IN THE GREEN

As the festive season draws near, we check out some of the best gifts to give your greenfingered loved ones. 1. Engraved personalised slate plant marker £9.99, Getting Personal (gettingpersonal.co.uk)

Made from natural slate, covered in a waterproof lacquer, this enchanting slate plate marker will create a pretty focal point at the front of a flower bed or nestled into a large pot. The sign can be personalised’.

2. Gardeners’ hamper various prices, Dobbies Garden Centres (dobbies.com)

This is perfect as a personalised gift for gardeners, as you can create your own hamper, putting in gloves, small tools, books and delicious goodies, plus anything else that takes your fancy and you think the gardener you’re giving to will enjoy. The price will depend on what you put into the hamper. 3. Garden gloves £15, Marks & Spencer, available in store or online at marksandspencer.com

These pretty gardening gloves make the ideal stocking-filler for your green-fingered friend or family member. Adorned with a lovely floral print, they are made from a strong, tough leather and cotton combination.

4. Can You Dig It? Gardeners hand care duo £39, Crabtree & Evelyn (crabtree-evelyn.com)

Give tired hands some TLC with this botanic hand care gift set including soap with clarifying cucumber, antioxidant-rich rosemary leaf and soothing aloe leaf juice, and hand therapy, to help replenish lost moisture.

5. Meadow catapult £30, Seedball (seedball.co.uk)

This unusual gift features a beautiful hand-crafted beech catapult made from wood from fallen or coppiced trees with rubber and real leather sling.

Each catapult comes in a cotton canvas bag with a tin of 20 Sky Meadow seed balls – giving the recipient a fun way to scatter a meadow.

6. British Bloom pruner and holster set £19.99, Burgon & Ball (burgonandball.com)

’British Bloom’ is a striking combination of designs featuring early 19th century illustrations, and watercolours dating back to the 1630s, selected from the RHS Lindley Library. The RHS-endorsed pocket pruner carries a 10-year guarantee and features soft-grip handles.

7. Aquarium £249.99, Hozelock (hozelock.com)

If your loved one has always wanted a water feature which won’t take up much time, space or energy, check out the Hozelock Cyprio Aquarium which takes the inconvenience out of installing a pond.

8. Cactus collection £12.99, Crocus (crocus.co.uk)

The cacti craze looks set to continue well into 2019, so if your loved one likes to be on point style-wise with their indoor space, treat them to a collection of these spiky low-maintenance house plants.

9. Peckish Secret garden wall hanging bird table £19.99, from garden centres, B&Q, Homebase and Wickes (For stockists visit peckishbirdfood.com)

Even if you haven’t much space, if you have a spare bit of outside wall or a fence post, you can attract birds to your plot with this metal wall hanging feeder which has a ledge at the base on which to place seeds.

10. Anvil secateurs RS4000 £24.99, Wolf-Garten (wolfgarten-tools.co.uk)

Most gardeners love a new pair of secateurs for Christmas but it’s important to invest in a comfortable pair. These anvil secateurs are more suitable for larger hands and have a soft grip handle and internal spring mechanism for ease of use.