Facade greenery - even in winter

In the case of facade greening, it is advisable to plant an evergreen as the first climbing plant, and to take a light deciduous climbing plant as a supplement so that the facade does not look so bare in winter with only brown undergrowth being visible.

The solution: In a way, you can also create aspect calendars for facades.

Example of evergreen climber under deciduous climber – a sort of aspect calender for wall greenery

Even if ivy is rather not recommended for most facades: It shows here in a beautiful example, how the ivy still creates a green impression in winter, when the wild vine has long been turned into fine dry branches on the wall of the house.

Another important aspect in the city of the future: Urban Gardening

Urban gardening, which has become fashionable, will never be able to make an actual contribution to feeding the urban population. But learning about how food is grown, how slowly it grows, and how costly it is to care for it in an ecologically sustainable way raises people's awareness of not being as wasteful with food as they currently still are: more than 10% of our food is thrown away, a third of which is fruits and vegetables.

For city children in particular, learning about the origins of food and helping to grow it is educational, positively formative - and fun, too!

The massive greening of the city of the future will only work with digital tree and green space management

When creating new beds, during vitalization measures or when planting new trees, appropriate sensors can be inserted into the substrate. For example, the soil moisture, oxygen and nutrient content, but also the pollutant load can be checked around the clock by a central digital green space management system and, if necessary, appropriate measures can be taken. This primarily involves the networking of biological and technological knowledge. An algorithm can be continuously adapted and improved using the data obtained. New insights into the changing urban climate and plant development can be incorporated and contribute to the effective management of urban green spaces.

So much greenery: aren't we bringing a lot of varmints and pests into the city?

The implementation of the Frankfurt Bridges is accompanied by a significant increase in green spaces - and thus of flora and fauna - in the middle of the city. And as much as people usually like to have nature around them, it still has to be questioned critically on a permanent basis: What are the consequences of implementing the "Green Metropolis of the Future"?

Lush planting can also have unexpected, undesirable effects:

•More butterflies would be wonderful, but their caterpillars can become real pests.

•More field hamsters and dormice - that sounds cute and sweet at first, but they serve as food for foxes or even wolves. Do we want more of them in our cities?

•At present, pests are often cut off by asphalt and concrete from further green spaces where they could infest plants. If, on the other hand, you have continuous greenery, many pests can also spread more easily in the city.

Conclusion: Creating habitats in the city must be well planned. Observation and test series should be carried out in close cooperation with universities and the Frankfurt Green Spaces Office already during the initial planting, but also for all subsequent replacement plantings on the Frankfurt Bridges, in order to assess the effects both for the bridge greenery and for the urban greenery and, if necessary, to be able to take countermeasures in good time.