Shading without trees

How cool plants help combat the heat in the city

Defying the heat: This task is becoming increasingly difficult, especially in cities.(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Nature knows no boundaries! This is precisely why more climbing plants are now to proliferate everywhere thanks to an ecological campaign by the state of Lower Austria and develop their deep-rooted cooling effect.

The effects of climate change are increasingly being felt in Lower Austria. In urban areas in particular, rising temperatures and more frequent heatwaves are leading to major challenges for the population. "But we are keeping a cool head in the face of this global warming," assures Johanna Mikl-Leitner, head of the province.

"Plants4cooling" aims to improve the microclimate with special plantings and other greening measures.

Niederösterreichs Landeshauptfrau Johanna Mikl-Leitner

The "Plants4Cooling" project was rooted in the environmental movement "Nature in the Garden". The botanists' declared aim: to use the cooling effect of plants on the local microclimate and thus contribute to improving the quality of life for everyone in the town.

Garden experts Christa Lackner and Matthias Wobornik - pictured here with the provincial governor - now want to fight the sweltering heat with "cool" climbing plants.(Bild: NLK Pfeiffer)

This is a cross-border Interreg project together with a partner organization in the Czech Republic. The "heat battle" with special climbing plants as allies on the facades is therefore not only raging in the Waldviertel and Weinviertel, but also in the regions of South Moravia, South Bohemia and Vysočina in our northern neighboring country.

Alternatives where trees don't grow
According to the managing directors of Natur im Garten, Christa Lackner and Matthias Wobornik, urban field and corridor areas are mainly densely built-up streets and other urban concrete jungles, where it is unfortunately no longer architecturally possible to plant trees.