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Recommended Garden Centres?


mikeh

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Afternoon all,

I have just moved into the Saintes / Cognac area (17) and was wondering what the best Garden Centres might be for buying plants.

I'm looking for semi-established Lavender Plants to plant out a large area around the property.

I'm hoping to find somewhere with hardy specimens that would take a view on discounting for quantity.

I don't know if there are any websites that deliver across France, but all info will be gratefully received.

Have a lovely weekend,

mikeh
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The big garden centre chain is Jardiland and you'll find at least one in major towns. They offer a guarantee on most of their plant stock, although I wouldn't like to try to argue the toss if something died. (See other thread about French shops and after-sales service). Everything we have bought from them over the past 11 years has been good quality and has taken well. The key is looking after it properly in the first place, watering especially!

Also there's Hortipole. (you can Google all of these).

There is at least one good mail order supplier, Jardin Express, and we have used them for Spring plants, including veg.

For a large number of the same plant (you mention lavender) you probably would do better at a nursery (Pépinière) where you might be able to negotiate a deal (I wouldn't hold your breath though!).

I'm about 50km north of you so I don't know where to point you, but the PagesJaunes should help.

 

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With a wink to that lengthy and acrimonious current thread about doctors on here, I'll suggest brushing up your Latin before buying your plants. ?

Seriously, it's a sort of horticultural Esperanto; if you know the Latin name for the variety you want, you should easily be able to pinpoint it in France, whether googling it online or asking for it in a garden centre etc.

Angela
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With a wink to the acrimonious post above, your best bet is to find a 'horticole' college/Lycee in your area that sells direct to the public.

There are many about and really are the best way to buy plants in France. This is one I found in your area but it does not say if they sell direct.

http://www.chadignac.com/

Google around you may find others.

Good luck
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Check out the Pépinière at Corme Royal, and the garden centre adjacent to Aléa (or Soldoga, as most people still know it) at Le Gua.

Otherwise, you're largely lumbered with Jardiland and Gamme Vert. There's one of each in Saintes.

Dunno if there are any more/others closer to Cognac, but those are the ones I'm aware of.

ETA there's also La Ferme de Magné at St Gemme. They're a charity and I think their range of plants is a bit more limited, but if you're visiting the Corme one it's only a few Km further along the same road, so might be worth a punt.
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As others have mentioned Jardiland on the edge of Saintes usually has a lot of choice.

Chadeniers near Gemozac 17260 has a large garden centre, off the top of my head I cannot remember the name but once you reach Chadeniers you will see it.  There is also the pepiniere called Santonine on the Gemozac to Villars en Pons road however she specialises in water plants so may not have what you are looking for.

edit: I've just found this address

SARL Patrick Arrivé

Route d'Epargnes Chadeniers 17260 Gémozac

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Hi all,

Thank you for all the useful local tips! Just what I needed.

Now for a dumb question...

How do we go about getting garden waste bags and how do they get collected / do we drop them off at a recycling plant?

Thank you! ;O)
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Your local Mairie should be able to tell you where the "déchéterie/déchetterie" (even the French can't agree in the spelling of this) is.

Ours serves several communes, and we are issued with a smart card to gain access to its well-organised range of recycling skips and its garden waste pile. We are not issued with special bags or bins; I just fold down the back seat of my small car and then cram in as much stuff as I can, since our smart card allows only 12 visits a year (though it's possible to top it up with extra visits for a small fee, which I regularly have to do, as I am quite capable of taking three carloads in one afternoon!). Mind you, if I had a van or a trailer, I could convey much more stuff per visit, and make my card last longer!

Angela
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Our dechet. is similar but without the smart card. We load our trailer up as much as we can, back it up to the skip in the dechet and Christophe, the boss there, takes a fork off of SWMBO and helps me fork it out.

We were supposed to be going smart, but so far, nowt?? That was 18 months/2 years back?

We do have a recycling bag, but that's for cans, plastique bottles, etc..

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