Nursery De Weimer, owned by Corné Leenaerts and located in Zundert, the Netherlands, is not a typical specialised nursery. The company combines forest and hedge plants, shrubs, potted roses and container production. This diversified structure developed over the years, but has now become a clear strategy: spreading risks and serving different markets. At the same time, the nursery is investing in container production and greenhouse cultivation to reduce dependence on field production and gain more control over production planning.

A wide assortment as a deliberate strategy
Where many nurseries specialise in one product group, De Weimer deliberately chooses diversification. The nursery combines contract growing with open market sales and supplies both wholesalers and garden centres. This means the company operates in several market segments at the same time.

“We make sure we are not dependent on one product or one market. That’s why we deliberately maintain a wide assortment,” says Leenaerts.

This diversification creates stability within the company. If demand for one product decreases or prices come under pressure, other product groups can often compensate. This makes the nursery less vulnerable to market fluctuations. The current company structure did not originate from a master plan but developed gradually when ornamental crops and open market trading were added to the contract growing activities.

Potted roses and own propagation
An important part of the nursery is the production of potted roses. De Weimer grows a large number of different varieties, often sold by colour according to customer demand. The nursery propagates a significant part of the plant material itself and works with licensed varieties from several breeders.

By propagating plants in-house, the company maintains control over quality, planning and availability of plant material. In this way, the nursery positions itself in the chain between breeder and finished product and can respond flexibly to market demand.

A family business in development
The company is now run by Corné Leenaerts together with his wife, who joined the business a few years ago. The nursery has gradually transitioned from a partnership with his parents to the next generation. Like many nurseries, the company remains a true family business where work and family life are closely connected.

Moving towards container production and greenhouse cultivation
Besides maintaining a wide assortment, the main development for the coming years lies in the production system. The nursery is investing in container fields and greenhouse production and aims to become less dependent on field production.

“In the coming years, we want to move more production out of the field and towards container production and greenhouse cultivation,” says Leenaerts.

The nursery has recently built a new container field and a new greenhouse. This allows for better planning, more uniform production and less dependence on weather conditions. Container production also provides more flexibility in logistics and delivery planning.

This development fits within a broader trend in the tree nursery sector, where more and more nurseries are shifting part of their production from field growing to container production and protected cultivation.

Active in the sector through ZLTO and Treeport
In addition to running the nursery, Leenaerts is also active in the sector as chairman of the ZLTO department Zundert-Rijsbergen, one of the key tree nursery regions in the Netherlands. In this role, he is involved in sector issues such as water management, crop protection, nitrogen regulations and spatial planning.

“Water has become a major topic. We have many discussions with the water authorities. These are issues that are becoming increasingly important for the tree nursery sector.” The cooperation with Treeport also plays an important role in the development of the sector in this area.

Entrepreneurship through diversification and development
Nursery De Weimer shows how a tree nursery can develop by combining diversification in crops and markets with investments in new production systems such as container production and greenhouse cultivation.

The combination of different product groups, contract growing and open market sales, own propagation and investments in container production results in a company that can respond flexibly to changes in the market. The strategy of the nursery can be summarised quite simply: do not depend on one product or one market, and at the same time continue investing in the future of the business.