Gardening Gifts for Dads Young & Old: Seasonal Picks for Every Occasion

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On the hunt for the perfect gardening gift for your Dad or Grandad? Look no further. We’ve used our 50+ years of experience in the gardening industry to create an easy-to-follow list of the best gardening gifts that will put a smile on the face of Dads across the country - whether it’s Father's Day, Christmas Day, or just to say thank you! 

Gardening Gift Guidance: How To Get It Right 

Before we jump into our list of top gardening gifts, let’s touch on what makes a great gift and what you need to think about before making a purchase. (Don’t worry, though, we offer 30-day returns!)

Savannah, our in-house gardening expert, suggests asking these top three gift-buying questions.

“I hope these questions help you to narrow down your options when you’re picking out a gift for your Dad or Grandad. If you do need more advice, you can always get in touch”

So, with that in mind, let’s dig into our comprehensive guide to gardening gifts for the green-fingered Dad in your life!”

Our Top Recommended Gardening Gifts In Brief 

Haven’t got time to read the full article? No worries. Here’s a rundown of the top 9 products we’ve recommended in this post.

1. Best Hand Tool For Spring - Burgon & Ball Stainless Steel Hand Trowel - £13
2. Best Planting Gift For Spring - Professional 12 Pot Seed Growing Tray - £6.30
3. Best Watering Gift For Summer - 10L. Watering Can with Rose Attachment - £8.68
4. Best Hand Tool For Summer - Burgon & Ball Bypass Secateur - £20.99
5. Best Garden Accessory For Autumn - Beehive Composter - £164.99
6. Best Hand Tool For Autumn - RHS Endorsed Dibber - £19.00
7. Best Garden Maintenance Tool For Autumn - Garden Track - From £23.88
8. Best Garden Accessory For Winter - Garden Fleece - £8.99
9. Best Garden Gadget Year Round - Rain Gauge - £9.59

Spring Surprises: Gifts For The Planting Season

Spring is one of the most exciting periods in the gardening year. There’s so much change and growth during this period, meaning there's a long list of gardening chores and tasks to complete, including

• Sprucing up the garden with new plants
• Preparing the soil for sowing and planting
• Pruning trees and shrubs
• Maintaining greenhouses and conservatories

If you want to buy a gift to help your Dad with these tasks, we recommend buying something for his tool collection.

Hand tools such as trowels, claws, and forks make great garden gifts because they are both practical and affordable. We stock tools from top brands, including Burgon & Ball, so you can be confident that they will last a long time and get the job done season after season.

If you’re thinking of creating a gardening gift bundle, gardening gloves are the perfect addition. Spring involves a lot of planting, which can be tough on hands, so he will definitely welcome a pair of gloves to keep hands clean, dry and soft! 

Spring Gifts For Dads New to Gardening 

For Dads who are at the very start of their gardening journey, seed starter kits are ideal gifts. They often come with various seeds to kick-start the gardening season, so it’s a great intro to getting his hands dirty. 

If your Dad already knows what they want to grow and has the seeds for it, a seed-growing tray is the ideal gift for his green thumb.

Compost and fertiliser products can also be a hugely appreciated gift. Making sure the soil is nourished and healthy is the first step in ensuring a healthy crop of flowers and plants throughout the year.

Summer Essentials: Gifts For The Growth & Maintenance Phase

Once the spring season has passed, the garden moves into the growth and maintenance phase. This is about the same time you’ll be looking for Father's Day gardening gifts too! 

Garden gifts in the summer should focus on nurturing the seeds your Dad sowed back in the springtime.

One of the most important tools every gardener needs during the summer is a decent watering can. With any luck, the summer will be filled with sunshine to help plants grow, so manual watering is essential to sustain healthy plants. Watering cans with a rose attachment are always preferred as they deliver water gently onto delicate roots and petals.

If your Dad is eco-conscious and will want to add more sustainability to the summer watering process, a water butt makes a great addition to any garden and can be an unusual gardening gift. The earlier in summer you give a water butt, the better, as it needs time to fill up with rainwater.

Another essential tool that makes a great summer garden gift is a high-quality pair of pruning shears. Secateurs and shears are perfect for keeping your Dad's outdoor space and flower beds looking neat and healthy all season long. A weed slice from Burgon & Ball will also make weeding a breeze too.

Finally, and sticking with the watering theme, a new hose can make a great summer gardening gift to help with deep watering sessions during extended dry spells. You can get some innovative hoses that shrink for easy storage or with spray settings designed for different plants.

Autumn Additions: Gifts For Harvesting & Preparation

As the nights draw in and the temperature begins to drop, gardeners move on to harvesting their crops and preparing for the next growing cycle. This transitional period offers plenty of opportunities for garden gifts.

One of the most rewarding aspects of gardening is being able to harvest fruits and vegetables you've grown from scratch. You can make this process even more special for your Dad with a beautiful traditional wooden garden trug from WM James. Secateurs can also make great autumnal garden gifts to make the harvesting process easier.

Once this year's crops have been harvested, it's time to start preparation for next year. Healthy, nourished soil is key to producing a bumper crop. With at least one season of growth under your Dad's belt, a compost bin can be the ideal gift to keep the gardening momentum going. He can use fallen leaves and general debris from plants to create nutrient-rich compost for next season.

As we’re sure, he’s told you many times there's nothing like getting a head start on your planting for next year. Gifting your Dad a bulb planter or RHS-endorsed dibber can make planting spring-blooming bulbs a breeze. A kneeler is also ideal to make this process more comfortable for your Dad.

Our final thoughts for Autumnal gifts is that it's easy to overlook the importance of lawn care when gardening, especially as the grass stops growing as much in the colder months. Gifting a lawn aerator can help to prepare the ground for winter by increasing water and nutrient absorption. A garden fork also works really well for this.

If your Dad is particularly proud of his lawn, a garden roller makes the ideal garden gift, helping to keep the ground level throughout the wetter months. Some plastic garden tracks can also help protect the lawn through the autumn and winter seasons. This is perfect for gardens without a path.

Winter Wonders: Gifts For Winter Protection & Planning

For non-gardeners and beginners, winter can be a confusing time with seemingly very little to do, but there's always something to do.

As temperatures plummet, gardeners need to protect their biennial and perennial plants while planning for next season. If your Dad's birthday falls in winter or you're looking for Christmas gardening gifts, there are plenty of options to choose from.

The gold standard of winter garden gifts is garden fleece. Essentially a blanket for plants, this material helps protect plants from harsh frosts and pests during winter. Wrapping border plants in garden fleece helps protect all the hard work your Dad put in through the spring and summer months.

If your Dad has a larger area of plants or an allotment, polytunnels are the perfect alternative to garden fleece. These handy tunnels work in the same way as garden fleece, protecting plants from frost, hail, and other adverse weather conditions. Polytunnels are great for protecting more of the soil, too.

If your Dad is more of a planner and enjoys thinking about the plants he'll grow next year, a garden planner or journal can make an incredibly thoughtful gift and is perfect for Christmas. It can also come in handy to inspire garden gifts for next year too!

For Dads who are big on attracting wildlife to their garden, a heated bird bath is the ultimate Christmas gift. This might be more on the bougie side, but providing a water source for birds when it's freezing out is important, and this can take the hard work out of defrosting a re-filling.

Year-Round Favourites: Tools for All Seasons

If you're not interested in gardening or don't keep up with what your Dad is doing in his garden, it can be difficult to purchase garden gifts that are specific to the seasons and the phases the garden will be in. If that's you, we've got some garden gifts that are perfect for all seasons, no matter the occasion.

Useful Gardening Gifts For Every Season 

One of the most useful things to have when gardening in an outdoor space is a kneeling pad. What used to be a green piece of foam now comes in different colours with beautiful patterns. You can even get strap-on knee pads so you don't have to move a piece of foam around with you. There are also kneeling pads with handles that doubles as a seat for accessible gardening and tending to raised beds.

For Dads who love a good gardening gadget or enjoy statistics, some form of weather station makes an ideal garden gift for all seasons. Weathervanes and garden thermometers are classic garden gifts. If you want to get more technical, the rain gauge from WM James is ideal for letting your Dad work out just how much water he needs to add to his crops to create the perfect conditions.

Another classic garden-themed gift that you can give all year round is a tool or seed organiser. These can help keep his shed or greenhouse clean and tidy. It can also help him know what he has and what he might need to help inform future gifts.

Rounding Up Our Favourite Gardening Gifts for Dads

Whether you're just as interested in gardening as your Dad or you enjoy the fruits of his labour from a distance, there are so many gifts you can get for your green-thumbed Dad. No matter if it's Father's Day, a birthday, or just something to show your love and appreciation, WM James has plenty of garden gifts to let Dad know just how much you care. Shop our range online to find the perfect gifts for the season.

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