How do you choose the perfect gift for your special people? One way is to follow the Five Gift Rule, which is a simple and thoughtful way to limit the number of gifts and make them more meaningful. The five gift rule consists of giving something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read, and something to experience.

If you’ve not heard of the Five Gift Rule, it’s based upon the principle of quality over quantity. Rather than overwhelming someone with a ton of gifts (or being overwhelmed by frantically shopping for all those gifts), it focuses on a thoughtful selection of five specific types of gifts.

The rules for the categories aren’t set in stone, so you can choose which ones you prefer but I’ve chosen – Want, Need, Wear, Read and Experience for this article. All the gifts I recommend are available to purchase from my online store and come with free delivery too – every little bit helps! I’ve also included links to the products in the shop to help ease navigation.

Want: Bird Feeder Gift Box

This super cute bird feeder gift box is something that can be used straight away, but also includes some flower seeds to sow and grow in the Spring and will provide floral loveliness all summer long, which makes it a gift that keeps giving throughout the year.

Gift box includes

• Heart shaped metal bird feeder
• For the love of birds seed packet containing three packets of seeds – Cosmos, Zinnia and Sunflowers. All are loved by birds and pollinators
• Fat ball recipe card to make your own fat balls that can be used on the bird feeder
• Gift box A5 size, rigid
• Postage via Royal Mail Tracked 48

This can be personalised with the recipients name if you wish – simply put their name in the notes section on the order.

Link for more information and buy – Bird Feeder Gift Box

Need: A Garden Design Kit

If your loved one wants to create a beautiful garden but doesn’t know where to start, a garden design kit is a great gift idea.  I’ve created them to take all the faff and overwhelm out of creating a garden. There are 9 designs to choose from and each kit includes:

• A garden design – fully labelled showing you what plant goes where
• Plant list including plant care and flowering periods
• Tips and ideas to personalise and help you create your gorgeous garden border
• 2 x packets of seeds to sow and grow
• 2 x wooden plant labels
• Creating Your Garden book written by Nikki Hollier
• Postage via Royal Mail Tracked 48

Designs to choose from are: Evergreen, Sunny, Shady, Cottage, Contemporary, Wellbeing, Butterflies & Bees, Clay and Scented.

Click here for more information and to buy Contemporary Design Kit –

Or if you need any advice, simply send a photo(s) of your garden to nikki@borderinabox.com and I will provide free advice and ideas.

Wear: Luxury Gardening Gloves

Protect your hands with the comfiest gardening gloves around – ladies and men’s gardening gloves are available.

These ultra-soft gloves have been created in hard wearing fabric that doesn’t stiffen when it gets wet. The padded palm gives extra cushioning to protect hands during tough or repetitive tasks, and there’s two-way stretch mesh between the fingers to keep hands cool and improve dexterity. A wrist strap ensures a snug fit and stops debris dropping into glove, with a hook-and-loop fastening that’s easy to open and close.

I use them all the time and they’re the best gloves I’ve used. There are two designs available, the plum oak leaf (shown below) or a blue tile with pink trim.

For more information and to buy – Ladies gardening gloves

Read: A Gardening Journal (gift boxed with flower seeds)

Although this isn’t technically reading, but it will make a great read in future years! This garden journal and flower seeds gift box is ideal for new or experienced gardeners to record their monthly gardening successes and can be personalised with the recipients name (sleeve only).

For more information and to buy – Gardening Journal Gift Box

Experience: Veg Calendar 2026 with Grow Your Own From Seed

You can’t beat the taste of home grown veggies, so if you’ve not experienced this before, now is a great time to start regardless of the size of your plot. You can grow anything in a container, so even if you’re renting your home, you can take the pots with you if you move house. There are many kits to choose from too such as Grow Your Own Pizza, Grow Your Own Allotment and the gorgeous Seed Calendars which are gift boxed and fabulous!

The Veg Seed Calendar is brilliant (even if I do say so myself!) as it contains a beautifully illustrated wall calendar along with 12 packets of seeds (one to sow each month). There is a flower version too.

This gift box includes:

• A 2026 wall calendar, with beautiful veg illustrations, A5 opens to A4, wire bound and hanging hole
• 12 packets of veg and herb seeds – one to sow each month (with sowing instructions on the back of each packet)
• Sowing guide
• Postage via Royal Mail Tracked 48

For more information or to buy –Veg Calendar 2026

These are a sample of the unique gift ideas that you can find at Border in a Box – an online shop that offers everything a garden lover needs. Whether you choose one or more of these gifts, you can be sure that your loved one will appreciate them and enjoy them for a long time.

If you need any assistance, please send a message via the contact form and I’ll be happy to help.