Facade and tree border gardens
Greenery makes a neighbourhood more beautiful and pleasant. And greenery is good for insects, birds and other animals. But not every street has front gardens or a park nearby. Make your street greener by creating a facade garden or by planting around the base of a tree.
Read how you can make a facade garden or tree border garden and what the rules are.
Tips and rules for a facade garden
- You can make a facade garden against the street-side wall of your house. The garden may be up to 45 centimetres wide.
- There should be 1.5 metres of free passage between the garden and the edge of the pavement (curb).
- A small garden which makes your front garden larger is not a facade garden. This is therefore not allowed.
- Talk to your landlord, homeowners association (Vereniging van Eigenaren, VvE) or housing association before you start.
- The ground under your facade garden remains municipal property. The municipality must always be able to access the cables and pipes. This can also mean that your facade garden may need to be removed (temporarily) due to roadworks or a new street design. The municipality will not compensate you for any damage.
Turn in paving stones and get free plants
You can turn in paving stones and get free plants in return. If you and your neighbours turn in more than 200 slabs to make space for facade gardens, you can get help from Operatie Steenbreek (Duurzaam Den Haag). Operatie Steenbreek organises activities with neighbours in the spring and summer. But even if you want to do this on your own, you can also turn in paving stones for free plants. For more information visit the website of Begin external link: duurzaamdenhaag.nl(External link), end external link. .
Tips and rules for tree border gardens
- Pull up the weeds around the tree. You may not raise the soil level. You are allowed to remove a small layer of soil and replace it with fertilised soil.
- Pay attention to the roots of the tree when planting.
- You may not enlarge the space around the tree by removing paving tiles, for example. You are also not allowed to put in a raised planting bed around the tree base garden.
- Do not plant plants or flowers around young trees which have a green, plastic rim. Young trees are given extra water in the 1st year. The plastic rim ensures that the water can reach the roots. If you plant flowers within the plastic rim, the plants will be washed away and they will die. The rim is removed after 2 years when the tree no longer needs extra water. At this stage you can make a tree base garden.
Maintaining the gardens
You have to maintain your facade or tree border garden yourself. Keep in mind that the plants will need regular watering and pruning. When you move house, the next resident or someone who lives nearby should take over the care of the facade or tree border garden. Is nobody available to take this over? Then you must remove the facade or tree base garden. For a facade garden, you must also place the paving (stones) back in their original state.
More information
Download the brochure (in Dutch) on facade and tree border gardens. You can also pick up the brochure at a city district office.