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)

19. One of British artist Sue Scullard's wonderfully detailed wood-engravings of gardens such as Great Dixter and Sissinghurst (from £27/€33.59, suescullard.co.uk)

20. A nest box to encourage solitary bees into the garden (Ireland has 80 species) from the Dublin shop, Blue Door (€50, thebluedoordirect.ie). One-year membership of the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland (from €10'– €40, rhsi.ie) or the Irish Garden Plant Society (€15.50 to €30, irishgardenplantsociety.com)

21. An "Armageddon" gift box from Cork-based organic seed suppliers Brown Envelope Seeds (€30, brownenvelopeseeds.com)

22. A handmade Sussex trug from The Trug Store (from £20/€24.71 plus £5/€6.18 shipping, thetrugstore.co.uk) From €50 to €100

23. An all-weather hammock in which to laze away a summer's day (€59.95, howbertandmays.ie/dyg.ie)

24. A subscription to Gardens Illustrated, the glossiest of gardening magazines (£42.45/ €52.90, see buysubscriptions.com) or to Hortus, the beautifully produced quarterly journal which "addresses itself to intelligent and lively-minded gardeners throughout the English-speaking world" ( hortus.co.uk)

25. Sacks of premium-quality farmyard manure delivered to the door (€100 minimum order, contact Liam Brannigan tel: 086-373 4519)

26 A ticket to the Garden and Landscape Design Association's annual seminar (April 6th) where speakers will include designers Ulf Nordfjell and James Alexander-Sinclair (€35 for students; €65 for members; €95 for public, glda.ie)

27. A handsomely designed brazier perfect for burning logs and toasting marshmallows outdoors, from Quickcrop (€67.50, quickcrop.ie)

28. The makings of a hornbeam hedge from None-So-Hardy nursery (100 bare-root plants from €55-€82, nonesohardy.ie)

29. A gift voucher for a course at Lavistown House in Kilkenny, "Ireland's first centre for creative living"( lavistownhouse.ie), or a gift voucher from one of the country's specialist nurseries ( isna.ie)

30. A ticket to the RHS Chelsea flower show, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary next year (21st-25th May, £22-£65, rhs.org.uk) From €100 upwards

31. A tour of some of Europe's finest gardens with Frances MacDonald of the Bay Garden (see thebaygarden.comfor the 2013 programme)

32. A beginner gardener’s course with Jimi Blake of Hunting Brook Gardens (10 days, one day per month, February 20th to November 20th, €650)

33. A limited-edition print by the Wicklow-based botanical artist Holly Somerville– Coiled Fern, €150 unframed. See hollysomerville.comor check out British-based artist Angie Lewin's botanically-inspired print Spey Birches (£315/€391.74, see stjudesprints.co.uk)

34. A sculptural birdbath by the Russborough-based artists Calnan Anhoj (€550, calnan-anhoj.ie)

35. A hand-made rhubarb "forcer" from Kiltrea Bridge Pottery (€130, kiltreapottery.com)