Giving Green

How many times have you received a gift for the garden and grimaced as you opened it and thought … what am I going to do with that?
On the flip side how fabulous is it when you get something you just use and use and use!

There are so many options you can buy for your green fingered family members, friends and neighbours. Choosing the right gift doesn’t need to be complicated – consider what type of gardener they are to ensure what you do choose is appreciated and enjoyed.

The gardener that has everything:
These people are easily identified usually by having meticulous gardens, tidy garden sheds and vases full of freshly picked blooms from the garden.
For them the choices are simple, a selection of the scrumptious new tools by Joseph Bentley. These stylish, timeless tools are literally the bees knees, quite the thing to have in your garden shed. The range includes long handled spades and forks for large gardens, hand tools for weeding and transplanting and midi length tools to help prevent back ache and reduce bending while gardening.

The Vegetable Gardener:
These people will have a well tended veggie plots, patches or raised planters. They probably are often seen sharing extra produce with neighbours, friends and family. For them the perfect gift is probably Poo, yes sheep poo. Don’t let the sound of this put you off but bags of super sheep pellets are the back bone of any good veggie garden, as the worms work it through the soil it breaks down adding valuable nutrients to the soil. Over time it slowly diminishes and needs to be replaced. Alternatively a copy highly regarded book The Tui NZ Vegetable Garden, would be welcomed from under the Christmas tree.

The Future Gardener
Kids love the garden and nature and reap the joys and rewards of seeing something grow. Deck the little green fingered team out with garden gloves and a copy of The Tui NZ Kids Garden Book to teach children about how plants grow, gardening sustainability, pests and more. Packets of seeds are fun too, choose quick growing crops such as sunflowers, beans or radish’s. Alternatively choose pumpkins and courgettes for children. As they start to form, they can scratch their name in the skin of the vegetable and watch it grow.

The Container Gardener is always in need of fresh new potting mix to keep their pots and containers blooming. Choose for them a bag or two of Pot Power Potting mix, which is a premium grade potting mix full that is packed with the very best in growing media technology to maximise plant results. A tub of Saturaid water saving granules, a nice new pot or hanging basket, with a stylish lush plant tops the gift list.

The Fairy Gardeners
These are the people who are so time poor that they wish they had fairies living at the bottom of the garden to keep everything blooming and beautiful. Loved ones in this group love the outdoors but never seem to have enough time to actually do anything in it. For these outdoor fans the best gift you can give is time, making a voucher up that offers you or professionals services for garden tasks and chores. Maybe it could be to mow the lawns for the month of January or to water the garden while they are away on holiday. An application of Tui Pea Straw mulch and Saturaid Granular soil wetter will suppress weeds and increase moisture retention so weeding and watering are reduced – perfectly suited to time poor gardeners.

Remember gardening was a gift from the oldest gardener of all, Mother Nature.