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Want to know what Christmas gifts to prepare for gardeners in your life? 

From organic seeds, handy tools and beautiful Irish plantings, to first-class gardening studios and exquisite botanical art, please see below for some green inspiration.

Working hands are an important part of being a keen gardener, so natural pumice stone from Seven Wood (10 euros, sevenwood.ie) and some nourishing skin creams from Clare-based Burren Perfumery specially formulated for dry and rough skin ( Soothing cream), 25 Euros) will be enjoyed. The same goes for a pair of warm and waterproof winter gardening gloves from Fruithill Farm (Canada Gloves, 8 Euros, fruithillfarm.com) in Cork. Muddy boots (and dirty footprints) are also an important part of the gardener, so using the very clumsy wooden boot jacks from Dublin’s Blue Door (29 euros, thebluedoordirect.com) can eliminate the hassle and confusion of taking them off. It also has a series of lovely bird feeders, plant stands and garden furniture. When it comes to gardening boots, the best ones are lightweight, warm and waterproof, such as Rouchette's neoprene ankle boots (38.80 euros, whitesagri.ie).

Which gardener doesn't like indoor plants? The new online plant store Epoch Green (epochgreen.ie) in Wicklow offers a variety of options. It also comes with beautiful packaging carefully selected by Cavallini & Co and retro plant-themed puzzles. This is a fun way for the green finger people in your life to kill these cold, dark winter nights before another new growing season begins. (€ 27). The beautifully packaged Christmas gift box of Brown Envelope Seeds is always pleasing to the eye: the price of the small gift box starts from 9 euros, but if you really want to go bankrupt, please ask the special kitchen gardener in your life to make your own Christmas dinner gift box ( 50 euros), which contains 17 packages of organic vegetable seeds harvested at the West Cork farm of owner Madeleine McKeever.

Speaking of Nufield's germination kit in Dublin, Small is absolutely beautiful. It is the perfect Christmas gift for urban farmers who are challenged by space. Check out the Good Gut Sprout Kit (organic certification) @thegoodgutdoc (29.99 euros, nufields.com) designed in collaboration with Dr. Anthony Rafferty, which contains the seeds of 10 different plant species, including fenugreek, kale and Chinese cabbage, which are "Natural" is rich in nutritional fiber to feed your trustworthy intestinal worms, and other beneficial nutrients to promote good health."

A good, weatherproof notebook is another mainstay of gardening, but few people are as cute as Barbara Hubert's hand-bound leather-wrapped periodicals from Cork (from 20 euros, hubertbookbinding.com). Or what about the gift of a tree? Trees on the land is a non-profit cross-border project dedicated to leaving a living heritage of native Irish tree cover and woodland for future generations. This relies on public donations, landowners’ sponsorship and donations to purchase and distribute Trees in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. A donation of only 2 euros can cover the cost of planting at least one tree (treesontheland.com).

Unfortunately, not all gardening tools are durable, which makes those tools that stand out for their quality, durability, and ergonomic design. Reliable brands include DeWit made in the Netherlands (I like their ash wood with a solid brass tip, 24 euros, howbertandmays.ie); Niwaki made in Japan, whose series of scissors, scissors, scissors and pruning knives Known for sharp blades (howbertandmays.ie); Dutch-made Sneeboer (you will love a manual weeding tool called Wrotter, fruithillfarm.com) and SHW, a German forged hand tool series (fruithillfarm.com).

A high-quality electric planter is another gardening equipment that is guaranteed to be enjoyed for many years. The Sligo-based Quickcrop carries the award-winning Vitopod series (from 189 euros, quickcrop.ie), which can be paired with grow lights for excellent results throughout the year.

After Brexit, David Austin’s rose bushes were difficult to purchase, but Mr. Middleton of Dublin provided a reliable and excellent choice with excellent value for money (five roses only cost 60 euros, discounted from 100 euros) And Delbard (from 20 euros, middleton.com), a breed of rose breeder from the famous French breed.

Robert Miller’s Altamont Plant Sales is a treasure trove of garden centers, located near the historic walled garden in Altamont, near Co Carlow. Ballon (Ballon) is also known for its selection of rose plants (altamontplants.com) and the wide variety of trees, shrubs and perennials planted in Ireland in the gardening world.

Plant lovers will also enjoy coupons from any small professional nursery that is a member of Dublin’s splendid Mount Venus Professional Nursery (mountvenus.com) or a member of the Irish Professional Nursery Association (irishspecialistnurseriesassociation.com)

Want to know what to give halophiles in your life? Snowdrop enthusiasts will receive tickets to the 2022 Snowdrop Gala to be held at Co Carlow Ballykealey House on February 5th. Speakers will include Tom Coward, the chief gardener of Gravetye Manor in the United Kingdom and the German writer Anne Repno ( Anne Repnow) Snowdrops.

The ticket price is 90 euros and includes lunch, morning and afternoon tea, as well as a visit to the snowdrop series at Altamont Gardens. Including visits to selected professional plant nursery groups, these nurseries will sell spring bulbs, snowdrops, hellebore and other seasonal treasures on the same day (reservations must be made in advance, please contact Hester Forde, send an email to hesterforde@gmail.com or sales Department of Robert Miller) @altamontplants.com). 

In order to keep track of all important gardening dates for next year, a calendar gift beautifully illustrated by West Cork artist Sonia Caldwell is presented. Her 2022 work features watercolor paintings of Irish woodland plants and trees. It is a biscuit (€15, kilcoestudios. com).

Garden courses are another trusted Christmas gift. Des Doyle, the garden designer of Lavistown House in Co Kilkenny, organized a series of selected events, including his enduring monthly garden seminars (10 am to 1 pm, one Saturday every month, including lunch) . This provides participants with very practical, seasonal gardening basics and a large number of useful design techniques (gardenfable.com).

The famous gardener and writer Jimi Blake comes from Hunting Brook Gardens near Blessington. Co Wicklow also provides a series of wonderful online and live courses, workshops and illustrated lectures, covering everything from plant propagation (130 Euros) to his long-established vegetatives 'Courses offered within one year (900 Euros, see Jimi's new website Huntingbrookgardens.com for details).

At the same time, for gardeners who like to grow some food on their own, the famous Sligo organic gardener and writer Klaus Laitenberger also offers a series of excellent online courses on kitchen gardening (10 online courses plus Go to the 70 Euro Q&A session, greenvegetableseeds.com). Tanguy de Toulgoet, an organic gardener in the canton of Rauys, also runs a series of highly regarded organic gardening and beekeeping courses (starting from 50 euros, dunmorecountryschool.ie). 

Subscribe to the recently relaunched and revised Irish Garden Magazine for one year. The magazine contains the contributions of the 30 most knowledgeable gardeners in the country and a large number of hands-on practical tips and suggestions. This is another gift that is constantly being given (seventh issue). 40 euros, see Garden.ie or email to Kim at info@garden.ie); the same is true for annual memberships of garden organizations, such as the Irish Garden Plant Association (from 30 euros, irishgardenplantsociety.com), Irish Seed Conservator ( Standard members start at 60 euros, irishseedsavers.ie) or the Royal Irish Horticultural Society (RHSI), which played a role in the digital storm throughout the pandemic with its excellent online lectures and lecture series.

The latter’s annual membership starts at 60 Euros and includes priority participation in the association’s activities, seminars, lectures, flower shows and libraries, as well as discounted entrance fees to the association’s national partner gardens, and a copy of the RHSI journal (rhsi .ie): Kitchen gardeners will also like the GIY (giy.ie) GROWBox seasonal subscription, which includes a series of four boxes delivered from early spring to autumn, filled with seeds, pots, labels and compost trays, plus one convenient Growing guide (89.99 euros, giy.ie).

Last but not least, the artist Yanny Petters’ recent exhibition "Vision" at the Olivier Cornet Gallery in Dublin confirmed her status as one of the country’s most gifted plant-inspired artists, and her work has now been accepted by the Irish National Art gallery collection and National Museum of Ireland. This exhibition is inspired by native plants that grow in the Petter country garden in Wicklow, such as hyacinths, foxgloves, primroses, avocados and forget-me-nots. Definitely a treasured Christmas gift (from 1,100 euros on oliviercornetgallery.com ).

(For a guide to this year's gardening books, please see my December 11th column)

Fionnuala Fallon is a horticulturist, garden writer and garden designer, and has been a garden reporter for The Irish Times since 2011. She is also a long-term regular contributor to other publications, including the "Irish Garden" magazine. The first book she produced in collaboration with her photographer husband Richard Johnston (Richard Johnston) was published in 2012 by Collins Publishing House.

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