What shall I ask for as a present?

[NotEnoughMud]

I'm leaving a job this week and have been asked for ideas for a leaving present - I'm thinking of something garden based.... I've been drooling over the Sarah Raven catalogue, but am aware that a lot of the premium is in the pretty pictures rather than necessarily the quality...

My initial thoughts were - an ultra perennial tulip collection to have in pots accompanied by wallflowers? I do not want tulips that give up the ghost after a year.... or ones I have to dig up and replant

Other collections of bulbs for pots?

A rose? Love roses, but really don't have any room to squeeze another in....

Any other ideas? Around the £50 mark

Have you got a really nice pair of secateurs? I was bought a pair of Felco secateurs as a present and they are SO nice that I would save them from a fire 😳

Should have said that I was a bit disappointed with Sarah Raven tulips. Very expensive for how they turned out...

www.sneeboer.com/en-gb/garden-tools/planting-trowel-old-dutch-style-monty-don-favourite-tool/

I got a monty don trowel for Xmas. It really is a nice piece of kit

Interesting ideas - thanks all!

I got a garden seat and a really nice stainless steel fork for my 50th. Garden seat would be too expensive, and you’d need to add a stainless steel spade to the fork. Or a horihori knife?

best garden present was 1 tonne of gravel, for my 60th.

Nashi pear tree.

I'd go for something like a bird bath or sundial, personally. Plants can be so fickle.

It really is tricky! We're about to extend the garden - but realistically I won't have any space for a new tree/big shrub until next year. Hence thinking about bulbs in pots. I'm pretty well equipped with spades/forks etc and got one of those amazing knives last year. It shouldn't be as hard to choose a pressie as it is!

Another idea is some sort of outdoor lighting. I love the idea of little solar jewel lights hung in trees - is that madness??

Tulips in pots are very unlikely to come back a second year unless you assiduously feed and water them until they've died down. Even then they will need repotting.

I second nice tools, they will be a pleasure to use for ever but they always feel like too much of an indulgence to buy for myself. Something unusual but really really useful like this set www.axminstertools.com/set-of-3-japanese-garden-tools-cutter-sickle-and-trowel-717419. Or anything ordinary but really well made such as by Sneeboer or Burgon and Ball or Felco. Or classy pots. Big classy pots. Lots of big classy pots. Getting carried away now....

Garden centre vouchers - they will keep until you see something you really want and you can use them in loads of different places.

Damn. You might be right about flaky tulips. I love the way they look but I don't want to lavish attention on something so unreliable. Pots is an idea though!

• Garden seat or swing chair
• Goldleaf leather gloves- they are lovely!
• Bird bath or bird feeding station
• Mini pond set
• Hedgehog house
• Night vision camera to watch hedgehogs
• Fig tree or other, substantially sized fruit tree. Rather than a tiny sapling which would take years to fruit

I bought tulip bulbs from aldi and lidl last year and they were surprisingly good. The all come up again this year too! I've also bought gladiolis and dalias from there, which too, have come up again this year. Don't forget the cheaper places can have spectacular bulbs and corms.

What about a really lovely large pot?

Oh. They got me a Black Diamond Hydrangea. I don't want to malign any plant, but it's really rather hideous!

Oh no! Tricky. It's a kind gesture but I'm a bit 😳 at buying someone an actual plant without knowing anything about their garden situation or taste. Could you exchange it??

Should have just blurted something out! I wouldn't be happy with that.