Terms of use · Bladwijzer garden guide

1. About Bladwijzer

Bladwijzer is a website for identifying trees and plants, keeping your own guide, managing your garden and working with tree surgeons. Bladwijzer is operated by Jani Van Quaethem, Aalter (contact: [email protected]). By using Bladwijzer, you agree to these terms and to the privacy policy.

2. Free, and as good as we can make it

Bladwijzer is free. We do our best to keep the site working well and securely, but we cannot promise that it will always be available and free of errors. Features may change or disappear; we announce important changes in advance.

3. Your account

You are at least 13 years old, or you create the account with a parent’s permission.
You choose a strong password and keep it secret. We recommend two-step verification. If you notice any misuse, let us know.
You can always delete your account yourself in Account.

4. What you add

Your photos, notes and data remain yours. You only give us permission to store and display them as needed for the service to work: to yourself, and to whoever you choose to show them to (a shared garden or guide, a request).
Only add what you are allowed to share. No content that is unlawful, offensive or misleading, and no photos of recognisable people without their consent.
If you share a recipe with everyone, anyone may see it and keep a copy in their own recipe book, with your name. If you stop sharing it, copies that others already saved remain.
A comment or a photo on a shared recipe can be seen by everyone who sees the recipe, with your name; the person who shared the recipe gets a notification. An administrator can hide a comment.
We may remove content that breaches these terms and close an account in the event of serious or repeated misuse.
In case of abuse, the administrator can suspend an account temporarily or indefinitely, with a reason you receive by email. A suspended account can still log in, view and download its own data, but can’t post anything or send messages in the Nearby section; what it posted stays hidden in the meantime.
Against spam, a new account can post less in the Nearby section for the first few days and can’t use links yet; a confirmed email address usually lifts this straight away.
You can block someone: you then no longer see each other’s listings, questions, recipes, equipment and activities, and that person can’t send you messages or book from you. They aren’t notified.

5. Identification and advice

An identification is a suggestion from a computer program or a key, not a certainty. Never eat a plant, berry or mushroom on the basis of Bladwijzer, and always check toxicity with a reliable source.
Pruning and planting advice are general rules of thumb. Local conditions, the health of the tree and the rules of your municipality may differ.
Plot boundaries from the land registry are indicative and not an official survey.
Felling or heavily pruning trees may require a permit; Bladwijzer sometimes warns you, but you remain responsible for checking this. Do not prune during the nesting season if birds are nesting.

6. Eating, picking and using: at your own risk

What Bladwijzer says about edible and useful plants (harvesting, storing, fermenting, recipes, teas, salves…) is general information, not medical or dietary advice.
You always eat, drink, pick and use plants at your own risk. Identify a plant with certainty before you pick, eat or use it, and ask an expert if in doubt. Take extra care with allergies, pregnancy, medication, children and pets.
The same applies to dealing with problems in your garden (pests, diseases, products): always follow a product’s label and the rules that apply in Belgium.
We don’t check in advance the recipes you write yourself, import from a website or that other users share, nor what other users write in a shared or community garden.
Bladwijzer, its operator and the people who contributed to its content are not responsible or liable for illness, poisoning, an allergic reaction or any other harm because someone misidentified, ate, drank or used a plant, or followed a recipe or advice from Bladwijzer.

7. Tree surgeons and other professionals

Tree surgeons enter their own details and are responsible for their accuracy, for their work, their insurance and their permits.
Verified means that the administrator checked the profile; it is not a guarantee of the quality of the work.
Bladwijzer does not act as an intermediary, takes no commission and is not a party to the agreement between garden owner and tree surgeon. You agree on price, scheduling and payment between yourselves.
The list also shows tree surgeons and landscape gardeners who don’t have a profile (yet), with their public details. Bladwijzer doesn’t check those details and isn’t a party to what you agree with them.
A review is the client’s opinion of a completed job. Write honestly and about the work; we may hide reviews that are offensive or not about the work.

8. Hiring, hiring out and lending equipment

Bladwijzer brings together people who hire out or lend garden equipment and people who need it. Bladwijzer is not a party to the hire, does not hire anything out itself and takes no commission.
The hirer and the lender agree between them on the price, the payment, the deposit, collection and return, and what happens in case of damage, loss or theft. Until online payment is available, you pay on collection.
The lender makes sure the equipment is safe, works and is maintained, and provides the manual. The lender checks whether their own insurance covers the hire.
You use hired or borrowed equipment at your own risk. Wear the right protective equipment and follow the manual. A chainsaw, cherry picker or mini digger may require training or a certificate; the hirer checks this themselves.
A review is about the hire: the equipment, the arrangements and how it went. We may hide reviews that are offensive or about something else.
If you see anything inappropriate or misleading, report it. We may hide or remove equipment that breaches these terms.

9. Fair use

Use Bladwijzer as intended. You do not try to bypass security, overload the site or automatically retrieve large amounts of data. Limits apply, for example to the number of identifications per day.

10. Liability

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for damage resulting from the use of Bladwijzer, from an incorrect identification or advice, or from the work of a tree surgeon. This does not apply in the case of intent or gross negligence, and does not affect your mandatory rights as a consumer.

11. Changes and governing law

We may amend these terms; we announce important changes in advance. These terms are governed by Belgian law. In the event of a dispute, we will first try to find a solution together.