In this year of thrift, we need to be more imaginative than ever when choosing Christmas gifts. Effort and thoughtfulness are as important (to most people) as the amount of money spent. Gardening, thankfully, is an area in which it is easy to achieve brownie points with generous dollops of the first two and not much of the third.

I would much prefer the promise of heavy labour or a home-planted wicker basket of spring bulbs, topped with moss, to a pot of expensive “relieving foot cream” grabbed off the shelf in desperation. What gardener can bend down to apply it after a hard day’s digging?

How about a few packets of unusual annual seeds, tied with a ribbon – even better if they are from your own garden? Or a gift voucher for a Rocket Garden, a box of young vegetable plants to be delivered in spring, ready for planting? It’s not cheap, with prices starting at £24.99, but it will give a lazy, time-pressed or novice gardener an invaluable kick-start (01209 831468, www.rocketgardens.co.uk).

To encourage those on the verge of getting serious about gardening, membership of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) or Garden Organic will give access to professional advice, the societies’ own (and others’) gardens, seed stocks and, in the case of the RHS, reduced rates and members-only days at its shows. An RHS gift box, including a year’s membership and goodies such as seeds from its gardens, costs £49 (0845 130 4646, www.rhs.org.uk); an annual subscription to Garden Organic is £28, or £43 when combined with access to its Heritage Seed Library (024 7630 8210, www.gardenorganic.org.uk).

For those who want to learn from others’ efforts – or are just plain nosy – the National Gardens Scheme, under which more than 3,500 public and private gardens open for charity, is an invaluable andfabulously British institution.

(Can you imaginea suburban Frenchman letting strangers traipse through his patch?) Becoming a Friend of the NGS, which is free with the Yellow Book of the scheme’s gardens (£8.99), brings discounts and a newsletter. The book is published in February, but if you buy it as a gift, you’ll get a pretty voucher to present (01483 213911, www.ngs.org.uk). Scotland’s Gardens Scheme has its own Yellow Book(£5.50 in shops or £6.50 by mail order; 0131 226 3714, www.gardensofscotland.org).

Personally, I am hankering after a petrol-driven wood shredder (there’s a good range at www.justlawnmowers.co.uk with prices starting at £550) - but in these cash-strapped days, it looks as though I’ll be rubbing in that foot cream instead.

The fire basket will toast your marshmallows, and your toes, on crisp winter nights, and is far more eco-friendly than the ubiquitous gas heaters. £20. Town and Country; 01530 830990, www.townandco.com

The battery-powered garden clock, with a shabby-chic rusted finish, pivots to reveal a thermometer on the back. £25. Crocus; 0844 557 2233, www.crocus.co.uk

Smarten up your front door with these Cretan terracotta pots, which would suit both traditional and contemporary settings. £59. In Garden; 01732 832299, www.ingarden.co.uk

Felco’s Model 8 Secateurs are easy to use and efficient. £40. Harrod Horticultural; 0845 402 5300, www.harrodhorticultural.com

Cut large expanses of grass in minutes with this John Deere X120 mowing and mulching lawn tractor. £1,949. Mowers Online; 01452 616169, www.mowers-online.co.uk

Four growing herbs in one-litre pots: myrtle (good for stews and soups), ‘Tashkent’ mint, purple sage and ‘Sudbury Blue’ rosemary. £20. Jekka’s Herb Farm; 01454 418878, www.jekkasherbfarm.com

Flaunt your green credentials with a gift set that includes jute bags for composting leaves and a trug made from recycled tyres. £50 Hen & Hammock; 01844 217060, www.henandhammock.co.uk

This “beehive” is, in fact, a compost bin, so you can keep all that brown rotting stuff hidden and brighten up the garden at the same time. From £100 Wiggly Wigglers; 01981 500391, www.wigglywigglers.co.uk

A clever designer has spotted the potential of the colourful sacks that are used to transport fruit and vegetables to market in London, and now makes them into plant-pot holders. £6. 01844 217060, www.henandhammock.co.uk

Instead of tripping over the garden hose whenever you’ve forgotten - or couldn’t be bothered - to put it away, use the springy 15-metre Flexifun hose, which coils back to its original shape. £25. Burford; 01993 823117, www.burford.co.uk

Cover your rhubarb crown with one of these handsome fired-clay pots and the stalks will grow long and sweet. It can also be used for sea kale or simply as a garden ornament. £90. 01844 217060, www.henandhammock.co.uk

Wellingtons, £75, Duchy Originals digging fork, £65, trolley, £275, and watering can, £50 ;all from Petersham Nurseries. From £50. 020 8940 5230, www. petershamnurseries.com

As cute as a doll’s house, this Shaker bird box will provide a cosy home for nesting tits and other small birds. £15. 0844 557 2233, www.crocus.co.uk

Made from kiln-dried pine, this bench mellows to silver. £200. Garden Trading; 0845 608 4448, gardentrading. co.uk

Make a mini greenhouse with the Vitapod propagator. From £39. Greenhouse Sensation; 0845 602 3774, www.greenhousesensation.co.uk

Explore two Tudor courtiers’ horticultural rivalry in Elizabeth in the Garden by Trea Martyn (Faber). To buy it for £17.09, inc p&p, call 0870 165 8585.

You’d swear it was slate, but this sundial is actually made from recycled plastic cups.To get it working, align it to north in a sunny spot – half the fun is finding the local noon, which varies by 22 minutes between Greenwich and Penzance. £27. 01844 217060, www.henandhammock.co.uk

Click here for more Christmas Gift ideas

Explore Gardens

• Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

• Chelsea Flower Show

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers