For the transportation of 300 trees to be planted along the tramway in Le Havre (FR), the buyer chose water transport.
The trees were loaded directly from the carts onto a barge, which was lying at the quay of the Wilhelmina canal in Veghel (NL).
Water transport indicates in this case 600 kg less CO2 emissions. A good environmental choice of the customer!
August 2012 Cees van Casteren started his career at Van den Berk Nurseries exactly 40 years ago. This has been celebrated together with all his colleagues and family.
Cees started working at Van den Berk in 1972 as a production worker. In those days the company was very modest in size. Three brothers Van den Berk worked together with 5 employees and the old farmhouse was their office, storage place etc. The work itself was physically demanding work. As Cees told: ‘the equipment consisted of a Ford and a Fjord. The first was a tractor the last a stubborn horse. ‘On the other hand we did have an adjustable cultivator which was very modern at that time’
Cees van Casteren has seen many innovations during the years and has contributed to a lot of them, such as the selective digging machine, the winding machine and the comprehensive tree book. From nursery worker he turned into foreman and was pilot boss. Since 2004 Cees is manager production & logistics and responsible for all technical tree and growing matters as well as for managing the staff.
Cees is known for his outstanding knowledge of trees. His knowledge of varieties of trees is also recognized by other nurserymen, suppliers, customers and even from competitors. Many people turn to him if they have a question, he is a modest but solid pillar in the company. We hope to continue for many years to profit his knowledge and expertise.
The Chelsea Flower Show is the most important garden exhibition of the world. Van den Berk nurseries are very pleased to have delivered trees for The Laurent-Perrier Bicentenary Garden. 30 screen shaped Fagus sylvatica Atropunicea (girth 30-35 cm) and 1 Pyrus communis Charneux (girth 100-120 cm) are planted in the garden of the award-winning designer Arne Maynard. All elements of the garden have been carefully handcrafted and are complemented by a soft planting scheme. Inspired by Laurent-Perrier’s 200 year heritage of time-honoured methods and reputation for creating pioneering champagnes, the garden pays exacting attention to detail, combining traditional and contemporary elements to exude elegance through its planting and landscaping.
See how the garden is built in the 'start-to-finish' photo gallery
Image from Britt Willoughby-Dyer
Last Monday Van den Berk Rhododendron GmbH introduced its new website.
The site is the sequel to the Van den Berk Tree site that was launched January last year. Just like the Tree site, the Rhododendron site has a database, with all information about 162 species of large blooming hybrids, yakushimanum hybrids and azalea hybrids. Within this range one can search not only by features as type of rhododendron, flowering time and flowering colour, but also by scented flowers and winter hardiness.
All species have a short description made by dendrologist Ronald Houtman together with the rhododendron experts from the nursery. Most species have several pictures too and more pictures will be added during the year.
Furthermore the website supplies practical information such as planting advices and one can download the flowering calendar.
The site is expected to become a source of information for clients, designers and students, as the tree site already has proven to be.
www.vdberk-rhododendron.com
Many of our clients know Jan van Vechel very well. It is hard not to have met him, because this year Jan will be celebrating 25 years at Van den Berk. Jan started working ‘in the field’, and has been responsible for the British, Irish and Belgian markets for quite a number of years now. Jan has acquired a wealth of experience and knowledge of trees over these past 25 years. Combined with his positive outlook, this makes him a great person to talk to for our clients and a highly valued colleague. Jan, congratulations! We have several similar anniversaries in our diary, because we at Van den Berk Nurseries are lucky to have many more passionate tree specialists in our midst.
This summer the 20th staging of the International Garden Festival Chaumont-sur-Loire will take place in the central area of France. The festival has been providing a unique panorama of landscape design all over the world since 1992. In 20 seasons, almost 500 gardens have been designed, which are prototypes of the gardens of the future. Also this year, garden designers have sent in their ideas and 30 of the designs were selected. Earlier this year the selected garden designs were constructed and together they form a fine collection of festival gardens. Visitors can admire the results in the beautiful setting of the castle of Chaumont-sur-Loire.
One of the winning designs was from the young designers of PIT Garden and Landscape Architects from Holland. They were looking for partners to realize their ideas and found Van den Berk Nurseries prepared to sponsor the trees. We delivered the 7 iconic roof shape plane trees. For more information look at;
Awarded garden of PIT
International Garden Festival
“Be part of the theatre in nature, get closer to the quality of life.”
This is the slogan for Floriade 2012. The World Horticultural Expo, held in the Netherlands every ten years, will open its doors on April 5, 2012. This time the event will take place in Venlo, in the Southeast of the Netherlands, near the German border. Trees will be playing a very important role in the large grounds, measuring 66 hectares. In the last few years, more than a thousand trees have been planted. Starting points in the planting scheme were diversity and special species.
Tree-lined avenue with 120 species
A central axis runs from the main entrance into the park. This axis has been developed into a tree-lined avenue with 120 different types of avenue and street trees. A beautiful range of leaf colours has been selected, varying from green and yellow to red and variegated. The same is true for the leaf shapes and habit, from delicate and transparent to very dense leaves which are larger than your hand. Signs with names and descriptions will all be placed with the trees, ensuring that the avenue inspires all visitors, both private and professional visitors, when it comes to tree selection. When the Floriade ends in October 2012, the avenue will become the green leisure area of the future Venlo GreenPark.
Supplies since 2008
Van den Berk Nurseries has been involved with the Floriade since 2007. After long consultations, trees for the avenue and the five different themed fields were selected at the nursery. Mostly larger trees were selected, from stem girths 25-30 to 45-50. Already in February 2008, the first trees were put on a transport to Venlo, to give them plenty of time to get used to their new location, before showing them to the public. The result is an impressive collection with many special species. The tree list on the following page gives you an indication of the types of trees Van den Berk has supplied for the Floriade.
Van den Berk Nurseries has been a sponsor of the BALI Awards since 2001. Every year, BALI, the British Organisation of Landscape Industries, organises a gathering in December in which awards are presented for the best landscape projects. Traditionally this occurs during a large-scale event in which all major British landscapers are present. To mark the 10th anniversary of their role as sponsor, this year Van den Berk provided 60 tree books, one for each table. They were auctioned off during the gathering on 3 December. The proceeds went to Greenfingers' and 'the Geoffrey Chalk Scholarship'
After having worked for 50 years, Arnold Claußen, manager of the rhododendron nursery in Rastede, retired last August. Arnold was well-known for his profound knowledge of rhododendrons and his amiable personality. Several years ago, he decided to stay on until after the take-over by Van den Berk and retire in 2010. Now the moment has come, and he will be severely missed by his colleagues. We hope he will enjoy his retirement.
We are very lucky to have other experienced employees at Van den Berk Rhododendron GmbH, such as Dieter Martini (photo, right). In August, together with Arnold Claußen, he was honoured by the German 'Landwirtschaftskammer' for his many years of service to agriculture and horticulture. Dieter has been working for the nursery for 40 years and has no plans to retire any time soon.
Van den Berk Nurseries in Sint-Oedenrode received the Horticultural Business award from Minister Gerda Verburg (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) on 7 January, 2009. In her speech the Minister stated that, ‘The prize winner is a shining example in the horticultural industry, which itself is a leader in innovation, energy conservation and sustainability, as well as a sturdy cornerstone of the Dutch economy.’ The prize was presented during the New Year Joint Exhibition organised by the Product Board for Horticulture and the Horticultural Business Prize Foundation. Van den Berk Nurseries was proposed by Anthos, the Royal Trade Association for Nursery Stock and Flower Bulbs.
The jury’s report stated that Van den Berk Nurseries takes the lead in product innovation and sustainable production in the field of arboriculture. The company is a pioneer with its innovative mechanisation, personnel management, logistics and approach to the (international) market. It is an ambassador for the industry as a whole.