Henri Buitenhuis

Sep 8, 2021 4:20:33 PM

“A top product on a top floor”

Buitenhuis Tree Growers in Boskoop have grown on lava for 18 years. ErfGoed recently installed a new cultivation floor. “Thanks to the vertical drainage, we no longer experience puddle forming. And that’s essential when growing boxwood.”

Living floor

“Here we’re growing on top of peat. That means that a lava floor is the best in terms of moisture regulation”, says Henri Buitenhuis. “A lava floor is a living floor, in contrast to concrete. Lava offers both moisture buffering and heat buffering. With boxwood, you can really see if it has been grown on lava or on concrete.”

Top product

Buitenhuis Tree Growers replace the fabric in their lava floor once every ten years. “I really don’t know which other product offers such low maintenance costs. We install during a dry period. This means that you have a very hard and dry underfloor. This provides a solid foundation. We want to grow a top product, and that requires a top floor.”

Substantial water buffer

Thanks to the ErfGoedFloor, Buitenhuis Tree Growers require fewer plant protection products, since the disease pressure is lower. What’s more, moisture control is ideal. “That’s an additional advantage in a time of climate change with many more extreme downpours.”

Flexible

“As it’s possible to drive on the floor, we experience enormous benefits in terms of labor costs. We do everything with forklifts. That allows greater flexibility in growing, in particular with regard to pot sizes. After all, you don’t know how pot sizes will vary in the future.”

Working with ErfGoed

Buitenhuis isn’t just satisfied with the ErfGoedFloor, but also with ErfGoed. “Every time that we work with ErfGoed, we notice that they listen and that they continue taking new steps, such as developing a new type of drainage tube. This tube solves the problem of huge quantities of water during heavy downpours.”