“The 20,000 trees that will be planted all come from French nurseries. » When the Plan Arbres d’Est Ensemble was announced in December 2022, the community of Seine-Saint-Denis announced its intention to use only the French sector to revegetate the nine towns in its territory. The ace. A year has passed and the trees planted in the streets of Montreuil since last week all come from a nursery in the Netherlands.
“The order is so large that it is simpler to bring all the trees from the same place,” explains Cyril Billereau, site manager at Even, the green spaces company based in Maurepas (Yvelines), which won one of the markets of the Plan Arbres d’Est Ensemble. According to him, “the nursery growers in Île-de-France no longer have any, they can no longer meet the demand”.
Montreuil confirms having accepted this proposal to plant Dutch trees because it met the community’s specifications. “The season is December to March. We did not want to lose a year of plantations, explains the municipality. But there will be a rise in the French sector. At the end of the plan, the majority of trees will come from Ile-de-France nurseries. »
“Cities want their trees right away”
On the nursery side, we paint a more nuanced picture of this supposed shortage. “It takes seven to eight years to grow a tree,” recalls, a little annoyed, a professional from Seine-et-Marne. The cities haven’t planned anything and they want their trees right away. »
About ten years ago, the GIE (economic interest group) Pépinières Île-de-France was set up, at the initiative of Laurent Châtelain, business manager based in Thillay (Val-d’Oise), and five of his colleagues. The objective: to win large public contracts.
By becoming the official supplier of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, they have succeeded in their bet. “They were smart: since 2019, we have put in place cultivation contracts,” explains Laurent Châtelain. The communities did not anticipate. They buy in purchase orders and think they are the only ones doing that. It’s a problem on a European scale, it’s not just the French who crash per kilometer! »
The boss of Châtelain nurseries recognizes that shortages are hitting certain nurseries or species. “But we also have lines (of plants) which remain because it is less known, less fashionable, he continues. Some communities, like the town of Clamart (Hauts-de-Seine), only take this, they choose to work with stocks. »
And to conclude: “20,000 trees in one year is no, but today, we can meet the demand if it is spread out over time. »