Facade greening has a long history. Ancient temples were decorated with vines and medieval monastery walls were given more color by growing ivy. Farmhouses have a special charm when they are overgrown with perennials.
How can you sensibly green the house wall?
House walls can be greened with strong curlers, self-climbing plants or light flyers. Green facades protect the building from the weather, reduce noise, regulate the building temperature and promote biodiversity. Damage can be avoided through proper plant selection and proper installation.
Preventing damage
A nightmare for every homeowner is the damage that can be caused by plant growth on facades. If you prepare well and choose the right plants, your worries are unfounded, as negative effects occur due to incorrect implementation and on already damaged substrates.
Strongslinger
Some plants are characterized by strong growth in thickness. This group includes tree shrikes, knotweeds and wisteria. They wrap around and grow behind components and can literally crush and blow them off. To prevent such damage, you should ensure there is sufficient distance between the trellis and the facade. In most cases a distance of 50 to 100 centimeters is sufficient. Make sure you leave a two meter wide gap.
Selfclimber
Some plants develop special adhesive organs with which they attach themselves to the substrate. Ivy is the classic representative of this group. The plant leaves unsightly residue behind when the vegetation is removed. There is an additional risk with emulsion paints and damaged surfaces because the climbing plants can remove plaster and paint. Lime cement plaster (€44.00 at Amazon) of DIN standard 18550 is recommended because it can withstand the growth.
light flyer
This category occupies a special position because both high-swinging and self-climbing can prove to be negatively phototropic. Their shoot tips grow into dark cracks and crevices, where they cause massive damage to the structure. Roller shutter boxes and ventilation openings as well as cracks in facades are at risk from such plants. Before choosing plants, check whether there could be any dangers on the house wall.
Advantages of facade greening
Plants don't just make a monotonous wall disappear behind a dense display of leaves. They also provide color and increase biodiversity in the garden. But they also prove to be positive for the building itself:
- dense foliage acts as a weather coat
- Roots remove water from the soil and keep the base of the wall dry
- Leaves intercept street noise
- Vegetation prevents house walls from overheating in summer
- Impenetrable branches protect facades from cooling down in winter