Just Trees

What Just Trees does

Just Trees (Pty) Ltd is a South African wholesale specimen container-grown tree nursery headquartered on a 42-hectare farm in Paarl, Western Cape. Founded in 2005 and operating as a B2B supplier exclusively to registered trade customers — landscape contractors, landscape architects, property developers, wholesale nurseries, and farms — the company cultivates over 150,000 trees across 58 species (80% indigenous) and has been carbon neutral certified since 2009. Sales are conducted by appointment through availability lists, with nationwide delivery across South Africa and an established export channel to 10 countries (Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Ghana, Singapore, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE) with phytosanitary certification handled in-house.

The company's core technical differentiator is its soilless organic growing medium: trees are propagated from seed or cutting and grown in containers (40L to 1000L) that promote balanced all-round root development, enable year-round planting with minimal transplant shock, and satisfy phytosanitary requirements for export to regulated markets. Supplementary offerings include a complete photographic catalog with downloadable PNG images and CAD vector files (DWG, AI) for landscape architects, a social-responsibility program (1 tree donated for every 5 sold), and long-running conservation partnerships including a Clanwilliam Cedar restoration project with CapeNature since 2009.

The business operates a sales-led, wholesale-only model with opaque quote-based pricing, requiring customer registration and acceptance of sales conditions before purchase. The company is privately held by the Pretorius family — with Carl Pretorius serving as Managing Director — and is a sister entity to red espresso, with no evidence of external institutional, private equity, or venture capital investment. Marquee customers span real estate (Val de Vie Estate, Waterfall City Park), government and institutional (King Salman Park, Qatar National Library, Statistics SA Pretoria), corporate HQs (Sasol, Cell C), healthcare (Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital), wine estates (Alto, Boschendal), and retail (Greenacres Mall).

Name

Just Trees

Legal name

Just Trees

Website

https://justtrees.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Just Trees is a South African wholesale specimen container-grown tree nursery operating a 42-hectare Paarl farm with 150,000+ trees across 58 species (80% indigenous), supplying exclusively registered trade customers including landscape contractors, architects, developers, and select export markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wholesale Nursery / Specimen Trees

NAICS

Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products (113210)

SIC

Forestry (800)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYAFAMADAB

Forest Seed Orchards & Breeding Programs

Agriculture & Food Production/Forestry & Logging/Forest Nurseries & Seed Supply

SECONDARYAFAMACAB

Seed Collection, Processing & Storage (Provenance/Genetics)

Agriculture & Food Production/Forestry & Logging/Reforestation, Afforestation & Tree Planting Services

SECONDARYAFAMACAL

Urban & Community Reforestation / Street Tree Planting

Agriculture & Food Production/Forestry & Logging/Reforestation, Afforestation & Tree Planting Services

Keywords

• Wholesale specimen trees
• Container-grown trees
• Landscape tree nursery
• Indigenous tree supply
• Mature tree wholesale

Headquarters

HQ city

Paarl

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Wholesale Specimen Trees: Sale of container-grown specimen trees in various sizes (40L to 1000L) to trade customers including landscape contractors, architects, developers, and nurseries. Trees sold with delivery to sites across South Africa.
2. Export Sales: International export of trees to select markets including Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Ghana, Singapore, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE. Phytosanitary certificates arranged according to market requirements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Just Trees is a wholesale nursery that grows and sells container-grown specimen trees to trade customers. It cultivates more than 150,000 trees across 58 species (80% indigenous South African) on a 42-hectare farm in Paarl, Western Cape, supplying landscape contractors, landscape architects, property developers, and wholesale nurseries in pot sizes ranging from 40L to 1000L. The company also arranges international exports to select markets with phytosanitary documentation.

Product overview

Just Trees is a wholesale specimen container-grown tree nursery operating as a B2B supplier exclusively for trade customers (landscape contractors, architects, property developers, and wholesale nurseries). The company grows over 150,000 trees across 58 species on a 42-hectare farm in Paarl, South Africa, with 80% being indigenous species. The core product offering centers on container-grown specimen trees available in six sizes (40L to 1000L), supplemented by a social responsibility program that donates 1 tree for every 5 sold. Additional offerings include downloadable CAD assets (PNG images and vector files) for landscape architects, and international export services with phytosanitary documentation to select global markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Container-Grown Specimen Trees

Quantifiable outcome

• Carbon neutral certified since 2009
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Greenpop FoundationcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 August 2016Just Trees donates 1 tree for every 5 trees sold to Greenpop Foundation. Partnership started August 2016 with 650 trees donated to date. Trees planted at schools, parks, old age homes, homeless shelters, children's homes and NPOs across South Africa as part of Greenpop's Urban Greening Programme.
• Goedgedacht Trust - POP CrèchecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Social responsibility project establishing a Path out of Poverty (POP) crèche and afterschool facility on the nursery farm. Facility caters for about 100 children from the farm and surrounding farms. Just Trees donated R15,000 and 246 trees for the facility.
• CapeNature - Clanwilliam Cedar Restoration ProjectflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2009Long-term commitment to assisting CapeNature in saving the endangered Clanwilliam Cedar tree from extinction. Since 2009, Just Trees has been propagating and growing Clanwilliam Cedars for CapeNature and planting out into the Cederberg Mountains. Flagship environmental project involving annual planting days.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Barcham Trees: UK-based specimen tree nursery with ~80,000+ trees, 700+ varieties, and a container-grown focus exclusively serving landscape contractors and architects - one of the closest direct comparables in operating model and scale to Just Trees.
• Johnsons of Whixley: UK wholesale tree nursery producing 200+ varieties across ~750 acres, supplying landscape professionals throughout Britain. Highly comparable in scale, B2B trade focus, and breadth of tree offering to Just Trees' lineup.
• Lorenz von Ehren: German nursery specialising in large, mature specimen trees sold to landscape architects, developers, and public-sector projects across Europe. Directly comparable in premium positioning and project-scale supply, with similar soilless/care-managed cultivation.
• Bruns Pflanzen: One of Europe's largest specimen tree nurseries with thousands of taxa, container-grown methodology, and B2B supply to landscape professionals. Highly comparable in product model and customer base to Just Trees, just at a different geography.
• Deepdale Trees: UK specimen tree nursery supplying large semi-mature and container-grown trees to landscape professionals. Same wholesale, trade-only, appointment-based distribution model as Just Trees.
• Frank P Matthews: UK specialist tree nursery producing a wide range of ornamental and fruit trees for landscape trade and garden retail. Similar in trade-channel focus and tree specialisation; smaller in absolute scale than Just Trees' 150,000+ stock but with much wider varietal depth.

Broad incumbents

• Monrovia Nursery Company: Large-scale US wholesale nursery selling container-grown plants (including trees) to garden centres and landscape professionals. Comparable in container-grown cultivation and B2B trade channel, but broader product mix and longer-established brand.
• Hillier Nurseries: One of the UK's largest and oldest (1864) wholesale and retail plant growers, with a broad tree and shrub catalog supplying landscape trade, developers, and garden centres. Overlaps with Just Trees in B2B tree supply but operates at significantly larger scale and product breadth.
• Bailey Nurseries: One of the largest wholesale nurseries in North America producing trees, shrubs, and perennials for landscape professionals and retailers. Compares in B2B trade-only distribution model but with significantly wider product range and geographic footprint than Just Trees.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/JustTreesZA

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Just Trees