)

Bambam

I agree with the voucher thing. They may want a 'clear out' of old plants in the spring, with a voucher they could replace some of the old plants with new. Or a £10 voucher and a little garden ornament to wrap.

Noozan

pavlovs_dog wrote:

i noticed on a recent visit that they had a lot of bird feeders, so i was thinking of perhaps something to help encourage birds to the garden? they already have a bird bath, so dont know what else to get?

How about a nyjer seed feeder and some seed to go in it? We put one of these up and it took several months before the goldfinches and greenfinches would come to feed from it but they are stunning birds.

emg

In M+S they have a bird feeding gift set with a little woven nesting box that you can hang in a tree. Or what about a boot scraper for outside their back door?

moo_moo

Hi

What about a rose with an apprioate name like 'new beginings'. I'm not up on roses but have an idea that some are best bought and planted now and not when in full bloom. Or what about a garden journal that they can complete as they go along.

Hope this helps

piglet6

I think the vouchers are a great idea - I'd love to receive them because I like to choose plants for my garden myself!

However, if you don't want to give something which tells them so obviously how much you are spending, I gave my Dad a garden kneeler from M&S last year for Father's Day and he loved it. One way up it is a kneeler, then you can turn it upside down and it is a little stool to sit on. It was 19.99 but I have just ordered another one for a Christmas present for somebody else, and it is on their 3 for 2 offer which brings the price down considerably.

I'm not sure how old your OH's aunt and uncle are, but my Dad is in his 70's and loves this kneeler because it is very sturdy and solid, and allows him to continue working in his garden even though he is not so steady getting up and down nowadays... (maybe this doesn't apply, but it might be worth bearing in mind...:o).

Piglet

Chocmonster7

As they haven't had chance to do much how about getting some pots and planting them up with spring bulbs? If you get colourful pots they will brighten up the garden until the flowers appear!

V_Chic_Chick

How about some of these http://www.thecuttinggarden.com/html/giftcard.asp?cat=32&type=bulbs&Product=151&prevnext=no
Which are fab - I have a set that is never out of use between March and August (everything is out by then).

Also a packet of seeds, some plant markers and maybe some terracotta pots painted by the kids?

Penny_Farthing_2

When you move into a new garden, you never really know what's there and it can be a real disappointment if there are no spring bulbs and it's getting late to plant them now. I'd find out what their fave spring flowers are then get one or two plain terracotta pots from B&Q (check they're frost proof) and pot them up with their favourite bulbs. Then, when spring comes, they'll have something cheerful to keep them going if there are no bulbs in their garden. They can also reuse the pots when they've moved the bulbs into the ground. One larger pot stuffed with bulbs makes a better show than 2 pots thinly planted.