At Jacks Garden Store you will find a great range of gardening gifts that are perfect for your beloved gardener. If you are planning to buy Christmas presents online remember to place your order early to ensure that your presents arrive in plenty of time for Christmas.

For him Christmas garden gifts

1. Beehive composters make unique Christmas gifts and will be greatly appreciated by any avid gardener. The stylish design means that this garden composter is not purely functional but will also provide an attractive focal point in the garden.
2. Wooden planters – At Jacks Garden Store you can view a huge range of quality wooden planters that vary in size, design and price making it easy for you to find the right Christmas gift. Garden planters or raised beds as they are sometimes referred to can be positioned anywhere in the garden and create a wonderful raised growing area.
3. Barbecues – Every man loves to cook on a barbecue. Within our range you can view traditional barbecues and more contemporary barbecues that are portable and great for taking on holiday!
4. Polytunnels and Garden cloches – Poly tunnels are not the most attractive garden gift but are extremely functional. A poly tunnel allows you to protect an entire bed from the frost and cold weather. Garden cloches are used on individual plants and offer plant frost protection too.

For her Gardening Gifts

1. Victorian Glass Garden Cloche – A glass garden cloche offers frost protection for individual plants outdoors. Alternatively these beautiful items can be used to cover cheese boards or house plants. They are great value for money and will look fabulous in any garden or home.
2. Ladies funky wellies – Within our fantastic wellington boot range you can find both traditional and more flamboyant wellington boots that will help to keep your gardeners feet nice and dry during wet winter months outdoors. Our Evercreature wellington boots will add a touch of glamour to your garden wear or dog walking attire!
3. Garden Mirrors – Garden mirrors are still quite rare and your gardening friend will love receiving such at unique gift at Christmas. A garden mirror will help even the most compact garden to look big!
4. Bistro Garden Furniture Set – A wonderful bistro furniture set will allow you to share romantic meals outdoors together.

Children’s Christmas garden gifts

1. A Trampoline – This gift is not only fun but will enable your children to get the amount of exercise they require to be healthy and fit.
2. Outdoor Sandbox – Perfect for younger children.
3. Children’s wigwam – let their imaginations run wild with this fun outdoor tipee.
4. Garden games – At Jacks Garden Store you can find a fantastic range of garden games that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Within our range you will find croquet sets, giant snakes and ladders, connect four and pick-up sticks games plus many more outdoor games which would make the perfect Christmas gift!

For more great Christmas gift ideas visit Jacks Garden Store now!

Good luck

Gardener Jack!

Planning how to protect your plants from the cold weather is a major part of this month’s gardening tasks. Before the very cold weather sets in there are a few essential gardening jobs that should be carried out at this time of year. Now that the clocks have gone back you will need to plan to complete these gardening tasks on the weekend if you work during the week.

1. Rake up falling leaves and put into your composter.
2. Dig over your vegetable patch. You can dig a trench and bury the fallen leaves into your veggie patch instead of taking them to the tip or adding them to your compost heap. The leaves will soon rot down.
3. Don’t walk on your lawn after a heavy frost as this will cause yellow patches on your lawn after the frost has gone.
4. Plant trees and shrubs and add slow acting fertilizer such as bone meal or fish meal into the hole.
5. Dig up the some of your parsley plant including the roots and plant into a small container which can be placed in a sunny spot in your kitchen.
6. Protect tending plants from the cold weather and frost by using garden cloches or poly tunnels which are ideal for covering entire beds.
7. Move any tender potted plants into a cold frame or your greenhouse to protect them during the winter.
8. You can cut the tops off of Jerusalem artichokes, dig them up and store inside your garden shed or garage with potatoes.
9. Move Japanese Acer trees to a sheltered spot and protect them from cold winds.
10. Get your lawn mower serviced.

For more gardening advice, gardening jobs and tips visit my blog.

Good luck

Gardener Jack!

A garden cloche helps you to protect your plants from cold weather and frosts. Unlike greenhouses and coldframes a garden cloche is placed over your plants in their existing position meaning that your plant does not have to be uprooted from its existing position.

A garden cloche retains warmth and humidity, warms the soil to enable earlier planting and protects your plants from cold weather, animals and pesky insects that may try and attack your plants.

Garden cloches are made from either plastic or glass. There are ornate bell versions that can be put over individual plants or alternatively there are tunnel cloches that can cover complete garden beds. They sit directly on the soil are inexpensive and are portable.

Bell Cloches
This type sits comfortably over an individual plant. The traditional glass Victorian cloches look pretty but do not provide your plants with ventilation. A plastic bell cloche will have a controllable vent on the top which enables you to maximise your plants growing environment.  Bell cloches can be used on individual plants in your beds, over plant pots or to cover plants in your home or greenhouse.

Plastic Polytunnel Cloches
This type of cloche is a plastic sheet held over your plants by a series of metal hoops. At the end of the poly tunnel are two doors which can be used to control ventilation. This type of frost protection is ideal if you are looking to cover an entire garden bed or row of vegetables in your garden.

The advantages of using a garden cloche

• Easy to transport this is advantageous over using a coldframe.
• Inexpensive.
• Can be used to mature crops early or to keep plants producing crops for longer in the autumn.
• Warms the soil.
• Protect tender herbaceous plants throughout the winter.
• Allow you to control temperature and humidity.

Visit Jacks Garden Store now to view a wonderful range of plastic garden cloches, glass cloches and polytunnels at great prices and with free delivery.

A polytunnel acts in a similar way as a greenhouse and provides a warm home for low crops during cold weather spells. A polytunnel can protect against frosts and increase the longevity of your plants. Most people will recognise the semi-circular shape of a polytunnel without knowing the correct name for this garden product.

Frosts and cold weather cause the water in plant cells to freeze which damages the cell wall. It is easy to spot frost damage on a plant; their growth will become limp, blackened and distorted. A polytunnel can prevent frost damage and are extremely affordable. They are ideal for gardeners without greenhouses or if you have bed plants that you do not want to uproot and move.

What is a polytunnel?
A Poly tunnel is essentially a polythene sheet supported by a row of metal hoops that you can place over your plants. The tough UV stabilised polyethylene forms a complete barrier against the cold, it retains humidity and warmth and fully protects your plants from harsh weather and frosts.  A polytunnel normally has a door at each end to allow easy access to your plants. The door also provides good ventilation that can be adjusted depending on the temperature.

Polytunnels allow you to protect a large number of plants for a relatively low cost in comparison to buying a greenhouse. Made from polyethylene they are extremely durable and unlike the glass panes on a greenhouse will not shatter or become hazardous to children.

A polytunnel not only protects your garden from the frost but also enables you to extend the growing period of plants thanks to the warm temperatures within your tunnel.

Visit Jacks Garden Store to find a fantastic range of polytunnels and garden cloches that will provide your plants with essential frost protection during the cold winter months.

Good Luck

Gardener Jack!

Instead of growing plants at ground level you can also grow different plants in a raised bed. A raised bed is simply an area of soil that is higher than the surrounding level of soil. You can purchase a ready-made raised bed which is often called a planter or alternatively you can build your own using wood or plastic.

The advantages of using a raised bed:

1. A planter or raised bed allows you to have greater control of the type of soil used to grow your plants. Mix half compost in with soil to get a really good mix.
2. Watering will become more efficient as your soil composition will not become water logged. Less watering will also be required as the water will not drain away as fast as it would do in a conventional flowerbed.
3. Plant feed will remain within the specific plant area for longer in a raised bed meaning that when you do feed your plants you will be doing so more accurately.
4. Netting can easily be attached the edges of a planter making it easy to protect your plants from birds and insects.
5. The raised height makes gardening easier for less agile gardeners.
6. Less digging is required compared to a conventional flowerbed.
7. Planters are available in a range of different shapes and sizes so you are sure to find the right one for your requirements.
8. Easy access – unlike a ground level bed you can reach all areas of a raised bed with relative ease thanks to its raised height.
9. Increased soil temperatures in a raised bed which allow you to start planting out earlier.

At Jacks Garden Store you will find a great variety of raised beds and planters available. For more great gardening advice and tips visit Jacks Blog now.

Good Luck

Gardener Jack!