Get involved and join a local gardening club in France

September in France means a return to work for some, to school for others and a chance to find new hobbies for all. Before you cloister yourself away for the autumn, consider getting out and joining in with a gardening club.

The start of the school year, la rentrée, has a meaning that crosses all ages groups in France: it is when people of all ages sign up to join an association.

For those who have transplanted themselves into French communities, it presents an excellent opportunity to become more integrated, improve their language skills, find new friends and pursue their own interests.

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How to find a local gardening club

There is often a Foire aux associations (like a recruitment fair for local clubs and associations) in early September, although sometimes they run again later. 

Watch out for posters about this in your area or check in your local Syndicat d’initiative or tourist office. 

You can also find gardening clubs online – there are various websites such as helloassos.com which let you search by geographical area and by interest. 

Try ‘plantes’, ‘jardins’ or ‘jardinage’ as search terms – ‘botanique’ is more likely to give you clubs interested in botany, flora and fauna, rather than gardening. 

Be brave, go with an open mind, do not give up after the first couple of weeks and do not be surprised if you find other English speakers got there before you!

You can also offer to volunteer with your commune if it participates in Village or Ville Fleurie (town or village in bloom). 

Your mairie can tell you if there is a club in your commune, however you can join clubs anywhere.

What are French gardening clubs like?

Working alongside your neighbours to improve the look of your village can be rewarding.

You may be invited to join ‘une corvée’.

Dictionaries will tell you this means a chore, drudgery or a 'chose pénible que l’on doit faire''.

However, it is actually a volunteer working party, drawn from the commune, often to tidy, paint or weed public areas. 

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It is worth the effort to meet and bond with your fellow residents and, especially with weeding, you can ask about communal gardening. 

In my experience, there is always some sort of meal or apéro afterwards for an even more convivial time. 

If there is not, then you can always propose one.

Tips for people joining gardening clubs

• Start small: Modest beginnings with an achievable goal can grow into something much bigger. 
• Think seasonally: At this time of year, for instance, you could think of proposing bulb planting. 
  
• Ask the village school. If your village has a school, ask if its flower beds need tending.

• Propose workshops for the children:  Bug hotels, plant seeds, taking cuttings, pruning, etc.  

• Organise competitions and projects:  Growing the tallest sunflower is always popular, as is growing plants over the seasons and noticing as the first bulbs nose through the soil, or decorating seed envelopes and collecting seeds in autumn,

Note, however, that it is important not to overstep and tread on toes. It may be that someone is employed to tend certain areas in the commune. 

Volunteer through Benevolt 

If you are feeling altruistic, look up the website www.benevolt.fr. 

It was created in 2016 by Anne-Laure Mesguen, soon after she stopped working for a major corporation, as a way to engage newly retired people to ease the transition between their working life and retirement. 

Ms Mesguen met Amélie Arcile at a Nantes startup weekend and together they launched the internet platform, matching volunteers and organisations. 

The pandemic catapulted Benevolt forward – in eight months in 2020 some 16,000 people applied to help the Red Cross, for example. 

They are always looking for people to help with gardening skills for all sorts of social projects run by charities (both major and small local ones) and organisations working with disadvantaged and marginalised groups.

Many have strong eco credentials, others are using horticulture as therapy for mental health and well-being or as a leisure activity for people of all ages from deprived areas who have little or no outside space. 

It could be an initiative to create vegetable gardens to grow fresh fruit and vegetables in ‘potagers partagés’ (shared vegetable gardens) at schools, retirement homes or housing projects.