Maks Udov and Tin Udovč (Herbafarm-Magnolia): Croatian Tree Whisperers Seek Strategic Partners or Investors

Unlike most things that depreciate over the years, trees increase in value over time and provide more benefits as they mature. This fact has only recently come into focus, with the growing awareness of climate change, prompting many cities around the world to intensively work on the preservation and protection of urban forests. However, the owner of Herbafarm-Magnolia Maks Udov has been dedicated to this goal for thirty years. Due to the way he approaches trees and saves them from dying, he can rightly be called the ‘Croatian tree whisperer’. It is enough to just listen to how he talks about trees.

– When a person ends up in surgery, they are first given an infusion. If there is a problem with the arm and leg, doctors try to save them, not amputate. If a person is under stress, efforts are made to alleviate it. And finally, a person tries to maintain their good appearance, their beauty. Look at a tree and you will see how similar we are. If it gets sick, its infusion is the substrates we give it. If a branch dries up, we look for a way to revive it instead of cutting it off. If the tree is under stress, and believe me, urban trees certainly are, we look for ways to ease it. And when it comes to beauty, in the case of a tree, it is reflected in its lush crown, green leaves… And that is exactly what we fight for with our work – explains Maks Udov, founder and owner of Herbafarm-Magnolia from Zagreb, which has distinguished itself over its thirty years of existence with a series of projects in design, planting, construction, and maintenance of gardens.

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Maks Udov

photo Boris Ščitar

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Beginning in Croatian Forests

His reference list includes everything: from hotels and parks to alleys, private gardens, green walls, and terraces. No one in Croatia has ever built a larger rooftop garden than him – 3,000 square meters on the roof of the Green Gold center in Zagreb. Of all that greenery on the rooftop garden, only one single tree has failed or dried up in the last eleven years. Preserving existing trees is an area that Udov has been intensively engaged in in recent years, and he has developed an innovative product for this purpose, Herbafertil. It is a soil enhancer, a mixture of substrates that is placed in the soil next to a tree that has lost its vitality using a biodegradable jute bag to restore its former glory. Herbafertil is, we would say, a kind of infusion for a sick tree.

– I used to work in Croatian forests, but since that job was too static for me, I decided to start my own company. I was engaged in the design and execution of gardens and increasingly received offers for new jobs through word of mouth because people saw how plants thrived in the projects we completed. Thus, we spontaneously developed Herbafertil, a mixture of substrates that improves tree growth and restores soil microbiomes. This is also the first of four patents we have registered – says Udov, who works in the family business with his son Tin.

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Tin Udovč

photo Boris Ščitar

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Why more and more cities in Croatia, as well as in Europe, are seeking help from their company and what other patents have emerged from their operations can be read in the new issue of the printed and digital Lider.