Nina (37) is proud of her green facade garden: ‘It does something for the neighborhood’

“Lush with a lot of greenery crammed into half a tile depth,” is how Nina Verstand (37) describes her facade garden in Utrecht East. She likes to look at the green plants and the best part: “They require little maintenance.”

Together with her husband Joost (36) and son Odin (3.5), Nina started working on the facade garden two years ago. They removed paving stones and bought plants. It is full of green plants and a rose bush. The names? “I have no idea what everything is called. That immediately shows how much knowledge I have about it.” It is precisely that spontaneity of the garden that attracts the family. “We walk into the store and see what we like.”

The neighborhood ignites each other

According to Nina, the ground cover does best. “You do that between other plants. It grows all the way up and looks fresh because of its green color.” In her neighborhood, Nina sees that neighbors are encouraging each other and that more and more facade gardens are being added. “Everyone imitates each other a bit. For example, our neighbor had a rose bush, so we took one too. We liked it when our gardens matched each other a bit.”

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Nice play area

According to Nina, all that greenery in the street has a positive effect. “It feels like a kind of community thing, you contribute something to the neighborhood. You also notice it in the reactions of people who walk past our house. We regularly hear ‘oh, how beautiful’. It is also good for hot days.” The garden is also a nice playground for Odin, right in the middle of the city. It is there with a magnifying glass to look at insects. A child does not care about the size of a garden, because there is a lot to see in such a small strip.”

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Lost plants

The family works together to create and maintain the garden. “You could request a facade garden from the municipality, but we thought it would be more fun to try it out ourselves.” And son Odin likes to help. “When we drive past the plant kiosk around the corner, he can pick something out. That is why every now and then there is a stray plant among them.”

The fact that it doesn’t have to be done a certain way gives the family pleasure. “We have put a lot of attention and time into the garden and the greenery is doing great. We enjoy showing that. We hope that we can inspire others with this.”

Do you also have a beautiful facade garden?

Do you have a beautiful facade yourself or have you perhaps renovated the neighborhood together with your neighbors? Let us know via [email protected]. Don’t forget to send a nice photo.