If you want to get your hands on the latest gardening gear without spending a lot of money, then you could try entering some of the many garden-related competitions and giveaways that spring up online.

These are some of the ones that I've found – if you've got a good one, please leave a comment!

  • GardeningMags, updated monthly. Home of Garden Answers and Garden News. Not the prettiest website ever, but there are also articles and features online, with seasonal tips. Apparently you can also order a copy of the magazine with a personalized cover!
  • Gardeners’ World. New giveaways published with each new edition of the magazine. Not a bad site, with blogs from leading garden writers.
  • Kitchen Garden has regular monthly giveaways. You can also download a PDF of their shopping deals.
  • Organic Gardening has lost some of its personality now that it’s been taken over by the people who own Kitchen Garden, and the websites are practically identical. Giveaways are a bit erratic.
  • Grow Your Own has the largest selection of giveaways, updated monthly. Even so, it’s not as many as are available to people who buy the magazine. They list their current competition on a different page. Their Grapevine forum is pretty popular, too.
  • Dobies give a £25 gift voucher out each month to the sender of the best garden photograph.
  • Harrod Horticultural give away an item from their catalogue every month.
  • Gardening.co.uk offer regular competitions, and there’s a prize draw for all new members each month.
  • The Citrus Centre give away one of their plants each month to mailing list subscribers. You have to enter each month though.
  • Loquax is a good site for finding gardening competitions, although recent ones have included plastic plants (!) and any book prizes are listed separately.
  • If you’re in the US then it’s worth checking out Organic Gardening, who have a regular giveaway on their home page.
  • Canadian Gardening has a competitions page, but it’s currently on sabbatical for the winter.

Checkout Muppet’s Moolah for specific garden-related freebies and discounts.