How Bart (64) provided his city of Aalst with the most special collection of trees in Belgium: “I have no children of my own, this is my inheritance” | Aalst

Who says Aalst, says carnival. But numerous exotic trees – with fairytale names such as lime trees, vane trees or dead-bones trees – are also part of the city’s image. And thanks to Bart Backaert (64): the head of the green department, who has added a wonderful bonus to his job. He takes us for a walk through the richest collection of trees in the country, which can be viewed for free in the streets of Aalst. Every tree has a story attached to it. “People should be amazed. And then I sometimes get emails like ‘What kind of strange tree is that? It has hops on it. Can you make beer from that?’”