Wirtschaftsstandort Oldenburg

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Die Betriebe des Oldenburger Landes bieten das gesamte
Sortiment an Baumschul pflanzen.
The firms in the Oldenburger Land offer the whole range of nursery plants.
PLANTS FOR THE WORLD
Interview with Renke zur Mühlen, Chairman of the Weser-
Ems State Association in the Federation of German Tree
Nurseries
The Weser-Ems region and above all the Oldenburger
Land are well known for their tree nurseries. How did
this kind of concentrated focus emerge?
There are several reasons for this. Firstly, there’s the climate.
We have a moderate climate here with adequate preci p -
itation. Then there’s the soil, and also the quality of water.
The marshy soil in the Ammerland for example provides
an ideal breeding ground. There is also a historical aspect.
At the end of the 18th century, court gardener Carl Fer -
dinand Bosse created Rastede Castle Park along the lines
of an English landscape garden. He also brought the first
rhododendrons from England to the Ammerland, where
they have meanwhile a symbol for the region.
But the rapid growth of the branch here really only
began a few decades ago, didn’t it?
Yes. This is also related to structural transformation in agriculture.
Many farms gave up their herds and changed over
to horticulture themselves, or let tree nurseries use their
land. There was also plenty of labour available from the
agricultural sector.
What role does the branch play in the Oldenburger
Land today?
A very big one. We have around 500 businesses with
about 3,000 employees, generating annual added value
of about 180 million Euro. These are all family-run businesses.
Bad Zwischenahn must have the densest accumulation
of tree nurseries in the whole of Germany. Parts
of the Ammerland consist of one single park landscape.
A good third of all German tree nurseries can be found in
Lower Saxony.