Most facade-greenings fall under the category of 'partial greening.' This means, of course, that only certain parts of the wall are greened with climbing plants (thus a counter-design to full greening), which leads to an intriguing relationship between greened and ungreened areas.
To emphasise the height or width of a building, vertically or horizontally oriented green 'bands' of any width can be made. That is, the trellis systems can be arranged into vertical or horizontal fields. Climbing plants with a vertical orientation, i.e., annuals and twiners, are particularly suitable. For horizontal greening, grapevine and any plant that lets itself be easily formed (trained and shaped) are a good fit. It usually takes several years, but at least 1-2 years, for the greenery to truly cover the planned areas.
Generally speaking, a large greening calls for a square or rectangular support. Our wire rope trellis systems offer a wide variety of options for greening larger wall spaces, usually having four or more ropes / rods / laths and different mesh sizes to suit the growth habit of the plant your've chosen. In our section on climbing plants you'll find a guide and be able to orientate yourself there even if you are using a plant support that is not exactly identical.
For facades with many windows or other openings, narrow linear greenery between the openings works well ~ a combination of horizontal and vertical strands of green. Usually only one or two wire ropes are used. The desired thickness/dimensions of the plant may then be created and maintained by regular pruning.
We highly recommend keeping a facade greening -- especially in the private sector -- lower than 5 metres. That is about as high as a ladder will get you to be able to care and prune the plants. High greening does come with risks. If the entire greening is meant to reach 5 m, then the support system needs to be correspondingly lower than 5 m (depending on the climbing plant; see below).
For classic, ground-based greening (where plants grow from the ground), professional greening including plants, climbing aids and installation costs from around 50 euros per square metre of greenery (as of 2020). This minimum value applies, for example, to retaining walls and flood and noise barriers. However, in the case of difficult substrates, e.g. insulation, and at great heights, this value can increase to 300 or even 400 euros per square metre. For ‘living walls’ or ‘shelf construction’, on the other hand, 300-400 euros is the lower end of the cost scale. Maintenance costs are added separately.
Planned greening areas on a wall should initially always be regarded as ‘gross areas’, in which a ‘net area’, namely the climbing support, is usually hidden. Remember that a plant will protrude well beyond the edges of its support trellis! That means, surfaces to be greened should first be considered as 'gross' fields and the climbing support planned smaller / narrower than the area you want to see in green. The visual effect will be better if there is a gap on all sides between the greenery and the doors/windows, etc.. Plan your green area such that there is still a distance of 25-40 cm between the green and the edges (including doors/windows) of the building. Again, trellis systems are then necessarily located within these green areas as 'net' fields, i.e. narrower and smaller than the 'gross' fields. In systems with several parallel wire ropes, placing them relatively close to each other creates a more attractive trellising.
Plants which require climbing supports are primarily used... in this way, one can guide the plants, rather than having them 'colonise' entire walls, which vigorous ones will tend to do. In some cases, self-climbing plants-- when maintained properly with regular pruning-- are also a possibility. To support the architectural beauty of a building, it is often preferable to cover only a few square meters of the facade with climbing plants, so that the shapes of the building are highlighted. Climbing roses, vines, clematis, and winter jasmine will generally not 'leave' the area they have been assigned to. Under the individual climbing plants on our website, you will find a chart at the end of each page showing you which trellis systems are suitable and which are not. Grapevines, for example, are fairly universal and can be trained to fit nearly any form, whereas ivy and wild vines (i.e. Boston ivy) are not suited to partial greening. See our section on potential damage for additional helpful tips and things to look out for.
More examples of partial greenings; click on photos to enlarge.
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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