The intensive collaboration we have had with Lensli for over 60 years proves that we are satisfied with Lensli and the substrates supplied.”
In 1964, Nard Gevers started a landscaping company together with his brother. He soon noticed that growing plants attracted his special attention. It was therefore not a big step to setting up the nursery. With dedication and care, Nard then turned his attention to growing plants.
Son Alex's love for the profession was instilled in him from an early age and it soon became clear that growth was inevitable. The Gevers family has been involved in innovative cultivation for more than 60 years and has created a customer-oriented company in which consumer satisfaction at home and abroad is central.
At Gevers Planten they aim to make beautiful plants, together with a great team. In addition, they strive to grow plants as sustainably as possible every day, together with their suppliers.
At Gevers Planten they grow seasonal products all year round, such as geraniums, osteospermum, cyclamen, poinsettias, impatiens and primulas. The aim is to offer 4 to 6 different products in each season. When it comes to cyclamen, they grow a versatile and colorful range in no fewer than 6 pot sizes. Gevers roots and transplants most of the young plants themselves. This allows them to maintain control over the cultivation from the start. Gevers grows its plants on rolling containers, with a high occupancy rate and turnover rate.
As a nursery, Gevers' starting point is to only grow products that are easily marketable to their customers and that the (end) consumer can enjoy for a long time. Shelf life and quality are very important pillars in this. Gevers mainly supplies his plants to garden centres, flower shops and small retail businesses in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
substrate
At the Gevers Planten nursery they use different types of substrate for their versatile range of crops. Because cultivation starts with unrooted cuttings or plants that still need to be pricked out, Gevers starts with potting soil for young plants at the start of a cultivation.
Gevers Planten has just completed its 60th anniversary. Since Nard Gevers has been doing business with Lentse Potgrond from the very beginning, and his son continued to purchase from us after he took over, we can count Gevers Planten as a loyal customer for 60 years. Son Alex can still remember that as a little boy he sometimes went to the factory in Lent to pick up substrate.
At the moment, making the substrate more sustainable is an important item for the nursery. Alex Gevers explains: “We do everything we can to ensure healthy growth for now and the future. Substrate also plays an important role in this. The fact that our current supplier Lensli Substrates has had the European RPP (Responsibly Produced Peat) certificate for years is therefore important to us.
By adding new raw materials, the share of circular raw materials in our substrates stands at 30%. We continue to actively work on making our substrates more sustainable. Together with Lensli, we calculate the environmental impact of our substrates to gain insight and make improvements.”
The nursery employs a diverse workforce. The largest group of employees consists of permanent Dutch workers. In addition, they work with a relatively small group of migrant workers and on Saturdays and during the school holidays they are assisted by about 20 – 25 students.
We do everything we can to ensure healthy growth for now and the future.
Substrate also plays an important role in this.”
Future
For the future, Alex Gevers wants to continue to have a nice company, with a nice range of flowering seasonal plants. “This together with the people who work for us, and perhaps in the future with one of my children.” Alex expects that they will grow and expand considerably in the future to continue to meet the increase in scale and professionalization on the buyer's side. In addition, Gevers naturally wants to remain an interesting partner for their suppliers.
We strive to grow plants as sustainably as possible together with our suppliers, every day.”
