Fred In the Sheds top 10 Gifts For Gardeners

Top 10 Gifts for Gardeners

Selected by Fred-in-the-shed

Updated 27th January 2025

I have been testing and reviewing products on this site for over 20 years now. This page has some of the best and most practical products that I am sure will make great gifts, that people will really cherish and use.

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On This Page

Solar Flame Feature Lamp

Gardening Gloves

Sussex Trugs

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	Best Present for a Gardener - Top Quality Secateurs Felco Secateurs - World Famous - Top Brand Name These classic Swiss made secateurs have been copied by all and sundry. Felco is the choice of the professionals and you can literarily SMELL the quality when you buy new ones. At about £40 they are quite an investment but can be serviced and repaired to last your lifetime. Many professionals I know and most of the gardening celebrities on TV tend to use Felco secateurs. There is a large range to suit your hand size and pruning requirements. Model no 2 are the original ones. Later model no 8 was introduced with a more ergonomic handle. Felco FEL2 Model 2 Original Secateurs Felco FEL8 Model 8 Classic Secateurs Best Garden Snips For Softer Material ARS 190mm Fruit Picking Shears ARS are a Japanese company who have made top quality pruning tools for professionals for decades. These Fruit Pruning snips have superbly crafted blades and are an essential tool for any gardener. They were originally designed for agricultural use but have so many uses in the garden and make an ideal gift for any gardener. If you have plants like Phormiums that regularly like their stringy leaves cut back then you will know that secateurs don't do this well. With high quality blades like this you can also cut open bags and trim weed control fabric quickly and easily! Return to top of page
	Best Loppers - Pro Quality Telescopic Loppers Wolf-Garten RR 900 Telescopic Power Cut This is probably the strongest pair of loppers available today. They are made in Germany by a company I have dealt with for 30 years. For long term heavy use Wolf telescopic loppers are the ones that I recommend (based on 10 years of hard work with one pair). They will cut live 50mm branches and have the easiest handle adjustment method. The teflon coated blades are easy to clean and rarely need sharpening. They can also be replaced if necessary. Return to top of page
	British Made Metal Watering Cans British Metal Watering Cans of the Patented Haws Design Plastic watering cans are light and cheap but don't have the durability of metal watering cans don't look as attractive when left out in the garden. Haws have been making the best cans in Britain since 1886 and make no compromise on quality. The galvanised steel and powder coating of paint keeps rust at bay. The long spout and double handle design was patented by John Cox and makes precision hand watering a joy not a task. All of the Haws watering cans are available in a range of colours and sizes. Haws V105 Haws V105 Deluxe 7L Outdoor Watering Can - Green Click for Full Range of Haws Cans from a Fredshed Partner Return to top of page
	Dutch Made Stainless Steel Gardening Tools Sneeboer is a family firm in Holland that makes top quality hand crafted gardening tools. They use the best stainless steel for the blades and selected Ash for the wooden handles. I have been friends with Jaap Sneeboer for over 15 years and love using his wonderful tools. Sneeboer Ultimate Flowerbed Trowel Sneeboer Stainless Steel hand fork 3 Tools Special Offer! Return to top of page

More Practical Gifts For Gardeners - All Tried and Tested By Fred-in-the-shed

	Best Fork and Spade This Neverbend spade is solid forged and has the flat treads that you wont find on cheaper spades. These Neverbend tools have an ash shaft with a wood and metal, double riveted, YD handle. The Kew range are the same tools but with old fashioned, all wooden handles. Both ranges are very strong. You can find prettier and cheaper forks and spades but they wont be as good. You get a genuine 10 year guarantee from a company over 200 years old. I rate these tools as the optimum for price/quality. Please read on - and if you decide you like my information please come back here and use my links if you buy some tools. Use the links below to buy proper full size - solid forged British style tools Neverbend for metal handles - Kew for more traditional wood Spear & Jackson Neverbend Professional Digging Fork 1570AL Spear & Jackson Neverbend Professional Treaded Digging Spade 1071AL Traditional D Handled Solid Forged Digging Tools If you want old fashioned digging tools with the large Victorian D handles the good news is that a new start up company is making them again The metal parts are solid forged from one piece of carbon steel and the Ash shaft and handle is also made from one piece for maximum strength These beautiful tools are put together in Huddersfield and for an extra £15 you can even have your name engraved into the handle. Available in full size and border size the tools are sent well packaged and make an excellent gift. Solid Forged Forks and Spades with Victorian Style D Handles Tools Developed With Help from Kew Gardens Links below for full size Kew gardens inspired digging tools Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens 1180SYDKEW Carbon Steel Treaded Digging Spade Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens 1680SYDKEW Carbon Steel Digging Fork Links to S&J Border size tools below These are smaller and lighter and more suitable for smaller modern gardens Spear & Jackson Neverbend Carbon Border Fork Spear & Jackson 1184NB Neverbend Carbon Steel Border Spade Return to top of page
	Solar Feature Lighting Over the last 20 years of testing products for this site I have tried so many solar fairy lights, solar Christmas lights, and all sorts of novelty lights. Incredible 96 LED Flickering Flame Solar Torch Light Solar Flickering Flames Lights - 2 Pack Under Testing since May 2017 - Amazing Solar Tiki Torch - Flickering Flame Effect! I have 2 of these amazing lamps, these are the most impressive solar lights I have ever seen. They come on automatically and look like real burning flames, visitors are really fooled! Also the design is so effective they stay lit up all night most nights - excluding very dull winter days. The lamps featured have 96 LED bulbs, most others have less and are not as realistic. Buy 2 Solar Flame Lamps with 96 LED bulbs Return to top of page

	Best Gloves For Handling Prickly Bushes Grab a Thistle - Grab a Thorn! Best Thorn Proof Glove You would have thought that the softest leather gloves would be useless against thorns so I was amazed to discover that the Gold Leaf Tough Touch gloves were the best I have tried for pruning roses and handling brambles. The first time you grab a thorn with these on it is scary, as you think you will get pricked- but you don't! The secret is the specially selected and treated Deer Skin, (which is also the best fashion grade leather) They have a long black cuff as well to protect your arm when you reach in to prune. The Golf Leaf Tough Glove is so good it is recommended by the RHS - and me! For heavier duty work and dealing with thorns these Deer Skin gloves are the best and still allow you a good degree of dexterity. Gold Leaf Tough Touch Gloves - Gents Gold Leaf Tough Touch Gloves - Ladies Ladies or Gents - 2 sizes only beware of similar looking cheap copies! The Best Ladies Gardening Gloves These attractive Briers gloves are so comfortable yet tough and flexible as well. I have tried dozens of gardening gloves over the last 20 years and these are in my top 5. As with shoes you need more than one pair, and I have around 6 or 7 different pairs for different jobs in the garden. In fact, although these are pink and aimed at ladies I have small hands so often use them myself. Briers Lady Gardener Gloves - Pink Stylish but practical. (Just like me) Return to top of page Sussex Trugs Totally Tried and Tested - this one is 25 years old! The Sussex Trug is a beautiful and useful product for any gardener and has been made in the same way for hundreds of years. I have been using this one since the last century! Many plastic containers would have broken up from UV degradation years before. Sussex Trugs are available in a range of sizes and when you buy one you are getting a great product and supporting traditional crafts using local, natural materials. Buy a genuine Sussex Trug made in Sussex - not China! Return to top of page Return to Homepage