Meet our growers

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.

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.

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.

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.

The roots of the nursery go back 90 years in history when grandfather Houtmeyers started a fruit company. In the fifties, ornamental horticulture emerged and the family switched to more container cultivation. It was a success. Today, the nursery in Laakdal has 50 hectares of open ground and 10 hectares of container cultivation. A total of 20 people work there, including his two sisters. Sons Lucas and Hendrik are also already involved in the company. Houtmeyers cultivates almost 5,000 varieties, mainly for private individuals. That makes him quite unique as a BEST-select grower.