Many terraced houses no longer have large gardens, but only a narrow strip around the house and maybe a few square meters for the terrace. Of course, these areas cannot be planted like a "real" flower bed in a large garden. With the right perennials and taking into account a few design rules, you can also create a colorful oasis of well-being here.
Roses look pretty on the house wall
Site and soil conditions on a house wall
The site conditions in front of a house wall are often difficult, especially as far as the ground is concerned. The substrate is dry, stores little moisture, is often mixed with gravel or sand and, to make matters worse, in many cases very calcareous. Above all, plants thrive here that can cope well with these conditions, that love dryness and lime and are otherwise rather tough. The other site conditions depend on whether there is a lot or rather little sun and what color the house itself is painted. A bright, south-facing house wall, for example, is ideal for heat-tolerant and sun-loving plants that can also cope well with heat build-up. A north face, on the other hand, only gets little light, so shade-tolerant plants have to go here - which, on top of that, also have to be able to cope with drought.
The most beautiful perennials and flowers for a house wall
Which perennials and flowers you choose for your bed in front of the house depends primarily on how much sun the selected area receives every day. For sunny flower beds, we recommend steppe candles (Eremurus stenophyllus), various types of sage (Salvia officinalis), spurge (Euphorbia polychroma), woolly ziest (Stachys byzantina), lavender (Lavandula) or thyme varieties thyme (Thymus). Shady flower beds in front of the house, on the other hand, are ideal for planting with table leaf (Astilboides tabularis), mullet (Astilbe Arendsii hybrid), purple bells (Heuchera x brizoides), forest goat's beard (Aruncus dioicus), hostas (Hosta) and record sheet (Rodgersia aesculifolia).
This is how you design a narrow bed in front of a house wall
To ensure that all these beautiful flowers come into their own, you should heed the following rules when planning and designing the often long and narrow bed:
- Don't plant too many different species at once.
- Limit yourself to two to five species that you plant alternately.
- If the strip in front of the house is wide enough, you can also set several rows.
- High-growing perennials always come to the back, flatter ones to the front.
- Choose the tallest, bushiest species possible.
- Shallow perennials often look lost in front of a high house wall.
tips
Many houses have a strip of gravel or stone all around, which in many cases serves as drip protection. You can confidently plant such eaves strips. However, if the strip is used for drainage and is intended to keep moisture away from the foundation and house wall, it is better to refrain from planting.