Buyers and dealers from every corner of Europe gathered in Holland for Groot Groen Plus 2012 Trees and plants are produced in this area by the millions every year – their business is growing.
There were awards to be won. Gleditia triacanthos ‘Draver’ of Valkplant bv VIP for Plants from Boskoop was named the best novelty of the international nursery trade fair. The plant won a Golden Medal.
Another golden medal was given to Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Versent’ (BLUE ROCK) by Schrauwen-Moerings vof from Sprundel and Quercus warei ‘Nadler’ (KINDRED SPIRIT) by De Bruyn BVBA, Begijnendijk, Belgium.
Silver and bronze
The jury awarded the silver medal to Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Pearly Swirls’ by Sierteeltkwekerij Kools from Deurne.
A bronze medal went to Microbiota decussata ‘Filip’s Pretty Pride’ by Edwin Smits Conifers from Volkel and Prunus laurocerasus ‘Hibani’ by Boomkwekerij Huybregts from Wernhout.
Jury secretary Ronald Houtman stated that in general, the quality of the novelties was excellent. “Beautiful avenue trees in the right sizes, the habitat was clearly visible. There were also some conifers. These were very well presented and really uniform. At GrootGroenPlus, the focus for novelties is on products that are suitable for use in public and institutional green.”
The mechanisation part of GrootGroenPlus was aimed at tree nurseries and landscaping companies There were demonstrations and explanations of machinery, devices, materials, inventions, gadgets.
This year, a complete potting range with bark spreader and buffer system was demonstrated . The range is built by Natech-Demtec. Its unique feature is that it can use different sizes of pots, without any conversions. Besides the complete potting range, Horti Hands will also present a RAP cutter, which can be used in combination with the buffer system.
Broere Beregening BV presented the latest developments for watering soil. And DLV-Plant exhibited its QMS system with a watering planner which is instructed by a weather pole and sensors that measure ground humidity. ELCO-Machinebouw from Achtmaal presented it’s machinery in the Technique Arena.
The machine of Gebr. Ezendam BV, which performs tasks by itself, will be presented in the Technical Arena. Last year, it was only present on video footage, but now it will be driving around. This machine can cut, drill, and make holes by itself.
De Douglas Boomkwekerijproducten BV is a family business that is currently led by the fifth and sixth generation of tree nurserymen: Andy Doomen, ( pictured ) his three daughters, and his son-in-law. The company specialises in sowing tree nursery products in plugs (deciduous and coniferous), for rootstocks, forestry, Christmas tress, hedge plants, and other types of plants.
Around 1990, the company switched from traditional cultivation to the use of plugs. The advantage of using plugs is a better sowing result, controllable growth, and a broader, easier season. This is obviously a novelty for forestry and hedge growers.
The nursery can be found in Wernhout, where the plants grow in foil tunnels on 4.5 hectare, and 1.5 hectare of greenhouses.
In plug cultivation, many things are automated, from sowing to making the products ready for delivery. De Douglas has developed a number of machines, such as a sowing machine that was formerly used in growing vegetables, and a robot for putting out trays. The last one was developed in cooperation with a specialised machine company.
In 2000, the company founded a subsidiary company in Poland. There, they specialise in the subsequent cultivation of a part of the seedlings in larger plugs and pots.
The products are mainly sold to tree nurseries in Europe. Many plants are ordered and grown according to the specification of the customer.
+31 (0) 76 5972863
www.douglasboomkwekerij.nl
Corné (pictured) and Magda van Elst of Containerteelt Elst-Bevers produce a large assortment of deciduous and evergreen shrubs for the trade. The company was founded in 1994 and now has 10 hectare, including a container field and a 17,000-square meter greenhouse. The greenhouse is used for growing and in the summer, it is used for some more fragile types of the evergreen Prunus.
450,000 deciduous plants are grown in pot sizes 2, 3.5 and 6.5 litres. These are the Forsythia, Ribes, Philadelphus, Spiraea, and Weigela, among others. 550,000 deciduous plants are grown in pot sizes of 1.3 to 15 litres. Mainly the Prunus laurocerasus, but also the rotundifolia, ‘Otto Luyken’, caucasica, etc.
They are mostly sold in Germany, England, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
+31 (0)76 5985875
info@elst-bevers.nl
www.elst-bevers.nl
Frans Sprenkels (pictured) specialises in ornamental garden plants: shrubs, conifers, and climbing plants. He started his company in 1980. He really loves plants and likes to take on a challenge, instead of growing the same thing all year long. His assortment is relatively large: approximately 150 types in pot sizes of 1.5 to 10 litres.
“It’s very imprtant for me to produce a variety of plants, it makes life more interesting as well as good commerical sense” explained Frans.
The production continues all year. The plants are destined for trade and garden centres in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe, especially Italy, France, Germany, Great-Britain, and Denmark. The plants have neutral, nameless labels with the name of the plant, information and a bar code.
+31 (0)76 5985732
franssprenkels@zonnet.nl
Herplant BVBA specialize in growing buxus and taxus in open ground and pots, in almost all shapes and sizes.
Buxus sempervirens is the most popular and most grown type of buxus, and is grown in all usual shapes and sizes and available in large, uniform quantities. Besides that, there is also a wide assortment of approximately 200 special types of buxus and varieties.
As far as the Taxus is concerned, the Taxus baccata is the most grown taxus. It is grown in all common sizes, for both open ground and pots.
Open-ground plants come with roots, clod, or chunk. Pot-grown pots have the advantage of complete roots, a year-round selling and planting season, a nice presentation, and more uniformity.
The company was started in 1967 by the parents of the current owners Didier, (pictured) Louis, and Luc Hermans. They took over the company in 1985. Herplant BVBA currently has 30 hectare, spread over multiple production locations in four municipalities. Of that 30 hectare, approximately 6 hectare is container field and an expansion greenhouse of 17.500 square meters to produce plants.
Taking care of the environment plays an important part within this company. They entered for example the VMS (Vlaams Milieu Sierteeltplan), part of MPS, and always select the measure that has the least negative impact on the environment when it comes to water, soil, fertilisation, energy, and waste. Along with multiple research institutions, they research new diseases and plagues, in order to take action in case of problems.
+32 (0)14612052
info@herplant.be
www.herplant.be
Damcon specialise in a full range of equipment for open ground tree nurseries, with all the machinery needed to bring the tree on from freshly-rooted cutting to full-grown plant. The company have developed several machines of their own design, including planters, mobile elevating pruning platforms, harvesters and tractor-mounted tree lifters. They also carry a wide range of products for the trade, which can be adapted to customer’s specific needs as required.
A new development is mechanical weed control, as a response to government pressure for a reduction in the use of crop protection agents.
Turnover within the Netherlands is stable while worldwide exports are on the rise. Around 35% of the product remains in the Netherlands with 65% exported mostly to Europe
+31 (0) 488 442828
info@damcon.nl
www.damcon.nl
B&P Handelskwekerijen is a collaboration between four production companies, each with their own speciality. The four businesses together hold around 100 hectares of cultivated land within a 10 kilometre radius in the Neder-Betuwe area. Their headquarters are in Kesteren, and all deliveries come from there.
The range encompasses some 350 plant varieties. The products include decorative, avenue and multistem trees, containerised or grown in the open ground. Container cultivation allows deliveries to be made right through the year. The second advantage of containerisation is a dense root system, allowing the tree to root quickly and well at its new location. B&P were forerunners with this development.
A more recent innovation is “gutter” cultivation, partly developed by B&P and in use at a further three locations. The plants are grown in these gutters for the first six months. Annual production at B&P Handelskwekerijen is around 20,000 specimens. The benefits include improved time planning, self-direction, a higher success rate and better working conditions as the gutters are placed at a convenient 75 centimetre height. The investment is soon recovered thanks to time savings. The system is undergoing further development with the aim of reducing the cost price.
The cultivation of multistem trees is another interesting development. The method was adopted some ten years ago in response to customer demand, and today virtually the entire range of avenue trees is available in this form, with the companies seeking new sales markets. Eastern Europe and France are two major sales markets for this product, but the trees are sold in all 18 European countries.
The trees are sold as semi-mature and mature growth and go to growers as well as dealers.
B&P Handelskwekerijen VOF
+31 (0) 488482450
info@bpboomkwekerijen.nl
www.bpboomkwekerijen.eu
Betuwe Plant B.V., established by brothers Karel and Cor Huibers, will have been in business for twelve years this October and specialises in trees for garden centres. The full range they offer is quite diverse, however the main offering is trees for smaller gardens, carried by all Dutch garden centres and many in Belgium. These account for around 65% of total revenue. Exports to various other countries are also significant and much of their product finds its way to the Dutch and German auctions.
Their range includes some 125 varieties, with trees of all sizes supplied in containers ranging from 10 litres to 110 litres. As well as containerised trees they also supply customers at home and abroad with trees with root balls or bare roots.
They have some 7 hectares of land under cultivation and their two growing locations house 10,000 and 8,000 containers respectively. These trees are brought back to the home nursery in December. Some 88,000 plants were delivered in 2011, and there is still plenty of room for further growth as Betuwe Plant expand their container and open ground nursery space.
The company handle their own transport, and around 80% of the trees leave the premises bar-coded and labelled. The firm supply their own labels or alternatively the garden centre’s own labels with a photograph, cultivation advice and a retail price can be attached. Quality and service are key drivers for the Betuweplant team.
+31 (0) 488443202
cor@betuweplant.nl
www.betuweplant.nl