Gardening gifts under £30 that actually get used
The best small gardening gifts are the things a gardener uses constantly and never buys a decent version of for themselves. Twine, labels, a nail brush that actually works. Nobody treats themselves to good twine, which is exactly why it makes a good present.
With a smaller budget, the aim changes. Something used up over a season and remembered beats something larger that sits in the shed being admired.
At a glance
- Things that get used up, such as twine, labels and plasters, are never a duplicate.
- Seeds work best as a variety they would not have chosen for themselves.
- A bird feeder or insect hotel goes up in the garden straight away rather than into a drawer.
- Three or four small things in one bag read as a single, thought-about present.
- Small and used beats big and admired
- The things they use every week
- Something to grow
- Something for the wildlife
- Something for afterwards
- Making it look like a present
- Frequently asked questions
Small and used beats big and admired
Ask a gardener what they were given last year and they will usually remember the small useful thing rather than the big one. Consumables get used, so they get associated with the person who gave them, week after week, for a whole season.
They also sidestep the duplicate problem entirely. A keen gardener probably owns a trowel. They definitely do not own enough twine.
The things they use every week
- Jute twine. The most-used thing in any garden and the thing most people buy in the cheapest available form. A proper ball of Nutscene jute is a small, specific pleasure.
- Wooden plant labels. Every gardener runs out of labels in April and writes on bits of broken pot for the rest of the year. Wooden ones with a pencil can be rubbed out and reused.
- A gardener's nail brush. Genuinely unglamorous, genuinely welcome. A dual-sided wooden one lives by the outside tap and gets used every single time they come in.
- Plasters in a tin. Sounds like a joke gift until the first thorn. A tin lives in the shed, keeps them dry, and is the thing they will thank you for in June.
You will find them across Gardening Gifts and Garden Accessories, and none of them will be a duplicate.
Something to grow
A packet of seed is a small gift with a long tail: it turns up as something on a windowsill in March and something on a plate in June.
The trick is to give a variety they would not buy for themselves. Not another packet of the reliable thing, but the chard with the coloured stems, or the radish that is pulled about six weeks after sowing. Our seed range is deliberately small for that reason.
For a child, a grow-your-own kit does the same job with everything included. A sunflower kit is the one that works, because the result is visible, absurdly fast, and taller than they are by August.
Something for the wildlife
Two small things here do a real job.
An acorn-shaped bird feeder looks like an ornament and takes peanuts, which is the combination that gets it hung up rather than stored. A wooden ladybird hotel works at the other end of the food chain. Ladybirds that shelter in it over winter go on to eat aphids in spring, which is worth writing on the tag.
The rest is in Birds & Wildlife, and there is more on making a garden worth visiting in how to attract wildlife to your garden.
Something for afterwards
Gardening is filthy, and the coming-inside part of it is under-served.
The nail brush above is half of it: long bristles for under the nails, short stiff ones for the knuckles, kept by the outside tap. Put a tin of plasters on the potting bench beside it and the coming-in routine is covered for very little.
Making it look like a present
Small gifts need a little help to read as deliberate rather than last-minute. Three or four things together in a box or a paper bag, tied with the twine you are giving them, does it.
A greetings card that can be planted afterwards is a neat way to finish it, and it makes the point about the whole gift without you having to.
The wider selection is in Gardening Gifts.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good cheap gift for a gardener?
Something consumable that they use constantly and never buy a good version of. Twine is the classic example, along with wooden plant labels, a decent nail brush and a tin of plasters for the shed. These all get used within days rather than stored, they are impossible to duplicate in any meaningful way, and they associate the giver with a small moment of relief every week through the season. Seeds work on the same principle, with a longer payoff.
What do you buy a gardener who has everything?
Something they will use up, or something that fixes an irritation they have tolerated for years. A gardener with a full shed still runs out of twine and labels, still comes in with soil under their nails, and still has not bought a nail brush. Consumables and small upgrades are never duplicates. Avoid gadgets, and avoid buying a second version of a tool they already own and are happy with, which is the most common way a well-meant gift ends up in a drawer.
Are seeds a good present?
They are, provided you choose a variety they would not have bought themselves. Another packet of the reliable standby is a shrug; a chard with brightly coloured stems or a radish that is ready in about six weeks is a small event. Seeds are also light and flat, so they post easily and cost almost nothing to send. For a child, a complete grow-your-own kit works better than a bare packet, because everything is included and the result arrives fast enough to hold their attention.
How do you make a small gift look like a proper present?
Group three or four small things that go together and present them as a set rather than handing over one item. A box or a paper bag, tied with the twine that is itself part of the gift, reads as deliberate. Adding a card that explains the thinking, or one that can be planted afterwards, finishes it. The aim is for the recipient to see a considered collection rather than a series of small purchases, and grouping is what does that.
What is a good gift for a beginner gardener?
Things that lower the barrier rather than raise expectations. Seeds of something fast and forgiving, labels so they can keep track of what they have sown, twine, and a grow kit that includes everything needed. Avoid specialist tools at this stage, since a beginner does not yet know what they will actually do most of, and an expensive tool for a job they turn out not to enjoy is a quiet source of guilt rather than a pleasure.
Written by David Hurrion
David has been growing plants for more than fifty years. He trained as a horticulturist, taught botany and plant science up to degree level, and spent over twenty years writing about gardening, latterly as Associate Editor of BBC Gardeners' World Magazine. He has built show gardens at Chelsea. He judges for the Royal Horticultural Society and sits on its Tender Plant Committee. Much of his year now goes on leading garden tours, from Cornwall in spring to Marrakech and Tuscany, where he teaches the design thinking behind what everyone else is photographing.