Gardens/Jane Powers:A nest box with a camera? Yes, please.
Gardeners are practical types. We grow things, grub around in the soil, sling bags of manure around. We like grand, sturdy tools. We're not usually swayed by brand names, but, having said that, no batterie de jardin is complete without the red-handled, Swiss-made Felco secateurs available from good garden centres. The classic Felco 2 (€55-€65) is the most popular version. The slightly lighter and more basic Felco 4 (still a fine tool) can be bought with a cone-shaped leather holster for €53.95 from Mr Middleton, on Mary Street in Dublin (01-8731118; mail order from 01-8603674; www.mrmiddleton.com).
The prince of watering cans is the Haws, designed more than a century ago by John Haws in Britain and since exported all over the world: perfectly balanced, easy to carry and elegant to look at. The large Deluxe (about €39.95 at good garden shops) is injection-moulded plastic, a material that's not as traditional as metal, but it's a lot lighter - which makes a big difference when one is lugging gallons of water hither and yon. For seedlings and houseplants Mr Middleton has a cute little half-litre brass watering can by Haws (€49.95) and a matching brass mister (€12.95), just like the one your granny had.
The Dutch company Sneeboer makes hand-forged stainless-steel trowels, forks and other hand tools. They'll last a lifetime and won't bend like a piece of lasagne when ambushed by rock or tree root (from about €25 to €32, at Ecoshop, Glen of the Downs, Co Wicklow, www.ecoshop.ie, 01-2872914, and Fruit Hill Farm, Bantry, Co Cork, 027-50710, www.fruithillfarm.com). Ecoshop also has gorgeous copper trowels made in Austria by PKS (you have to hand it to the northern Europeans when it comes to tool manufacturing). They're not cheap, at €39.95, but they are light and lovely to use, and they stay sharp indefinitely. There is anecdotal evidence that slugs and snails are less fond of soil where copper tools have been used.
Speaking of dispelling nasties, when it comes to indoor air toxins (from cleaning products, carpets, paints and other emitters of noxious compounds) , especially those of tropical origin, can help clean the atmosphere in a room. Nasa found that one of the best plants for this is the areca palm (Dypsis lutescens). The Avoca nursery in Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow, has sizeable specimens with many frondy leaves (€38.95), plus a good range of houseplants, with citrus plants being something of a speciality. All are bearing some fruit; they cost from €18.95 for a small calamondin to €69.95 for a larger lemon plant. For outdoors there are holly, lavender and rosemary trained into pyramids and standards (from €16.95 to €59.95).
Murphy & Wood, on Johnstown Road in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, is a place where committed gardeners know they will always find something unusual. This year Brian Wood has a small-leaved photinia (P. 'Red Robin Nana'), as 150cm-tall standards (€65) and as infant shrubs (€9). The garden centre has also just taken delivery of a lot of uncommon herbaceous perennials, suitable for flower-arrangers' gardens: several kinds of echinacea (including 'Green Envy'), various hostas and many other covetable oddities, all for less than €10.
Although all gardeners are mad about plants, most of us have specific tastes. If in doubt, just present us with a gift token from our favourite garden centre or nursery.
For those who enjoy starting plants from seed, Mr Middleton offers three kinds of heated propagating kits, including the Super 7 (€59.99) window-sill model.
I don't know a gardener who isn't preoccupied with the state of his or her hands; they are, after all, our most commonly-used tool, and they come in for much wear and tear. Those of us who wear gloves go through several pairs a year, so these are always welcome (before buying, do a quick examination of our tool kit to see if we prefer heavy leather ones or lighter fabric ones). Unguents and potions for the hand and body are also gratefully accepted. I find Burt's Bees products pleasant and effective (from Avoca and other outlets, from €15.95 to €19.95 for a gift assortment).
Birds are a gardener's best friend, keeping our plants free from aphids and other spoilsport sap-suckers. We're always pleased to accept gifts on their behalf, such as feeders and bird food. Most garden centres stock plenty of these. Ecoshop has pretty dried sunflower heads (€4.95). Mr Middleton has the ultimate voyeuristic gift for bird lovers: the Camera Nest Box, which gives you a Big Brother-style eye (black-and-white only) on avian family life, via a connection to your television (€250).
Speaking of family life, and kids in particular, you've a better chance of turning them into gardeners if you catch them young. Almost every garden centre has tool sets for little 'uns now; Mr Middleton has some rather jolly vegetable-decorated, plastic-coated bags that fold out to become containers for growing on patios (€21.95 for a set of three).
The most engaging containers I've seen this year are handwoven baskets, made from local willow by the Camphill community in Dunshane, Co Meath, for sale at Ecoshop. Different shapes and sizes, and useful for everything from collecting cut flowers to storing your gardening bits and pieces, they cost €20 to €39. Also at Ecoshop, another invaluable container is a ceramic compost crock (€29.95), with an activated charcoal filter (to stop pongs escaping), for gathering kitchen scraps before ferrying them to the compost bin.
Finally, a reminder on where gardeners come from: there would be no new gardeners without old gardeners. The latter are the backbone of the country's horticultural societies, where they share their knowledge with the rest of the community. So why not give a gift subscription to your local garden club or to one of the national societies? Membership of the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland (Cabinteely House, Dublin 18, 01-2353912, www.rhsi.ie) costs from €10 to €35, depending on status and location. A year's subscription to the Irish Garden Plant Society costs €25, but if you purchase one now it will throw in an extra five months (IGPS c/o National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 - letters only). And the Alpine Garden Society (particularly suitable for those with teeny gardens) charges €12 a year (AGS, 32 Braemor Park, Churchtown, Dublin 14; www.alpinegardensociety.ie).