Frost resistant to -20 degrees
Frost resistant to -25 degrees
Frost resistant to -25 degrees
Frost resistant to -25 degrees
Frost resistant to -25 degrees
Frost resistant to -25 degrees
Frost-hardy down to -30 degrees
Frost-hardy down to -35 degrees
Frost-hardy down to -35 degrees
Frost-hardy down to -35 degrees
Frost-hardy down to -40 degrees
Which plants can be planted where? Many factors such as light, wind, soil and water can be positively influenced on a property. However, one factor can hardly be influenced: the geographical or ‘climatic location’. The following factors depend on this: minimum temperatures, ground frost and late frosts, as well as too little sun and too much wind. A special case that will not be discussed further here is the salty air in coastal regions... We can help you assess your ‘location’! There are parameters for this, but they must be considered in combination, as shown in the example below.
So which areas are affected by factors that inhibit façade greening? Generally speaking, it is all regions above the ‘lowlands’, i.e. all low mountain ranges, the foothills of the mountains and, especially in northern and eastern Germany, the ‘hilly regions’. However, there are additional parameters that allow for even more precise identification of ‘disadvantaged locations’.
This refers to how high above sea level a location is. This fact is important in connection with the next paragraph.
This refers to whether a location is in the cool north or the warm south. An altitude of 400 m, for example, can be quite cold at Wartburg Castle in Eisenach (Thuringia) and unsuitable for climbing plants. At the same time, however, this is the same altitude as Lake Constance in southern Germany – but there, the climate is suitable for fruit growing and all common climbing plants can be used without hesitation. In general, it can be said that altitudes up to 200 metres in northern and eastern Germany and up to approx. 500 metres in southern Germany are considered uncritical. Above these limits, many climbing plants are hardly usable due to shortened growing seasons and treacherous winter and late frosts.
This refers to ‘right’ and “left” on the map. On the right, in the ‘east’, there are greater cold spells due to the extremely cold and dry frost air that often flows in from Poland and Siberia. On the left, in western Germany, it tends to be milder and therefore more comfortable for climbing plants.
It is sometimes said that a particular climbing plant is frost-hardy ‘up to climate zone 7a’, i.e. down to approx. minus 18 degrees. Yes, these zones defined by the US Department of Agriculture can help with estimation, but only very roughly. An example: Dresden/Saxony supposedly belongs to climate zone 7a, but temperatures of minus 25 degrees have been measured there. That would then be more like climate zone 5b, as in Moscow and St. Petersburg/Russia....
This plays a role in commercial fruit growing and viticulture: an average annual temperature of around 9 degrees Celsius can be considered a ‘viticultural climate’. This value alone is not decisive for façade greening, but it is interesting in conjunction with other factors.
The German Weather Service has produced a ‘radiation map’ which shows the average number of hours of sunshine per year for each region. This is important for investors who want to build a solar park, but also for farmers. This map can be consulted when deciding on demanding greening projects with flowers or fruit. However, a distinction must be made here between valleys and high altitudes, as explained in the following paragraph.
Hills, i.e. open areas in a landscape, are initially advantageous because the daily sunshine duration is longer and it is therefore often warmer. However, wind causes problems here, as more irrigation is then required. However, valleys are much more problematic than ‘high ground’ because the surrounding mountains reduce the duration of daily sunshine. See below for more information.
Greenery at the fisherman's house near the ‘Forsthaus Christianenthal’ in Wernigerode / Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, around 1895, source 21 (Wikimedia)
The house shown in the photo (‘Fischerhaus’) still stands today and is located on the edge of the Harz Mountains, in ‘Christianental’ in Nöschenrode, a district of Wernigerode / Saxony-Anhalt. Judging by its growth pattern and the selection of plants common around 1900, this is probably a virginia creeper...
For earlier generations, this was a ‘place of longing’ – legends and even a novel are entwined with it. It is located at an altitude of 300 metres and probably in climate zone 7b, so in winter the maximum temperature is around minus 15 degrees. The average annual temperature is quite high, at around 10 degrees. Yes, Wernigerode boasts a mild climate all year round, making it ideal for tourism. So is it suitable for viticulture and all climbing plants? Well, there really were vineyards there. And yet, such a location needs to be examined more closely.
The tricky thing about this example is the terrain relief, especially the location ‘in the valley’. The surrounding mountains reduce the amount of daily sunlight. Heat-loving plants such as trumpet vines then bloom less or not at all, even on the south side of a house. Roses may not bloom again, meaning they only bloom once instead of several times...
And when it gets cold, especially at night, heavy, cold air flows down into the valley and collects there. This leads to veritable ‘cold air lakes’! This results in increased late frosts, which can damage the flowers of grapevines, espalier fruit trees and Asian wisteria to the point of total failure.
In valleys and ‘cold air lakes’, plants sprout later in spring and shed their leaves earlier in autumn. The growing season is thus shortened, the green leaves work as ‘collectors’ for less time than elsewhere in sunny lowlands or on hills, and they produce less sugar. The fruits are not as sweet, and less sugar is stored in the cells. What does this mean?
Fassadengrün is a commercial supplier of stainless steel wire rope systems in Germany, Europe and overseas. Information about: Which plants are suitable, are climbing aids necessary, should they be made of wood or metal? Here at FassadenGrün you will find all the information you need from a single source.
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