THE MODERN MINT BLOG

Nov09

Gifts for Difficult People

Need a gift for someone and they are just so difficult to buy for?

We all have a family member, friend or colleague like it – they give you no clues as to what they might like, no ideas for what they might need and appreciate, no signs for something that might just make them smile come Christmas.

They are, all in all, a difficult one to buy for.

This is where Modern Mint can come in and help you.

Gifts for Difficult People – wildlife/outdoorsy types

If they love nature and being outside, we definitely have ideas to help you here.

A small budget (around £5) can get you an eco-friendly bird feeder. This bird feeder is made from recycled plastic pots here in the UK, which means less plastic going to landfill. The product itself is sturdy and, though the photograph on the box suggests threading an apple onto the feeder, we like to think you will be more imaginative than that – try cheese, blueberries or even a Christmas Pudding – perhaps one you just don’t have the room to eat this festive season?

See the Eco Bird Feeder now.

apple feeder

(If you have pots to recycle, check here to see if a nursery or garden centre near you will take them.)

Seedballs – in different varieties – also cover the difficult Secret Santa / Stocking Filler / Small Budget yet a Decent Present area we have to work in.

Could this product help you with your difficult person to buy for?

Other Outdoorsy Gifts

Another recycled product we love is our gardening hat from Brazil.

Gardening hat

 

But it could also be used for dog walking. As could our dog whistles, hand made here in the UK from off cuts of off cuts from forestry work.

Dog whistle made in the uk

 

Not only do they look amazing, they give a merry toot when blown to grab your hound’s attention.

Though we are aware it won’t work for every dog… (aka the Famous Fenton!)

 

Gifts for the Garden Lover

Here are unique and excellent presents for people who love their gardens. The first is the secateur and whetstone gift set.

Secateurs whetstone gift set

 

These Japanese secateurs are amazing quality. The steel is so good and stays sharp a long time – then with the soft grit of this whetstone, it can be sharpened again to become factor quality keen all over again. This will be a very appreciated present…

As will our shears gift set.

Shears Ultimate gift set

 

Or our copper and bronze tools, hardworking and well-shaped trowels and hoes for proper gardeners. Not just pretty to look at, these fit beautifully in the hand and are sharp, so slice far more easily into the soil….

castor trowel

 

See all of our bronze tools.

Keep Warm & Well – Gifts for Those Who Need It!

Warm feet and moisturised hands. This is what you need if you are an outdoorsy type. These two gift sets should help you out of a tight spot, when you just don’t know what else a difficult person will appreciate…

Gardener’s Hand Cream Gift Set.

Modern_Mint_Products Gardeners Hand Cream Gallery

 

Warm Feet Gift Set.

warm feet gift set

 

Need a Gift For Someone Who Likes A Night In?

You can’t go wrong with an embroidery kit, UK designed and made – you even get to practise on the bag before you start the actual design… how clever is that?

Or if they are something of a book worm, then we have these fantastic books by the earth friendly gardener – Digging Deep is pointed and, well, deep… while Eco Garden is inspiring!

Gifts for those who Like Beautiful Designs & Objects

Then it must be our Eco Clocks…

clock earth friendly product

… and laptop brushes we present you with.

Laptop brush

 

The Final Gift for Difficult People

Is our range for children. This starts with skipping ropes…

… but ends with catapults. A gift for the big kids out there.

Geoffrey-Fisher-Catapult-Product-Image 2

 

Buy a catapult – or just enjoy a browse.

Apr16

EBTS Boxwood Growers Forum

Through the European Boxwood and Topiary Society I worked with Chris Poole and Sue Mesher, members of the EBTS board, and we set up a Boxwood Growers Forum. This was to discuss how to make sure this wonderful topiary plant stays in the public conscioussness – we know many growers, suppliers and distributors have stopped selling it as the cost of replacing boxwood that has blight, or is nibbled by the boxwood caterpillar, makes it unviable to offer to clients and gardeners. But Boxwood is a phoenix plant, and there are ways to deal with the problems associated with Buxus. …

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Apr15

Modern Topiarist @ Garden Masterclass Poland

My video on Modern Topiary for Garden Masterclass has been translated into Polish, for the keen gardeners (and happy pruners!) of Garedn Masterclass in Poland. Tickets for the first showing and q and a were available here. But it will become available on the Garden Masterclass Poland website at some point in the near future – so if you are a keen clipper and want to know more, but speak Polish and not English, then I suggest you visit the website and get watching. (Of course, if you don’t speak English, you may not be able to read this…. hmmm… …

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Apr15

Topiary Hotline

The European Boxwood & Topiary Society are to run a Topiary Hotline for keen gardeners and people who love to clip. Date is tomorrow, April 16th 2024, and you can get a ticket for the Zoom meeting here – Topiary Hotline. Run by Chris Poole and myself, we set this up as an antidote to the huge amount of questions we have to answer about topiary throughout the summer. The plus is that their is an excitement around topiary and pruning. The problem is we need to help people in a better way… … so we will be giving people …

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