The gardening pro on a bike

The story

If you're out and about in Freiburg, you may have seen him before: Andreas with his CARLA - loaded with large big bags full of green cuttings or perennial boxes full of flowering plants. Whether planting green strips and private gardens or removing cuttings, he stands out. As a specialist in modern and sustainable planting, Andreas relies on an unconventional but extremely efficient type of logistics.

What once began with a simple bicycle trailer has developed into a sophisticated, almost exclusively bicycle-based transportation concept since summer 2022. With his CARLA, the self-employed master gardener effortlessly weaves his way past the after-work traffic - quickly, flexibly and independently.

Despite his innovative approach, Andreas occasionally encounters skepticism. He was once stopped by the police because the officers couldn't believe that a professional gardener was using a bicycle - they thought he was a climate activist. For Andreas, it is only partly about ecological concerns, as he says. His bicycle logistics are not a marketing tool, but simply the most efficient solution for his work.

The Setup

His CARLA, equipped with a Bob Box, forms the heart of his transport concept. Combined with big bags or storage boxes and pulled by a powerful Bullitt cargo bike, Andreas achieves an impressive transport volume: he can move up to 2 m³ of material in a single journey by stacking the big bags to a height of 1.5 meters and lashing them securely.

The advantages of this system are obvious:

• They can park close to their homes and customers.
• Over distances of up to 10 km, it is faster than a truck, as it simply avoids evening traffic and traffic jams.
• The CARLA not only serves him as a means of transportation, but also as a mobile workstation in the form of a handcart - so he always has everything to hand when tending the greenery.

For larger projects, Andreas relies on clever logistics: planting is adapted to the existing soil, material is delivered directly to the site by truck or skip if required, and excavators are hired if necessary. Car sharing or rail transport are available for more distant projects.  In this way, he can consistently rely on his bicycle setup and significantly reduce fleet costs at the same time.

With this combination of expertise, efficiency and smart logistics, Andreas proves that professional gardening also works without a car - and is as flexible as it is sustainable.