Who doesn't dream of a romantic, wildly overgrown house? This dream can be realized with a facade greening. A clad house wall has many advantages. It keeps out noise and offers native animals such as butterflies, birds and many insects a new habitat. For the greening of the facade, the hobby gardener can choose from a wide variety of climbing plants, which design the facade individually with and without a climbing aid. Whether you are a fast or slow growing climbing artist - there is something for every house wall and every taste.
Advantages of a green facade
The advantages of a green facade are obvious, which is why the dense wall of leaves on house walls is becoming increasingly popular. Ugly walls and dreary facades can be turned into eye-catchers quickly and relatively cheaply without taking up a lot of space. But the vertical meadow can do even more: It protects the house from external influences such as heat and cold. In addition, substances harmful to health are simply filtered out and birds and other small organisms offer not only food, but also shelter and nesting places.
Furthermore, the masonry is protected from extreme weather such as storms or hail by the climbing artists. The plants provide cooling in summer, humidify the air and in winter they form a protective and insulating barrier.
In summary, the following advantages result:
- Climbing plants hardly need any space and lie like a protective layer on the facade
- offer protection from wind, cold, hail, storms, driving rain and UV rays
- Noise, pollutants and dust are filtered out
- The microclimate is improved
- creates new habitats for birds and small organisms
- complete greening and partial greening possible
Types of facade greening
Those who want to green their facade primarily use climbing plants, which grow upwards either with or without support. The decisive factors are the climbing behavior and the optimal location. The large family of climbing plants is basically divided into two main groups. There are self-climbers, i.e. self-climbing plants and scaffolding-climbing plants. These are dependent on climbing aids.
Self-climbing climbing plants
Self-climbers hold onto almost any surface using adhesive discs or adhesive roots. Trumpet flowers, ivy, climbing hydrangea and wild wine are particularly popular. If these plants are tied up at the beginning, their ascent can be made easier.
Scaffolding climbing plants
In contrast to self-climbers, scaffold-climbing plants are not able to pull themselves up on surfaces by themselves. Rather, they need support in the form of scaffolding. A distinction is made between the following types of scaffold climbing plants:
Creepers
... climb through looping movements of the shoots and require climbing aids such as ropes or sticks that are thin and vertical. The creepers include hops, knotweed, honeysuckle and wisteria.
Climbing plants
... For example, grapevines or clematis, vetch and clematis use leaf stalk or shoot tendrils with which they hold on to the climbing aid. Lattice-like climbing aids are suitable as climbing aids, as these climbing artists can be used on both diagonal and horizontal and vertical supports
Spreading jaw
... are basically not climbing plants, as they only cling and spread with their spines, hooked rungs or side shoots. This increases the contact area. This group includes winter jasmine, blackberries or climbing rose.
Choice of plants
When choosing the right plants for the facade greening, maintenance effort, location, wind and light conditions always play an essential role.
Compass direction
Every climbing plant makes different demands on the location. The general rule:
North sides
are best for plants that thrive in the shade. This is where pipe binders and ivy can flourish. The evergreen self-climber ivy also protects against cooling and moisture because it does not lose its leaves.
East sides
Honeysuckle, wild grape, hops or knotweed thrive on facades that face east just as well as pipewinder or clematis.
South sides
For south-facing facades, summer green varieties such as wild wine, fire beans, climbing roses, clematis species, real wine or knotweed can be used. Some suitable varieties shed their leaves, which warms the unshaded wall of the house.
West sides
Since the west side is also the weather side in most cases, evergreen plants such as spindle bushes or ivy are suitable. This also protects the facade from wind and rain all year round.
Tip: Trellis fruit varieties such as plums, pears and apples also cut a fine figure on west facades.
Here is a brief overview of the most popular climbing plants for greening facades:
Whistle winch
- creeper
- sunny to shady location
- sheltered from the wind
- fresh, nutrient-rich, moist soil
- Height ten to 20 meters
- forms dense canopy walls
- Flowering period June / July
- Fertilization is required
- clipping every one to three years
Climbing hydrangea
- Self climber
- yellow color in autumn
- partially shaded to shady location (north and west walls)
- Substrate should be humic, acidic to neutral
- moist to wet soil
- water regularly
- does not tolerate lime
- Growth height up to twelve meters
- April to October yellow to golden yellow leaves
- reddish brown shoots in winter
- June / July decorative umbels
- Pruning in spring encourages branching
Clematis
- Petiole tendril
- different types
- Growth height two to three meters
- partially shaded to sunny location
- sheltered from the wind
- humic, fresh soil with drainage
- Clearance cut after flowering
Climbing roses
- Spreader climbers with thorns
- sunny to partially shaded location
- Soil should be deep, sandy-loamy and not too moist and not too dry
- Soil like humus, but not rich in nutrients
- Potash fertilization until early summer
- Growth height, depending on the variety, two to 15 meters
- Flowering time depends on the variety (continuous flowering, multiple flowering or single flowering)
- often bears red rose hip fruits
ivy
- evergreen self-climber
- Location in full sun to partial shade
- humus, nutrient-rich soil
- Growth height up to 20 meters
- produces fragrant flowers in September
- Birds eat fruits
- Cut possible at any time
Wisteria
- poisonous creeper
- location in full sun
- Partial shade is also possible, but fewer flowers
- easy to grow up to 20 meters
- light-fleeing growth
- pinnate light green leaves from May to November (sometimes also orange-brown)
- two main types
- Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis)
- Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda)
- Regular cut so that there is no damage to the climbing aids
frequently asked Questions
We have an anodized aluminum facade and are looking for fast-growing climbing plants for facade greening. The plants should not take root under the panels. Which are suitable?
Climbing plants have light-fleeing shoots. They also have adhesive roots that grow into real roots. Over time, roots and shoots would pry the panels off the facade and the wall of the house would be damaged. In this case, climbing aids are recommended.
How can I prevent my ivy from climbing on my neighbor's facade?
First and foremost, regular pruning measures help. To stop the growth, a wooden beam can be attached to the facade. This prompts the plant to grow in a different direction.
Since our facade is being renovated, the ivy has to give way. How do I remove all adhesive roots now?
Removing the remains of the ivy can be costly. It's easier with a wire brush, gloves and a lot of patience. Alternatively, a sandblasting device can be used.