By Hannah Stephenson

Gifts for the gardeners are everywhere, catering for everyone from armchair enthusiasts to green-fingered gadget lovers. Here are just a few ideas to suit different gardening types.

For the armchair gardener: For those who want inspiration from gardens at home and abroad, The Gardener's Garden (£49.95, Phaidon Press) will provide it in spades. This is surely the ultimate coffee table tome on the world's most outstanding gardens, featuring gardens from every continent by designers including Beth Chatto, Christopher Bradley-Hole, Capability Brown and Tom Stuart-Smith. It's illustrated with more than 1,000 colour photographs - a beautiful gift;

While browsing through a gardening book, the armchair gardener may also enjoy a hot toddy. Enjoy the aromatic scent of Christmas with a mulled wine or whisky toddy from ready-mixed spice sachets from the National Trust (£4.50 per pack, shop.nationaltrust.org.uk and selected National Trust shops across England, Wales and Northern Ireland);

If armchair gardeners can drag themselves into the kitchen, they may enjoy making a tipple of their own with a Kilner eight-piece Sloe Gin gift set, designed to provide all the essentials needed to make sloe gin or any other fruit liqueurs. Use natural hedgerow produce with traditional recipes (£22.95, harrodhorticultural.com).

For the pampered gardener: Bring the fragrance of Christmas into the pampered gardener's home with a stylish and subtle pine and eucalyptus scented bauble from Jo Malone, which will happily adorn any tree and make the scent of Christmas last well into the New Year (£32, jomalone.co.uk);

The pampered gardener will appreciate a pile of soothing goodies after a hard day in the garden, including hand lotion, hand wash and body soap in a Woodlands Watering Can Gardener's Gift (£26, gardendivas.co.uk). The set includes a handy wooden nail brush and a pair of floral gardening gloves.

For the gadget lover: Keep hands warm with a pair of Briers Warm Ups, gloves which you stick in the microwave to heat up the micro gel within them to keep hands warm. They should stay warm for up to an hour and you can dry them naturally and wipe with a damp cloth (£24.99, briersltd.co.uk);

Save space in the shed with Handigger, a Swedish product used to dig, plant, scoop, level or just break up compacted soil. With an ergonomically comfortable handle recommended for people with osteoarthritis and rheumatic pain and two different shaped blades, this multi tool took two years of testing to develop it to suit both amateur and professional gardeners (£9.99, www.chaselink.co.uk).

For the outdoor stylist: Create an illusion of space with a garden mirror. This ornate Gothic Mirror from Harrod Horticultural will be an eye-catching addition to any garden wall and make the area seem bigger. The cream mirror is made from wood and painted with an antique wash, waterproof paint to withstand the elements. The mirror is 85cm high x 66cm wide (£49.95, harrodhorticultural.com).

For the wildlife lover: A new idea comes from the Eden Project in the form of Wildlife Seedbombs (£3.50 each, edenprojectshop.com), which you soak first then throw on to a section of your garden and simply watch it burst into life. These are ideal for adding colour and attracting pollinating insects to sections of neglected garden. Choose from Cornflower Fieldbomb, Pollinator Beebomb, Poppy Peacebomb, Sunflower Powerbomb or Thyme Bomb;

Bird lovers will appreciate a classy bird feeder which you can also personalise. Check out the Oak Hanging Bird Feeder from Getting Personal, which comes with a thick, twisted rustic rope so that you can hang it from a tree branch or other support. Featuring a shallow bowl for seeds and nuts, the wide edge of the feeder can be engraved with a short message or name (£84.99, gettingpersonal.co.uk);

The designs on these Funky Laundry bags makes you think of wildlife every time you look at them. Store garden cushions in them, choosing designs ranging from bluebells and wild flower meadow, to chilli, nuts and bolts and roses. The bags are also ideal for collecting and depositing garden leaves (£6.99, funkylaundry.co.uk).

For the shed enthusiast: The man - or woman - who finds solace in his shed can chalk up some gardening reminders on a quirky Slate Welly Boot Chalk Board with a rope handle from the RHS, a must for the shed or outhouse (£9.99, rhsshop.co.uk);

Are you always tripping over tools in your shed? If so, you need the new Tool Track Rack from Nether Wallop, as its ingenious sliding elements enable it to hold at least 15 tools. It comes supplied with fixings for both wood and brick. (£29.95, netherwalloptrading.uk).

BEST OF THE BUNCH - Fatsia

Also known as the castor oil plant, this tropical-looking evergreen with its fantastic deep-green, leathery leaves looks great when other plants around it have faded. What's more, it loves shade. It is a potentially large shrub and can grow to 3x4 metres (10-12 feet) but can be kept smaller by pruning. In late autumn, it produces candelabra-like cream flowerheads, followed by black berries which are similar to those of ivy. It can be grown as a stand-alone specimen in any reasonable garden soil in a shady, sheltered site. The leaves, which have huge finger-like lobes, can measure 30cm (12in) across and are great for incorporating into large flower arrangements.

GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT - Chicory

Chicory is among the easiest of salad crops to grow as it is relatively cold and drought resistant. It can be eaten raw in salads but can also be cooked. There are three types of chicory - Witloof, red chicory (also known as radicchio) and sugarloaf chicory. Both the latter types form hearts like those of lettuce, while Witloof grows as a rosette of leaves forming a deep root, which when harvested and trimmed can be forced in a warm, dark place to produce chicons - white, leafy buds.

Chicory should be grown in an open, sunny site and does well on poor soils. Sow Witloof in late spring and early summer for forcing in autumn. Red and sugarloaf chicories can be sown from mid-spring to late summer. The heads should be gathered after two or three months, when they are fully formed and firm. Unlike lettuce heads, those of chicory will last for up to eight weeks and can be stored in a cool place until needed.

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK

Cut the lawn for the last time this year, and clean and store the lawnmower;

Lift begonia tubers, dry them and store in a cool, frost-free place;

Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of chives and reset in small groups;

Cover perpetual spinach with cloches to protect the tender leaves;

Put wire netting over the tops of pots to prevent squirrels digging up bulbs you have planted;

Firm back newly-planted trees and shrubs after frosts;

Continue to plant tulips and hyacinths;

Move containers of winter pansies closer to the house to protect them from wind and rain;

In persistently frosty weather, lag outdoor containers by wrapping bubble wrap around them, because if the compost freezes solid for long, it will kill the plants;

Pot up rooted cuttings of rosemary, sage and thyme and put them on a windowsill indoors to give you some sprigs for cooking.