About us

Our story

Fungal diseases in Buxus were becoming more and more of a problem and were difficult to control without an intensive crop protection scheme. In order to find a sustainable solution, a breeding program was started in 2007 by Herplant BV, based on their large collection of more than 200 Buxus species and cultivars. From more than 10,000 seedlings, 4 resistant hybrids were selected and distributed under the brand name BetterBuxus®.

The production of these new varieties will remain entirely in the hands of Herplant BV for the first few years. These plants will not be sold on the free market and will be distributed by a network of exclusive distributors. You can find them in the distributors section.

Our vision

Resistant Buxus varieties are the most durable solution against fungal diseases. The use of crop protection can thus be reduced to a minimum, which is better for people and for the environment.

Our mission

Through the cultivation research of Herplant, a solution has been found against the dreaded fungal disease (Calonectria) on Buxus. It is our mission to give Buxus another bright future in gardens, Public Green and historical gardens and to make Buxus one of the most popular and easiest garden plants again.

A few numbers in a row

Herplant BVBA is a tree nursery of Buxus and Taxus founded in 1985 by the 3 brothers Hermans. See www.herplant.be

As a large production company, the focus was on a wide range of both Buxus and Taxus. With the start of the breeding department in 2007, a new direction was taken and research became an important focus in the company.

Development BetterBuxus®

To find a sustainable solution for the fungus problem, a breeding programme was started in 2007, based on Herplant BV’s large collection of more than 200 Buxus species and cultivars.

This collection was already started in 1985 and, with the help of boxwood collectors from all over the world, considerably expanded. The wild, European Buxus populations were also extensively researched.

In 2007, Herplant BV started a breeding program with DNA research, in collaboration with ILVO, on the entire collection, supplemented with wildly collected material from various European botanical gardens. In this way they were able to get a clear picture of the family tree of Buxus.

In previous years, Herplant had already mapped out all the characteristics of all species and had gained a lot of experience with the different growth stages, hardness, leaf colour, leaf shape, winter colour, resistance to disease, etc.

Based on all these data they carried out the most suitable crossing combinations. From this they obtained thousands of seedlings that were inoculated with fungal spores afterwards. The remaining healthy plants were further evaluated and subjected to an even stricter field test. This resulted in a collection of resistant varieties that served as a basis for further selection.