Many cities lack green spaces and many people want a piece of greenery to cultivate. Street beds solve both: they beautify the cityscape, strengthen the neighborhood and provide insects with a habitat.
No more gray streets: street beds are a great way to make your city a little greener! In this article you will learn what street beds are, what positive effects they have in the city and what you should consider when creating a street bed.
What are street beds?
Street beds are often encountered every day, but we hardly notice them because of the typically simple planting. A street bed is understood to mean, for example, the shoulders on a street or traffic islands as well as generally any green area in the public street space of the community. The area around a street tree is called a tree bed. The so-called roadside greenery grows in these areas, which in most cases is grass and therefore does not have a high ecological value and is also not really visually appealing.
What are the problems with tree beds in the city? Unfortunately, these areas are often littered, used as a dog litter box, or used as bicycle parking. Cars parked on the roadbed compact the soil and require roadside trees and other plants to be very resilient and regenerative.
What are the benefits of street beds?
- Street Beautification: A flowering roadside bed offers more to the eye than bare soil or bark mulch. Also, with a nicely planted tree bed, you'd think twice before throwing your rubbish in there without thinking, which unfortunately often happens in a bare, weedy area.
- A contribution to biodiversity: Insects in particular are finding fewer and fewer habitats in our cities. This is one of the reasons for the decline in native insect species. Lawns, such as those usually found on roadsides or in the citygenerally occur, are of low ecological value and can be replaced by insect-friendly flowers. Of course, you should pay attention to environmentally friendly gardening and choose plants that are of value to our insects and not just look good. In this way, even people without a garden can contribute to the preservation of biodiversity.
- Improvement of the urban climate: Plants filter pollutants, fine dust particles and of course carbon dioxide from the air and thus contribute to improved air quality in the city. In addition, plants have a major effect on the microclimate surrounding them, because they humidify the surrounding air through their transpiration. In addition, the water from rain and dew can hold better in the vegetation and thus ensure a cooler urban climate in summer.
- Improved Vitality of Street Trees: The roots of the plants on the tree bed loosen the often compacted soil around the tree, improving the soil quality. This allows more oxygen and water to reach the tree roots and enables the tree to grow better. In addition, dog owners are more likely to prevent their dogs from doing their business there if the bed is lovingly planted - this protects the tree from too much nutrient input. Dog urine contains very high concentrations of phosphorus, potassium and above all nitrogen in the form of urea. Too much of these nutrients makes plants vulnerable to pests and frost - so they take indirect damage from animal droppings.
- Strengthen community: A street bed can strengthen togetherness in your neighbourhood. From creating the bed to tending it, the bed offers opportunities to strengthen contact with other people. The tasks and care work can be shared in the neighborhood and seniors or people who have not been well integrated, for example people who have fled, can also get involved. Caring for the same thing creates a bond between gardeners. Interested parties passing by will definitely talk to you about the project and new acquaintances will be made. Maybe others will be inspired by your planted street beds and start creating and caring for one yourself.
Plant and create street beds: Thebest tips
Of course, planting street beds is a nice project. However, there are a few things to consider before you head out with your shovel and seed:
Observe the legal regulations of the city: In principle, anyone who wants to plant a street bed should be aware that this is strictly considered property damage. In order to avoid legal consequences, a certain amount of bureaucracy is required to implement the project in public green spaces. Contacts in this area are often the municipal green space maintenance, the green space management and often also nature conservation authorities. It is even possible to receive financial grants for eligible projects, but this also involves some effort. In general, one has to reckon with the fact that the submission of a concept, the naming of permanent contact persons and more will be required. Funding partners could be certain foundations or service clubs, for example, but crowdfunding is also a good way to get financial support for projects. If you are planning to create the flower beds in front of a local company, bank branch or similar, then it is worth asking them if they would be willing to sponsor the project. Depending on the design, it could also be good advertising for them. There are often rules for planting street beds, for example a maximum height of the planting so as not to obstruct the view of road traffic. In addition, the maintenance of the city trees by the employees of the green space office must be guaranteed at all times. Therefore, a certain planting distance to the tree is often specified.
- Prepare the roadbed: Unfortunately, tree beds are often full of rubbish. The first step is to remove it. Be careful not to injure yourself on broken glass or similar. Unfortunately, the soil in the street bed is often not of good quality and is heavily compacted. The soil should therefore be loosened to a depth of at least 10 cm before planting and improved with a high-quality substrate. Our Plantura organic universal soil, for example, is suitable for this. The potting soil does not require peat and therefore has a lower CO2 footprint than ordinary potting soil. Alternatively, mature compost can be used, which can be fetched from a recycling yard. However, do not pile up too much substrate around the tree trunk.
- TheChoosing the right plants: Depending on the light conditions, you should choose your planting. In general, it is important to select very robust plants that can withstand the extreme conditions right next to the road. It is particularly important that the plants in a tree bed can cope with a lot of root pressure, as the soil is already heavily rooted by the tree. At the Bund deutscher Staudengärtner you can get free concepts for planting tree discs. Sowing on such areas is also possible. Insect-friendly flower meadow mixtures such as our Plantura bee pasture are particularly suitable for this. The easy-care flower mixture consists of over 20 annual and perennial species. In general, when making your selection, be sure to choose insect-friendly plants to add value to your city.
Suitable plants for sunny tree beds are for example:
- Bee-friendly ground covers: Carpet Phlox (Phlox subulata), Crimson Cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum ), Stonecrop (Sedum acre)
- Medium sized perennials: Viper Bugloss (Echium vulgare), Stonecrop (Sedum telephium ), Sunflower (Helenium), Snakeweed (Bistorta officinalis), Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) , Chicory (Cichorium intybus), Rudbeckia (Rudbeckia), Dyer's Chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria), Meadow Sage (Salvia pratensis), Bluebell (Campanula glomerata)
See our matching Plantura article for more insect-friendly flowers.
- The right care: Especially in the beginning, the street bed should be watered regularly to ensure the growth of the plants or the sprouting of the seeds. Depending on the plant's requirements, you can water less after a few weeks. It is advisable to divide the watering among friends or in the neighbourhood. Weeds should also be removed at regular intervals and any rubbish removed. In some cities, fertilizing tree beds is not permitted to prevent uncontrolled nutrient input. Therefore, before fertilizing, ask the responsible green space office.
- Protect the road bed: A small fence is an advantage to make the tree disc recognizable as a bed. However, this should also be discussed with the city, because this is not allowed everywhere. Alternatively you canSet up information signs or attach them to the tree, of course without damaging it. Especially at the beginning, when the seeds have not yet germinated, appropriate signs can encourage passers-by to be more considerate.
At a glance: The most important steps for creating a street bed
- Research city regulations
- Removing trash and weeds from the bed
- Loosen and improve the soil
- Plan appropriate and environmentally friendly planting
- Plant or sow
- Optional: protect tree bed
Another idea for urban gardening is a herb bed made of pallets, which can be placed on even the smallest balcony.