If you want a green balcony in summer, you should pay attention to what you plant on your balcony in spring. Because not all plants are allowed.
A green balcony can not only bring you shade and cooler air in summer, but in most cases it also looks nicer than mere concrete walls. A balcony also offers enough space to plant herbs that can then be used directly in the kitchen. Even a small raised bed with vegetables sometimes fits into a corner of the balcony and provides supplies for delicious meals in summer. But you should not plant your balcony completely without thinking. In some cases, some plants are even forbidden in the flower box.
Fruit trees can cause problems
The dream of having your own fruit on the balcony is not completely unattainable. Choosing the right variety of fruit trees, for example, is important when planting on a balcony. In most cases, according to
Bayerischer Rundfunk
, it is forbidden to put large trees on the balcony. There are various reasons for this: Firstly, the sheer size that a tree can reach. The larger the tree gets, the more space it will eventually take up from the entire building, which can cause problems with neighbors and property management.
On the other hand, such a large tree also changes the external appearance of a building. For example, if it grows beyond the roof or completely covers the balcony, there is little chance that the large balcony resident will be allowed to continue growing there.
But what is possible: buy espaliered fruit trees. There are many varieties of fruit trees that have been specially bred so that they do not exceed a certain size and still produce fruit. Fruit plants climbing vertically on a trellis are also an option for the balcony.
Climbing plants need to know their limits
It is also problematic if a tenant plants creeping plants such as ivy on the balcony. According to the German Press Agency, climbing plants are not generally forbidden and trellises can also find their place on the balcony.
However, as soon as the plant leaves its territory and grows towards the neighbor or along the house wall, the tenant has to take care of it. It's better to ask your landlord or landlady in advance whether he or she is okay with ivy, wine and the like. Climbing plants can quickly attack the building structure, such as the external plaster, and thereby cause costs. In such cases, the plant must then be removed completely.
You can find even more exciting garden topics in the regular newsletter from our partner 24garten.de.
Invasive species have no place on the balcony
And then there are plants that are not native to this country, spread widely and thus steal the habitat of other plants. Some of the so-called invasive plant species are also not allowed on the balcony in the EU. These plants are not available in garden centers anyway, but there are always opportunities to buy seeds and plants of invasive species on the Internet. The
list of banned plant species in the EU
includes, for example:
Plant name |
Scientific name |
|---|---|
Andean pampas grass |
Cortaderia jubata |
Japanese climbing fern |
Lygodium japonicum |
Willow leaf acacia |
Acacia saligna |
Chilean giant rhubarb |
Gunnera tinctoria |
The list includes a total of over 40 plants whose growth gardeners are not allowed to support.