Hi all

I'm a newbie here, this is my first post -- and I'm looking for help. Hope it's in the right place.

We've just moved into a ground floor apartment with a garden and would like to buy a whole lot of plants/shrubs/trees to plant outside. Apparently that's OK with the managing agents. The only plants we've seen in local garden centres Iin Basel-Land) have been astronomically expensive ... try CHF6,5000 for an admittedly very attractive Japanese maple, CHF300 for a small conifer shrub.

So in short, is it a good idea to look in France, Germany or elsewhere in Switzerland, and if so, does anyone have any recommendations, please? Any help very gratefully received!

Hi,

Try the several flower and plant shops in Saint Louis, Tram 11 and walk or Bus 604 from Schlifflande..

OR

There is a large garden centre in Lorrach.....2nd train stop in Lorrach,Germany forget name....a little walk near the main cemetery....google will prob help.

The Lorrach def worth a visit, better with car, sells allsorts or garden stuff too......the plastic may get friction burns !!

Have fun

Thanks ftang squared, that's really useful. I should've mentioned that we do have a car so distance (within reason) is not a problem.

We've only been here 3 months so far and have just discovered the hypermarket delights of St Louis ... aahhh, CHOICE! What a novel concept, to be able to choose from a range of goods! Looking forward to finding out whether garden centres there, as well as in Lörrach, also offer range and value.

Thanks again!

Your welcome.

The Geant store has just expanded its UK Goodies shelf......hidden near the soups etc.....but they have Lucozade, Branston and Golden Syrup...and even proper Digi..gestives.....

Thanks, I was just there today. Despite being Australian and unfavourably disposed towards Brits right now (even though I have British citizenship as well) due to the first Ashes Test draw, I couldn't help but stop and drool in front of that section of the supermarket. I came away with Bramston pickles, Cadbury Dairy Milk choc, Kettle chips ... but no garden plants.

PS How do you thank people for their posts? Or groan at them?

It's ok...we'll lose the next four !!

Losing Britishness rapidly, brother lives in Cairns....I'm soon away to the US as wife is American....yes blonde and from Dallas !!

You thank or groan by pressing the icons at the bottom of a post, although you do have to log-in.

I forgot that there's choccy too.......I'm off there Thurs lol

22 yards,

did you end up buying plants from Germany? if yes, where?

Have you tried OBI in MPARC Dreispitz?

Some of my best successes actually came from IKEA - go figure! ( and if I lost a few I didn't 'feel' the pain as much)

for plants look at hornbach in Binzen, 5 mins from the basel/german highway border and baumarkt on the LH side as you enter lorrach alsofrom the basel/german highway - just contiue past the turnoff for hornbach.

As you are new in the area stick to the 80km limit when re entering CH as there is a speed camera directly after the first tunnel

for shopping go to marktkauf in weil am rhein

I bought just about all of the plants in or near St Louis, in France -- more expensive than Germany but much, much cheaper than Switzerland.

Note that, like most things, plants are taxable in CH as well as in D and F, so you need to declare them on entry to CH (and claim your D or F tax back).

Ikea is good for indoor plants (although they have a very limited range), but I've never seen garden plants there -- certainly nothing that would survive winter in Basel.

The other posts are also helpful; OBI has a reasonable range at Swiss prices, Hornbach (and Bauhaus) in Germany are pretty good at better prices. But if you want a realy good selection and more variety, based on the usual rule of thumb (live in France, work in Switzerland, shop in Germany) I'd go for a dedicated garden centre in Germany. Having used French garden centres, though, I can't specifically recommend a German one -- I haven't been to any!