Quercus bicolor - Bicoloured Oak
Dehner: Everything in the green!
With 132 branches in Germany and Austria and more than 5,500 staff, Dehner is today not only the biggest garden centre group in Europe but also the market leader in the sector. The family business will be owner-managed in the 3rd generation in 2021. For the tree sponsor portrait, we spoke on behalf of the company with Norbert Gruner-Weingärtner, a divisional manager in the Dehner green category responsible for purchasing and sales.
As a true "Dehner child", he started in 1982 with a classic apprenticeship as a nurseryman in what was then Dehner's production. In 1995, he completed his horticultural studies at the HSWT and returned to the company. He explains that the company's connections to the University of Applied Sciences were manifold overall: in the mid-90s, many more HSWT fellow students came to Dehner; there were always quite many interns from the University in the company and at least ten graduates worked in his department alone. "But for Dehner, it's not just about finding industry talent. The company has also already sponsored a visiting professorship, and the University of Applied Sciences has always accompanied the development process of the production gardeners based in Rain in an advisory capacity." Taking on a tree sponsorship in the anniversary year of the University of Applied Sciences would, therefore, have been more than self-evident for the Dehner company, says the 54-year-old. That he chose a bicoloured oak (Quercus bicolor) seems just as logical: As a traditional German tree, it is simply a perfect match for the greenery and plant specialist in a family business with a 75-year history of success.
It was founded in 1947 as a two-person business named "Dehner & Co - Samenzucht - Samengroßhandel" by Georg Weber and his wife Albertine (née Dehner). Their business flourished because people grew their own vegetables in post-war Germany. Today's success is mainly due to the far-sightedness of the founder, who has cleverly expanded the Dehner range over the years in a customer-oriented manner: He added garden accessories to the plants division and later added pet and zoo departments. His business principles, "offer quality, let people experience variety, prove competence", are still valid. With the same expertise and unbroken spirit of innovation, the company today covers the topics of gardening, home, pet supplies and agriculture.
Dehner's product range is still strongly geared to the wishes of its customers. Internally, the market leader focuses on promoting young talent and employees - an investment in the future supported by enduring corporate values: Communication and trust, personal responsibility and appreciation.
Naturally, Dehner is also concerned with climate protection and sustainability today. Energy efficiency- and closed irrigation cycles, as developed and promoted by the University of Applied Sciences, are just as much a part of this as the resolution to position a sustainability expert in the company. But the Dehner climate oak in the Arboretum also sets a valuable example in this context.
Distribution: Eastern North America, moist soils, riverbanks, floodplains, swamps.
Size: 12 to 20 metres high and 15 to 20 metres wide
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, obovate, 10 to 18 cm long, 5 to 11 cm wide, underside white-silvery, brown-red autumn colours
Fruits: acorns, stalked 2 to 4 cm long
