Who is manager and arborist Bert Janssens?

“I have been an outdoorsman since I was a child. My mother had to call me in when my hands and lips were blue – completely numb from the cold. But I loved being outside. I find the contact with nature indescribable.

After my IT training, I worked with heart and soul in a refinery (petrochemical) for 27 years. But I really like being outside and I like physical work. That's why you often found me in the woods in my spare time. And every now and then I cut down a tree for firewood. I soon received requests from family, friends and acquaintances to help them with it pruning of felling trees. "

I then started b-Tree Tree Care and continued to expand it. Both with knowledge and people. We always have vacancies open staan.

En intus­sen is b‑Tree Boomverzorging voor­al een boom­tech­nisch advies­bu­reau. Ook in juri­sche tech­ni­sche boom­za­ken.

One day I saw a tree that I couldn't see sheets. I immediately started training to become an arborist and the tree bug got to me completely.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a 'heavy' person when I get passionate about something.

I followed a battery of courses on climbing and tree care (such as the training ETW or European Tree Worker), and safe chainsaw use (according to the ECS or European Chainsaw Standards).

I also read every book I could get my hands on. Moreover, I sought out experts everywhere in the country, including the Netherlands, to take lessons from: from specialists in fruit trees to mycologists (mushroom experts) and good climbers.

Tree Manager training

En nog steeds niet werd mijn hon­ger naar bomen­ken­nis gestopt. Zodat ik van­af sep­tem­ber 2021 de post­gra­du­aat oplei­ding Tree Manager to the Vives High School ben gaan vol­gen. Met de bedoe­ling mijn ken­nis over bomen sterk uit te brei­den. En com­plexe vraag­stuk­ken en pro­bleem­stel­lin­gen met bomen des­kun­dig te kun­nen oplos­sen. Alsook uit­da­gin­gen rond Urban Forestry ana te kun­nen en voor­be­reid te zijn op het ETT or European Tree Technician exam.

De oplei­ding was een heu­se klus. Tot drie en vier dagen per week intens bezig zijn, stu­de­ren en cases oplossen.

In the meantime, I can say with some pride that I graduated with distinction Certified Tree Manager.

In addition to building knowledge, I also like to share knowledge with my customers, employees and interns. Or give an explanation Nature point of de beheer­ders voor golf­club. Dat geeft vol­doe­ning en loont boven­dien. Ook zelf leer ik dan steeds bij.

Because I like to stay in touch with fellow tree care providers and am committed to achieving a high-quality and large tree stock in Flanders in the long term, I have become a member of the non-profit organization Better Manage Trees, waar ik intus­sen als bestuurs­lid de func­tie van pen­ning­mees­ter gedu­ren­de 2 jaar heb uit­ge­voerd. En hier­bij kan ik alleen maar recommend that you become a member yourself. And a lot of current knowledge is shared, including about the effect of trees on climate change.

We also have one tree care vacancy open to inquisitive and driven people.

Tree care or tree surgery is much more than chop trees. You need knowledge and insight. You need to know how the tree is constructed physiologically, morphologically and mechanically. Otherwise you will make mistakes.

Om een boom met gebre­ken, schim­mels of zwam­men cor­rect te beoor­de­len en een goe­de inspec­tie op basis van een VTA control te kun­nen voe­ren, moet je iets van myco­lo­gie ken­nen. Want ver­schil­len­de pad­den­stoe­len heb­ben een ande­re inwer­king op de boom: gaat het een para­siet of sapro­fiet? En wat is het effect van wel­ke schim­mel op wel­ke houtsoort.

That's why I want to know everything and gather as much know-how as possible. To take even better care of each subsequent tree.