We love nature.

Menkehorst Honey

Because our nursery is an integral part of the landscape we live in, our company greatly values a sustainable, eco-friendly production of our crops.

We aim to keep the impact of our operations on the surrounding landscape to a minimum in order to ensure future generations can also enjoy our wonderful trees and shrubs. We have started a variety of projects to make this a reality:

Sowing native mixtures of flowers on our plots

The flower mixtures we have sown on our plots benefit the soil, increase the organic content matter and are extremely beneficial for the biodiversity on and around our plots. Our wildflower meadows attract a wealth of bees, butterflies, (ichneumon) wasps, hoverflies, ladybirds and birds. These beneficial insects and birds also control the pests on our arboricultural crops. The natural balance it creates minimises the chance of pests and means we don’t have to use a lot of pesticides!

Green manure

In addition to wildflowers, we also use our plots to sow a green manure. This ensures an enhanced soil structure, increased organic content matter and higher nitrogen content. This allows us to use less chemical fertilisers.

Integrated crop protection

Integrated crop protection means controlling diseases and pests with a variety of control measures. First of all, we ensure that the chance for diseases and pests is as limited as possible by optimising the quality of our stock material and our soil.

Should signs of disease occur, we try to control them with mechanical and/or organic measures first. Chemical pesticides are only used as a last resort. This means that integrated crop protection requires our staff to closely observe the plants and to carefully decide which measures to take. Training and courses keep the expertise of our staff up to date. In addition, we have entered into partnerships with various organisations that help us with soil analyses and growth support.

However, there are signs of disease or stasis that cannot be directly identified by the naked eye. We use drones for this purpose. With these drones we measure the photosynthesis on the leaves. Reduced photosynthesis can indicate problems, to which we can then react again, at an early stage.

Electric internal transport

In addition to electric golf carts for our customers and our electric forklifts, we are the first company in the BENELUX to utilise an electric AVANT articulated loader from Finland. By investing in electric internal transport means, we will reduce emissions and noise pollution to ensure healthy working conditions for our staff.

Recirculation of water

We use a closed watering system for our container fields. This means all water, nutrients and pesticide residues end up in our basin and are reused for our irrigation system. In addition, we also collect rainwater. These measures allow for reduced water consumption and they limit the environmental impact of our fertiliser and pesticides.

Waste separation

We adopt a conservative consumption attitude. This means we never use more than necessary in order to prevent wasting too much. The waste we do produce is separated where possible. We separate green waste, plastic, wood, metal, stone, paper (we only use FSC certified paper), batteries, washing area mud and electric equipment. By separating this waste, we can ultimately save on resources and energy. Since this decreases waste for landfill and incineration disposal, CO2 emissions are also reduced, among other things.

Menkehorst loves nature, that’s why we support Trees for All.

Trees care for us, therefore we care for trees. That is the motto of the Trees for All Foundation. Trees for All plants trees in the Netherlands and abroad and compensates CO2 emissions. Since 1999 Trees for All has been committed to planting new forests, restoring existing forests and improving the living conditions of people in developing countries.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is now. – Confucius