CIAR BYRNE's festive finds for the gardener in your life

•  UK expert picks out the best gardening gifts for this Christmas 
•  READ MORE: CIAR BYRNE's essential jobs for your garden this week

Christmas garden gift ideas

Under The Canopy Gardening Gloves made for the National Trust by Burgon & Ball

The one gift I need every year is a new pair of gardening gloves and I love these stylish women’s gloves with cushioned palms and gathered wrists to prevent debris getting in. For men, choose the classic tweed ‘Dig the Glove’ also from Burgon & Ball (£17.99 burgon andball.com). 

Niwaki Lightweight Secateurs 

Being someone with smallish hands, I cannot recommend enough these Japanese lightweight secateurs (£76, niwaki. com). With their ergonomic handles, they are a joy to hold and are perfect for pruning roses. For those with a medium to large hand, try the classic Felco No. 2 Swiss-designed bypass secateurs (£53.99, worldoffelco.co.uk). 

Great Dixter Planting Fork 

Hand-forged in stainless steel by Sneeboer & Zn and designed by the team at Great Dixter, home of the late plantsman Christopher Lloyd, this fork is ideal for tight spaces thanks to its ash handle — longer than a hand tool, but shorter than the average fork (£81.95, shop.greatdixter.co.uk).

The Kew Gardens Christmas Book by Jenny Linford 

In this beautifully illustrated book, Linford explores the role of plants, animals and birds in our festive traditions. She explains why we put up Christmas trees and bring home the Yule Log, tells the story of the Glastonbury Thorn, and includes plant-based recipes such as sorrel rum jelly and syllabub ginger trifle (£20, shop. kew.org/kewbooksonline). 

Gin Cocktail Herb Garden Kit 

A kitchen windowsill herb planter with a twist, combining two of my favourite things: gardening and gin. The kit includes easy-togrow seeds of mint, basil, lemon balm and orangescented thyme, as well as a painted wooden trough and infusion bags of juniper berry, cardamom, elderflower and rose for a delicious homemade gin cocktail (£16.99, waitrose garden.com). 

Rose Press Garden Monthly Gardening Subscription Box 

For a gardening gift to last all year long, why not buy your loved one a subscription to a monthly gardening box? Lizzie Fox founded The Rose Press Garden in the 2020 lockdown to make gardening modern, fun and easy. Boxes include seeds, bulbs and plants to plant and sow in the month you receive it (£20 a month with discounts for three, six and 12 months prepaid, therosepressgarden.com). 

Long-handled Old DutchStyle Planting Trowel from Sneeboer & Zn 

Perfect for planting bulbs, seedlings and small plants, the design of this trowel, which has a 27cm ash-wood handle, dates to the early 20th century. It is used to plant thousands of bulbs every year at the Dutch Keukenhof Exhibition a n d i s Monty Don’s favourite gardening tool (£57.95, sneeboer.com). 

Caddy bag for the essentials

Genus Gardening Caddy Bag 

No more soil in the bottom of your rucksack. This capacious waterproof bag is on my wish list. With eight external pockets and six internal pockets, there is plenty of room for all your tools and a detachable drawstring pouch for twine, which can be attached to a belt (£69, genus.gs). 

Moss Green Kneelo Kneeling Pad 

David Austin Roses have picked out a range of garden accessories to complement their roses, including a durable Kneelo kneeler to protect knees and clothing. With shockabsorbing foam and a waterproof neoprene cover (£20, david austin roses. co.uk). 

Kent and Stowe indoor watering can 

This scaled-down version of a classic metal can is ideal for houseplant lovers. Powder coated to last, with a long stem spout for precision. It comes in a range of colours (£14.99, marshalls garden.com).