Patrick Damen
Patrick Damen: Plant expert/Bestselect grower/winter triathlete - Bestselect
In the mid-1970s, Frans and José Damen set up a nursery. As the only son, Patrick quickly mastered the trade. With his wife Sandy at his side, he focused on growing shrubs, half-stems, ornamental grasses and plants on 3.5 hectares of land in Meer.
But a visit to his nursery tells us so much more. We see his parents at work helping to propagate cuttings, we meet Patrick the winter triathlete and learn about the different phases of the Bestselect plants, which he explains with complete devotion.
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Meet our growers
Hans De Neve
For a garden with character
In 1988, Hans De Neve did what he never intended to do. He became a tree nurseryman. Just like his father and grandfather. Grandpa De Neve started between the two world wars with vegetables and tobacco plants, two important foodstuffs. After the war, his father and brother also joined the company, but Hans did not. He saw how hard it was. But his love for plants won out. And it looked like a fourth generation of tree nurserymen would follow.
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Geert Coppens
With his head among the roses
Growing up between his father's roses, Geert quickly gets the taste, or rather, smell. As a young guy he joins the business. At first he focuses on packaged roses and shrubs in small pots. Then he switches to container cultivation and open ground and expands to about 10 hectares.
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Lucas De Nolf
A family tree of breeders
Tree nursery Willy De Nolf is, to put it mildly, a family affair. Of the family, only one scion of four is not in the business. Lucas started with his brother in 2012. In 2018, he becomes chairman of Bestselect.
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