Plant sale in Trévérien this Sunday - 1st April 2012

Like each year, on the first Sunday of April, the Vide Jardin is on in Trévérien.

A Vide-jardin is a car boot sale where you can buy plants/shrubs/flowers and gardening tools. It is not very common in France but this one in Brittany has been organised each year for about 8 or 9 years. It is very successful and attracts a lot of people.

You can get some real bargains there - a lot cheaper than at the garden centres for sure!


It starts from 10am and is on all day.

Free admission.
Trévérien is in Brittany, 20 min from Dinan, near Evran.

Magasin Vert in Dinan

This garden centre has recently moved to new and bigger promises North of Dinan in Taden.

It is located C. de Dombriand, Taden, on the Dinard road, next to Intermarché.

Everything to do with gardening is there! Plants/flowers, tools, gardening furniture, cloths, gifts, a pet section, etc.

I could spend hours there. Visit their web site here!
If you enter your French post code you will find the nearest Magasin Vert to yours.

The gardening season has officially started round our house!

After months of avoiding the garden - the jungle, I have just been round to see what has to be done.

The list is long but here are the first jobs for this week:

Pruning fruit trees. We have 10 pear trees... and 4 apple trees.

Weeding and moving strawberries.

Weeding flower beds.

Today I have started with sewing tomato seeds. I am doing ‘only’ 3 types this year: Moneymaker, Marmande and Pomodoro San Marzano (it sounds like an Italian type to me!).

I got the Moneymaker and Marmande seeds from Lidl in Dinan and the Italian seeds from B&Q garden centre in England.

Let’s see which one will do best.

If you don’t have time to grow tomato plants yourself, you will find plants ready to plant in April/May from garden centres or supermarkets in France.

For the price of 1 plant you get a whole packet of seeds so it is well worth sewing them yourself. It only takes a few minutes. As you can see I use polystyrene boxes that I got for free from the market. They did smell of fish when I took them home but they are now fine!

I will leave them to grow in our gite, near the window. They tend to be happy there.

Let’s hope ‘Moneymaker’ works and I will become rich soon! ;o)

Plant exchange in Dinan this Easter Sunday

Dinan plant exchange is taking place this Sunday (24th April 2011) in Dinan. Ste Anne area.

From Dinan centre, go up to McDonalds, turn right at the round about and right again at the next round about. Go to the bottom of the hill and you should find us.

I must say I have never been to this plant exchange before, so I can't tell you more about it for now but I will definitely go this Sunday - tomorrow.
It is from 10 to 12 only.

Bring plants, seeds, gardening magazines, and anything to do with gardening.

The moles spent Christmas at our place...

When we came back from our Xmas break, we noticed moles (taupes in French) had returned.... The front garden looked like a mine field.

As it was their third visit, we knew exactly what to do. We had used all sorts but traps (trappe à taupes) were the best way.

Luckily, they had been and gone while we were away. We haven't notice any more activity. We just needed to rake the soil.

Here is a link of a great way to get rid of the moles... A bit cruel, but it does the job.

You can find mole traps from DIY shops or garden centres in France.

If you have any tricks to get rid of moles, please feel free to share them with us!

Snow drops - the sign of nice weather on its way!!

It always cheers me up when I see the first snowdrops (Perce-neige in French) blooming in my garden! And yesterday was the day!!

If you don't have any snowdrops in your garden, plant a few bulbs this autumn. They are very easy to grow - you don't have to do anything and they keep coming back each year! That is what I call easy gardening....

Bulbs can be purchased from garden centres or supermarkets in France.

Montmarin chateau and gardens

Privately owned, Montmarin chateau is not open to public but the gardens are worth a visit. They are in two parts: the French style gardens (18^th century) and the Romantic garden (1885) with lawns, mixed borders, shrubs, plants and rockery.

It overlooks the river Rance. A great spot!

Plants can be purchased from their nursery.

Entrance fee: €6

Visit their web site for more information.

In Pleurtuit, turn right at the traffic lights if you come Dinan. Carry on straight on. It is sign posted for “Le Montmarin”.

It is a short drive away from Dinard and St Malo.

Both places are worth a visit.

About 30 minutes from our gite.

Pleugueneuc garden centre

After the stock car racing yesterday, I visited the nursery in Pleugueneuc / Plesder (Jardin de beau soleil). I needed a few plants for my hanging baskets.

I can recommend this place for plants. I find they are a bit cheaper than in any other garden centers around Dinan and a lot healthier. The choice of annuals is unbelievable! I tend to get carried away in garden centres but I behaved yesterday. I only bought what I needed!!

As it was Mother’s day, my friend and I got 10 pink geraniums each for free! Getting free plants from a garden centre, you can’t go wrong! ;o)

Pleugueneuc is in Brittany, 20 min from Dinan, between St Malo and Rennes.

Grow your own veggies Part 1

Once you have moved to France and renovated your house you might find you have plenty of free time and more importantly less money than when you came over!
Let’s face it, spare cash at the moment is nowhere to be seen! So here is my way of saving money….

I grow my own organic fruit and vegetables. I am not a very knowledgeable gardener. I just enjoy picking my own produces knowing they are safe to eat as nothing has been sprayed on them!

Today was the first day of gardening for the 2010 crop!

As you can see from the photo I grow vegetables from seeds. If you are thinking of growing your own vegetables for this first time, here are my tricks to save money:

Don’t go to the garden center as you could easily get carried away! Recycle!

Start by going to a local market around 1pm (more or less at closing time). Look for the fishmongers and take the polystyrene boxes that he/she is throwing away. Watch it! They will smell so make sure you have some bin bags to put them in otherwise the boot of your car will stick for a long time!

Hose them down once you get home and the smell will disappear. You have done the worse bit!

Get a bag of compost (terreau) from any French supermarket or garden center. It will be cheaper from a supermarket. Fill the boxes with some compost and lay some seeds on the compost. Cover slightly with compost (the layer of compost should only be as thin as the seeds). I collect the wooden sticks from ice creams. They make great free tags! Write on them what you are growing. I then put my boxes on the floor near a radiator and wait until something start growing! As simple as that!

I will take some photos in a few weeks and keep you updated!


See Part 2 here.