At Roelands Boomkwekerijen, craftsmanship and innovation go hand in hand. Rowy Roelands is not chasing spectacular growth. Instead, she is building a nursery that becomes stronger, smarter and more resilient—step by step.

"I'd much rather be outside."

No need to think about that answer. Not behind a desk, but out in the nursery is where Rowy Roelands feels most at home. That is where plant quality, crop planning and the perfect timing for potting come together. That is where her passion lies.

Yet, the way Roelands Boomkwekerijen is managed is gradually changing. Not through dramatic strategic shifts or bold ambitions, but through a series of deliberate decisions with one clear objective: reducing dependency on external factors and gaining greater control over the business.

It starts with crop planning. For many years, decisions were primarily based on experience and practical knowledge. Those remain the foundation, but today they are increasingly supported by operational data. Which varieties sell well? Which remain in stock too long? Which crops generate the best returns? By combining sales figures with cultivation data, the company gains a clearer understanding of where opportunities lie. Not to replace craftsmanship, but to strengthen it.

That development does not mean Rowy tries to do everything herself. Quite the opposite. Within the family business, everyone has a clearly defined role. Rowy focuses on cultivation, crop management and production planning. Her brother Jelle is responsible for administration, marketing and data management, while sales are largely handled by Jack. This clear division of responsibilities allows everyone to focus on what they do best, while important decisions are made together, each contributing from their own area of expertise.

The same applied is reflected in production. Roelands Boomkwekerijen has no ambition to expand its container fields dramatically or increase acreage simply for the sake of growth. The focus lies elsewhere. The nursery is producing more of its own young plant material. Whereas more starting material used to be purchased from external suppliers, the company now deliberately propagates and grows a larger proportion itself. Not because suppliers are no longer important—quite the opposite—but because producing more in-house gives the nursery greater control over quality, availability and production planning.

This desire for greater control is equally evident in recent investments. Considerable attention has been given to water storage, irrigation and energy management. Additional solar panels, battery storage and electric forklifts are not simply sustainability projects; they are investments in business continuity. A power outage during a dry summer should never interrupt irrigation. By generating and storing its own electricity, the nursery ensures that essential operations continue whenever necessary. For Rowy, these are practical business decisions rather than prestige projects.

Interestingly, she sees the greatest challenge not in cultivation or technology. Water management, mechanisation and crop protection are issues for which the industry continues to develop solutions. The real bottleneck is people. Without skilled employees, every nursery eventually reaches its limits.

That is why Rowy looks beyond her own company. Through initiatives such as Expeditie Groen, she introduces primary school children to the tree nursery sector at an early age. She feels that the labour shortage begins long before vacancies appear. Many young people simply have little idea what modern tree nurseries have to offer. Parents, too, often still associate the sector with hard manual labour, while today's nurseries increasingly revolve around technology, logistics, planning and entrepreneurship. Changing that perception is an important step towards securing the industry's future.

Anyone who speaks with Rowy quickly notices how modest she is about her own role. There are no grand ambitions or bold growth targets. She speaks far more often about "we" than "I". About the team, the family business and the people around her. Perhaps that is exactly why Roelands Boomkwekerijen continues to develop steadily. Not through revolution, but through continuous improvement, with every decision aimed at making the company stronger and more resilient.

More home-grown planting material. Better business insight. Greater certainty in water and energy management. Above all, greater control over the future.

And in the end, Rowy always returns to where the conversation began. She still prefers being outside, among the plants. The essence of the profession remains unchanged: producing high-quality plants every single day. What continues to evolve is the way the family business is organised. Not by growing faster, but by making better-informed decisions. As a result, not only does the nursery continue to develop, but so does its ability to shape its own future.