Paradise With A Bite: Swiss Gardens

We just spent 10 days touring Switzerland from Montreux, on the shores of lake Geneva, to the Alps, and to Zurich, the banking capital of the world (or something like that). One thing all these places had in common was impeccable gardens, vegetable and flowers alike. The Swiss take their gardening very seriously. I am inspired to fill my yard with more flowers and more rows of vegetables. So to kick of my many posts about our adventures in Switzerland, here is a series on Swiss gardens.

The lakeshore path in Montreux is lined with a raised planter box filled with a mixture of perennials and annuals.

They made heavy use of begonias in Montreux.

Ornamental grasses, banana leaf plants, and juniper were the primary perennials in Montreux. Chateau de Chillon can be seen in the background.

Cemetery in Basse-Nendaz (above Sion) next to the Catholic church. The Swiss cover grave sites with flowers instead of grass.

Freshly cut hay fields in Basse-Nendaz that are watered with snowmelt through a system of channels. The Swiss grow hay wherever they can.

Street planter box in Haute Nendaz. The streets had planter boxes full of flowers on every corner.

Hay barns above Gimmelwald in the Lauterbrunnen area (German speaking Alps). All that grass is for the cows. These are the lower grazing fields. All the cows, sheep, and goats were grazing at about 8000 feet (Gimmelwald is at about 4000 feet).

House in Gimmelwald adorned with geraniums on all the window planter boxes. In the German speaking Alps, the primary flower was a geranium.

A cemetery in Lauterbrunnen (outside a Protestant church), with lots of begonias on the grave sites.

Onions drying on a barn in Gimmelwald. There were lots of vegetable gardens in Muerren and Gimmelwald all growing cold weather crops in August (onions, lettuce, peas, etc.).

Small vegetable garden in Gimmelwald. I love that it looks like the barn and garden are perched on a cliff because they are!

Raised flower bed at the Trummelbachfalle visitor area (they don't really have visitor centers). I love the use of cosmos among the perennial flowers.

Our hotel in Luzern had planter boxes on all the balconies with begonias, petunias, and sweet potato vine (the Kapellbrucke and Mt. Rigi are in the background).

The Kapellbrucke in Luzern had planter boxes along its whole length filled with sweet potato vine, petunias, and impatiens.

You might think Switzerland is the land of mountains, snow, and banks, but they have a lot of agriculture there. On the train from Zurich to Lausanne, we saw farmland comparable to anything in the US growing corn, hay, and various vegetables. The Rhone valley around Sion grows grapes (for amazing wine) and lots of apples. We also loved the community gardens we saw in the suburbs. Every plot had a private garden shed. It was very different from community gardens in the US. The Swiss also know how to get high yield out of a small space. They utilize every bit of land they can.

My goal for next year is to plant more flowers everywhere around my home. The Swiss do know how to brighten up everything with flowers. We are also going to try growing lettuce between rows of onions/leeks, which we saw in several gardens in Muerren.

Additional pictures I found on Sam's computer: