Gifts for a gardener

Felco 2 secateurs

Secateurs gardeners keep for decades: every part can be replaced, and owners still cut with pairs bought 25 years ago. This size is for larger hands and right-handers.

Felco 910 leather holster for secateurs

A leather holster for the belt, so secateurs stay at hand instead of in a pocket or lost in a flower bed. It takes the Felco 2 and most secateurs of a similar size.

Felco 903 sharpening stone

A small diamond-coated sharpening stone that brings back the edge of secateurs in a few strokes, right there in the garden. It works on secateurs of any make, and on knives.

Okatsune 304 flower and herb snips

Light Japanese snips with thin, pointed blades for herbs, cut flowers, deadheading and picking. They’re for soft stems; woody ones are a job for secateurs.

ARS PM-21 folding pruning saw, medium teeth

A folding Japanese saw for branches too thick for secateurs, on fruit trees and shrubs. It got top marks in BBC Gardeners’ World’s test, and the blade can be replaced.

Sneeboer transplanting trowel, ash handle

A trowel hand-forged from stainless steel in the Netherlands. Its sharp blade goes easily into beds and pots, and it outlasts ordinary trowels by years.

Nisaku NJP650 hori hori digging knife

A Japanese digging knife with one serrated edge: it plants bulbs, lifts weeds, cuts roots and splits clumps. Gardeners suggest it again and again in forum threads about gifts.

DeWit Japanese hand hoe, right-handed

A small hoe forged from one piece of steel, sharp on both sides, for weeding between plants and loosening soil while kneeling. This one is for right-handers.

Sneeboer Royal Dutch Hoe, long handle

A long hoe used standing up: pushed and pulled, its toothed blade cuts weeds just under the soil. It got full marks in BBC Gardeners’ World’s test, and the steel is hand-forged.

Gold Leaf Dry Touch gardening gloves

Soft leather gloves that shrug off water, endorsed by Britain’s Royal Horticultural Society. Gloves wear out, so a good pair is always welcome. In two sizes.

Ladbrooke Mini 4 soil blocker

Presses damp compost into four 5 cm blocks to sow in: seedlings grow without pots and go into the ground undisturbed. Getting the compost just right takes a little practice.

Haws The Cradley Cascader watering can, 6.8 l, green

A long-spouted can from Haws, who have made watering cans in England since 1886. The fine rose is gentle on seedlings, and the plastic is light and never rusts.

Haws The Langley Sprinkler watering can, 0.56 l, green

A small can with a long, thin spout that reaches into pots, windowsill seed trays and balcony boxes. It suits houseplants too.

Nutscene Tin of Twine, green jute, 150 m

Scottish jute twine in a tin that feeds it out through the lid, dry and untangled. For tying in beans, tomatoes and sweet peas all season, and the tin takes refills.

Monty Don: The Gardening Book

Over a hundred short how-tos from Monty Don, the long-time presenter of BBC Gardeners’ World: from sowing and pruning to fruit, vegetables and houseplants.

Permanent Publications Charles Dowding, Stephanie Hafferty: No Dig Organic Home & Garden

Charles Dowding has grown vegetables without digging for over forty years: compost on top, far fewer weeds. With Stephanie Hafferty, from the bed to cooking and storing the harvest.

Macmillan Collector's Library Karel Čapek: The Gardener’s Year

A gardener’s year, month by month, written in 1929 and still funny: anyone who gardens recognises themselves on every page. With drawings by the author’s brother Josef.