Mati family
A brief history
Casimiro Mati founded this family-run business at the beginning of the century. It was originally founded as a horticulture establishment but subsequently, thanks to the intuition and ability of Mario, the eldest of Mati’s sons, with the help of his brothers Arnolfo and Arnaldo, the company was then transformed into a tree-nursery.
to enlarge. Within a few years the company grew a great deal and the original choice to produce quality material awarded the three brothers and their work by allowing them to increase and amplify the cultivated surface area.
Casimiro Mati and the first company catalogue published in 1929
Today, almost 80 years later, the company is once again managed by three brothers with the assistance of their parents in order to allow for better teamwork and in order to ensure that the family traditions are maintained. Andrea, Francesco and Paolo with their parents Miro and Cristina, help to maintain the name and the quality that their ancestor so desired.
MATI family and MATI brothers
The fact that the company is a historical, family-fun business does not mean that it has remained tied to the past too much. In fact, Piante Mati is a very dynamic company that takes care to ensure the maintenance of high quality products using both traditional and innovative methods. In the cultivation nurseries, research is often carried out in collaboration with the Agriculture Faculty of the University of Florence. This is a channel that allows the company to seek out products and technology that might increase the quality of the plants that are cultivated and the range that is offered.
Research and Technology
Following approximately twenty years of research, certain varieties of controlled behaviour type Oak has been selected for use within an urban environment. Ornamental Locust trees have been used for interventions with the presence of difficult terrain or in extreme areas, and an evergreen variety of magnolia with large emerald green coloured leaves with blue reflections has also been produced.
During the last twenty years, thanks to Miro Mati and the time that he dedicates to research, certain plant cultivation and conservation techniques have also been patented: Plant-Plast© is a protection system for clods of earth which was discovered during the seventies and which is still in use today. The ecological vase, a container that allows for entirely biodegradable cultivation; the "Airplant© strong roots" cultivation system which is changing the concept of cultivation in containers. Along with an operating machine, which will simplify the planting of tress and plants in an urban environment without having to intervene on roads or footpaths and interfere with our daily routines.
..garden services
A real family passion is represented by the gardens sector: you can obtain any information that you may require by going to the site that is dedicated entirely to planning: www.studiomati.com where you will find a space that is especially dedicated to the history of the plans and realisations that have been carried out from the 1930’s to the present day.
If you are interested in Garden Services you can find examples and information visiting the following site: www.gruppomati.com.
Thanks to the particular qualities of each of its members, the Mati family is looking towards the future with its fifth generation, which is growing up within this green culture.
Objectives
To continue to produce plants and to help both our private and professional clients to choose the best species and varieties of plants in order to obtain the best results during planting interventions. To realise, rebuild and amplify gardens of all forms and dimensions, classical Italian gardens with boxwood designs.
Piante MATI Studio, with over 50 years of experience assists and helps clients in their choice of plants and in planning the location of such plants along with supplying all of the useful technical information necessary.
Gruppo Mati offers the experience of Mati family and their best collaborators in the service of design and the creation of customized gardens and green areas.
Company profile
A simple company which has been operating since the beginning of the last century.
Production articulated in 5 tree nurseries with an overall cultivated surface area of 80 hectares.
Direct sale and retail. Plant setting services.
Creation of customized gardens through Gruppo Mati.
The study and design of green areas, public green areas, gardens, naturalistic settings, and green areas designed by landscape architects.
Technical assistance, planning and realisation of irrigation plants, waterways, lakes and fountains. Study and realisation of scenographic lighting systems.
Why a red tree?
In 2000, the red tree became the symbol of Piante MATI. Some love it, others find it not very original, but there is a special reason why we decided to use it.
The plant represented in the logo is a Quercus robur "Select", a plain oak or an oak with a particularity in the carriage that makes it unique. This oak, located in front of the business center of the nursery called Masiano, was born from an acorn in 1984. We were looking for new varieties, plants that may have special features and to get them without doing genetical changes, we used about 4,500 acorns collected between the rows of nursery and in some woods. Notoriously, oaks tend to hybridize with each other, generating new subjects which have different characteristics from starting plants.
Within ten years, these new oaks have grown up, some of them are thoroughly identical to the mother plants, others are different in the leaf color and size, carriage.
On 4,500 plants only 8 kept original characteristics in time and only two of these, after 20 years, proved to be interesting: the Quercus robur "Select" and the Quercus robur pyramidalis "Magnifica." The first one has become our symbol for the special beauty and elegance of its round and regular hair as well as the years necessary to get it; ours is a job requiring a lot of patience. The second one is a very slim, compact and elegant oak.
In 2004, we had to move it 300 meters because of the development of a road that cut out from the nursery the portion of the soil where the oak had grown up over the past twenty years. Now it is placed in front of our business center, in the nursery named "Masiano".
Of course, the oak is not for sale even if on more than one occasion it was demanded by customers eager to buy such a specimen.
We decided to elect it as a symbol because our job is really special; even using trained personnel and advanced technologies a long time is necessary to do research and get results. 8 to 24 hours of work are enough to make a car of any kind. To get a tree or a medium-sized plant it takes an average of 5 years of cultivation, for a specimen 15 years are not enough.
Finally, the color: dark red is the color of the two buildings located on the right and left of Via Bonellina in Pistoia, where our company has been located since ever.
How to contact us
Our company is situated in Pistoia, the worldwide capital of gardens, just a few kilometres from Florence, Lucca, Vinci and the other marvellous towns of the Tuscany region.
How to find us
Exit the A11 FIRENZE – PISA NORD motorway at PISTOIA, you will find our establishment just 400 meters from the motorway toll both in the direction of EMPOLI - VINCI.
View map
Opening hours
Monday – Friday: 8am - 12pm and 2pm – 7pm
Saturday morning:
8am - 12pm
Office hours
Monday – Friday: 8am - 1pm and 2pm – 6pm
Saturday morning:
8am - 12pm
On Saturday afternoons and Sundays we are available by appointment only.
For further information
Telephone
+39 0573/380051 (4 l.r.a.)
Fax
+39 0573/382361
Phisycal address:
Via Bonellina, 49 - 51100 Pistoia.
E-mail:
InfoMATI for information about products and services.
InfoPIANTE to request a custome quote.
InfoStudio for information about garden design and technical consulting.
..garden services