Better for people and nature
Sustainability is in our blood. We are always developing to make our products and processes more sustainable in many ways. We'd love to tell you more about it.
What we believe
MAY & JUNE is a Dutch company with one mission: to get you into the garden. Because gardening makes you happier. We believe with all our hearts that your garden is your best chance to live more sustainably and have an impact on the environment, but it also simply makes you happy. So it's good for you in more ways than one, directly and indirectly.
In everything we do at MAY & JUNE we want to keep it low key. No difficult theory, no tricky techniques - just simply try it out and have fun in the garden. We are also still learning every day!
With the products and services we offer you, we especially want to motivate you to get into the garden. It is our deepest wish that you realize how much fun and how important it is to turn your own (small) garden into a green haven. And we are here to help you with that every day.
For all products, choose organic, ecological or mainstream.
We have been certified with the SKAL to sell organic products since 2022. We are inspected annually to maintain our certification. All organic products can be identified by "BIO" in the product title and a feature on the product page. Products with ECO in the name are clean grown without certification.
Sustainable choices in a row
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Planting material and seeds
- The plants we sell are grown outdoors by Dutch growers, with as few aids as possible. The use of pesticides cannot be 100% excluded, which is why organic certification is not possible, but they are almost never used by our growers. Why? Because it is actually never necessary! This is very different for nursery stock you buy at garden centers: there the plants have to look perfect and visually appealing, which makes use of pesticides almost necessary. That is not so for the plants in these border packages. These are allowed to have snapped or mottled leaves. What matters most are the roots in the pot. Do they look good? Then it is a healthy plant that will grow quickly in the garden. This is why pesticides are almost never used.
- The dahlias and bulbs we offer are all grown and packaged in the Netherlands. They are available both organic and conventional. We consciously choose not to offer only organic. The supply is still very small, and we like to offer a large assortment with special varieties. You can choose between conventional and organic options.
- All of our seeds are uncoated and GMO-free. A coating is a layer of chemicals that the seeds receive after harvesting and drying, which prevents seeds from premature mold and poor germination. Those chemicals would be bad for the soil they are sown in, which is why we don't want these seeds. You can recognize such a coating by the bright, unnatural color of the seeds, often bright pink or bright green. That doesn't mean all seeds are organic, either. The supply of organic flower seeds is still minimal. Fortunately, we have a wider choice for vegetable seeds. For our organic range we are certified by SKAL. We expect that our organic offer will become more and more extensive.
- The plants we sell are grown outdoors by Dutch growers, with as few aids as possible. The use of pesticides cannot be 100% excluded, which is why organic certification is not possible, but they are almost never used by our growers. Why? Because it is actually never necessary! This is very different for nursery stock you buy at garden centers: there the plants have to look perfect and visually appealing, which makes use of pesticides almost necessary. That is not so for the plants in these border packages. These are allowed to have snapped or mottled leaves. What matters most are the roots in the pot. Do they look good? Then it is a healthy plant that will grow quickly in the garden. This is why pesticides are almost never used.
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Products
- The products we do not produce ourselves are carefully selected. Whereas in the beginning we offered products from companies that produced in China, now we are much more critical and demanding. We are learning more and more about that.
We don't offer single-use plastic or products that are broken after only a short time. For example, our seed trays from Elho are made of 100% recycled hard plastic and made in the Netherlands on wind power. Niwaki's garden tools, among others, are produced in Japan by family-owned businesses, and we have other brands with artisanal processes (such as Norfolk, Wilder Land, Botma & van Bennekom and The Botanical Candle Co.).
- The products we do not produce ourselves are carefully selected. Whereas in the beginning we offered products from companies that produced in China, now we are much more critical and demanding. We are learning more and more about that.
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Packaging
- All our boxes are made of FSC-labeled cardboard. Our letterbox boxes are made from grass cardboard. Grass cardboard consists of 30 to 50% fibers from sun-dried grass. This results in up to 90% less water consumption per ton of paper, 65% less process chemicals used, and at least 30% less energy used per ton of paper. The other raw materials used to make grass cardboard are waste paper, poplar wood, or FSC-labeled pine.
- We deliberately chose non-printed boxes and envelopes. This makes it easier to reuse the packaging, recycle it in the compost pile or use it as mulch in the garden. Only the plants are shipped in printed boxes, these need more instructions to arrive properly.
- When a box needs to be padded we usually do so with recycled paper. We also use padding material obtained from other suppliers. Only when shipping our terracotta pots do we use recycled plastic, which is proven to be the most effective way to ensure the pots arrive undamaged. Our other shipments are plastic-free.
- The packaging of our seeds consists of 20% tomato pulp derived from garden waste from greenhouses in the Westland. The fiber paper is made from 80% cellulose (wood) sourced from the Ardennes in Belgium, with an FSC label. The production uses 1400 solar panels that provide 25% of the energy needed for manufacturing. The packaging may be recycled in paper waste. All our seeds are packaged and filled in the Netherlands.
- All of our stickers are made from 70% recycled paper with no plastic topcoat. The rest of our printing is either made of paper that is 30-70% recycled paper or paper that comes from agricultural waste.
- All our boxes are made of FSC-labeled cardboard. Our letterbox boxes are made from grass cardboard. Grass cardboard consists of 30 to 50% fibers from sun-dried grass. This results in up to 90% less water consumption per ton of paper, 65% less process chemicals used, and at least 30% less energy used per ton of paper. The other raw materials used to make grass cardboard are waste paper, poplar wood, or FSC-labeled pine.
Any suggestions?
Do you have ideas for us in which we can improve? Or do you have a question? We'd love to hear from you! Send an email to [email protected] and we'll respond soon.
