climate change - plants - 1

A little philosophy and instruction manual for sustainable living in everyday household use Every organic being has its own duration of emergence, growth and decay. We do not have to determine the laws of biological and cooperating ecosystems precisely, but we can perceive them in everyday life if we observe life around us attentively.

climate change - plants - 2 - nature is konsonant

The laws of nature Nature is in a constant process of adapting and renewing the tried and tested. The regularity that appears as a result is self-similar. Isaac Newton expressed it like this: Nature is very consonant and conformable to itself.

climate change - plants - 3 - a physical process

Beauty One can find something humanly touching in this beauty of regular patterns, as if this consistent order on the one hand and the diversity and difference on the other would reassure us. This association is a creation of the human spirit. Beauty as a measure of success and as a guarantor of stability and […]

climate change - plants - 4 - you dont need a big garden

Let us observe it for ourselves: you don’t need a large garden, just a small sheltered space where you can plant and experiment.

climate change - plants - 5 - weather

Weather Just as the farmer observes the weather and collects the harvest before the storm, we in the city now observe the weather and the plants in winter and summer, in rain and snow. You live with your plants. And you will realize that plants are individual.

climate change - plants - 6 - the wild strawberry - establishing plants

Establishing plants – a good method is to find plants that reproduce themselves. It will take you a while to find out which plants take well to the location you have. For example, a friend brought me a small wild strawberry from her garden. The strawberry is now spreading itself here. It does this by […]

climate change - plants - 7 - habitats

Habitats The adaptation process carried out by plants creates complex habitats in the smallest of spaces.

climate change - plants - endurance - 8

Endurance Plants have different abilities. The Goldlack (Erysimum cheiri) took 5 years to acclimatize to the extreme climate on the roof terrace. Today, I know that Gold lacquer is an ideal plant for the extreme conditions.

climate change - plants - Borretsch -

Assertiveness Borage (Borago officinalis) is a garden herb whose leaves and flowers can be eaten in salads. It is very assertive. It sows itself again and again as an annual. It flowers bright blue until the onset of winter. I once even saw it defy the first snowfall.

climate change - plants - semper vivum - 10

adaptation and mitigation The roofroot (sempervivum tectorum) survives extreme heat conditions in groups by storing water in its leaves. It is not only this evolutionary technology that scientists are researching in order to develop sustainable water management for agriculture. Due to global warming, there are regions in the Middle East, for example, that are now […]

climate change - plants - standort - die peppermint - 11

Site conditions Peppermint likes to grow in cool water places. Here it grows along the drainpipe of the gutter. Mentha rotundifolia grows into a strong, tall bush. When it flowers, countless insects are on the move. Peppermint is a culinary herb.

climate change - plants - 12 - equipment

Equipment For your gardening work, you can use anything that is still useful and is lying around somewhere. Ask your neighbors if they have any spare clay pots. The garden develops over time. For me, gardens take about three years to take on a stable form. This garden chair made of wood and steel has […]

climate change - plants - 13 - seeds

Sow Get seeds from your friends’ gardens. Here a neighbor gave me wild poppy, columbine and dyer’s chamomile. These seeds come from vigorous plants. Next year you can already produce your own seeds. Remove dry seed heads from the plants in late summer and store them loosely in paper bags in a cool, dark place […]

climate change - plants - cuttings - 14

Propagation by cuttings – You can also take cuttings for example of rosemary and sage or peppermint. Cut off a small branch and place it in water in a bright place. The cuttings will take root. You can also swap plants. You can then exchange experiences with the other person. This creates expertise. Every gardener […]

climate change - plants - 15 - a stable location

A stable location – You will find a spot for the tomato plant somewhere. Over time, you will find out which plants are suitable for containers and where they like to grow. My cherry tomato is protected from the weather under a staircase and behind a glass wall. The plant felt at home. You could […]

climate change - plants - equipment and watering

Equipment and watering – Clay pots – Shovel – Garden gloves – Garden shears – Soap – Garden hose – Baskets – Water bucket – Watering cans – The water trough is also filled in winter. It supplies the water for the wintergarden.

climate change - plants - fertilizer 17

Care Plants that have a good location are generally healthy. For aphids, you can make a liquid from water and soft soap and treat the plants with it. You can make your own plant fertilizer from various natural substances that come as waste from the kitchen. Principle: never use chemical poisons in the garden and […]

climate change - plants - the time - nasturitum 18

The time Autumn begins in Germany in September. The light is now getting noticeably shorter. It is still warm. The seeds of the nasturtium are still green, but its flowers have already become smaller due to the decreasing light. You pick their last flowers and say goodbye to summer. Collect the green seeds of the […]

climate change - plants - 19 Rilke poem

Lord: it’s time. The summer was very great. Put your shadow on the sundials, and let the winds loose in the meadows. Command the last fruits to be full; Give them two more southern days, urge them to perfection and chase the last sweetness into the heavy wine. … Rainer Maria Rilke

climate change - plants - wintertime - 20

climate change - plants - the first citrus tree 20

The LiMa Orangerie in Berlin Kreuzberg was built between 2020 and 2023 during the coronavirus pandemic.

climate change - plants - 22 LiMa Orangerie

The orangery as a garden opportunity is a specific feature of the LiMa Wohnhof Berlin site – a social housing complex designed by the architect Herman Hertzberger in 1984. The staircases are not heated and are glazed. Technically speaking, they are cold houses that provide the ideal temperature and humidity conditions for the citrus plants. […]

climate change - plants - 23 - permeability

The citrus tree is robust in its capacity to produce fruit, but it needs protection from wind and waterlogging. Rain, on the other hand, does not harm it. The roots need constant, finely ventilated coolness. Once this has been successfully established, the tree is at peace and can grow. In summer, the ornamental lily (Agapanthus) […]

climate change - plants 24 - citrusplants -

Citrus and fig trees have permeable foliage so that light can pass through and the fruit can grow and ripen well.

climate change - plants - 25 - citrusgarden in the morning

When you step outside in the morning, you are immersed in the ethereal magic of the citrus garden, the beauty of which can hardly be surpassed.

climate change - plants - 26 - the white light of Berlin in September

While observing the weather, I had also learned that the light in Berlin is at its whitest in early September, enveloping the city as if in a fluidum. The city appears as if it were a divine gift wrapped in light, lowered directly from the infinite horizon above us.

climate change - plants - 27 - a cosmic world

You know the trees and enter into communication with them. I am then in a cosmic world with the plants and at the same time completely on my own.

climate change - LiMa Orangerie - 29

Communicative architecture enables all beings to live socially and connected to nature. In the morning and in the evening … in summer and winter

climate change - LiMa Orangerie 30 - the end of the season outdoor

In Berlin’s temperate north-eastern climate, the outdoor citrus season ends in the last week of November. Then the trees go into their winter quarters. Yuzu and Citrus lunario

climate change - LiMa Orangerie - 30 - Equipment

Equipment for the orangery The tools of the trade are modest. You need a moisture meter and a small pair of sharp secateurs for pruning the water shoots and harvesting the fruit. Snowdrop bulbs, which I bought cheaply in winter, are also stored dark and cool in this old bedside cabinet in the unheated vestibule. […]

climate change - LiMa Orangerie - 31 - a realm for dreams

You need a realm for dreaming and you can do that in the smallest of spaces, which you can always manage on the side.

climate change - LiMa Orangerie - 32 -

A sun-drenched winter garden in November is a botanical and cultural sensation. Silence reigns. The leaves unfurl. The trees soak up the light. A fly has woken up and is buzzing. Buddha’s hand and the Japanese Satsuma mandarin

climate change - plants - LiMa Orangerie - cleaning the trees - 33

The citrus harvest takes place between November and February. At the beginning of April, the trees are cleaned and pruned in their winter quarters. They remain indoors until the end of April because of the cold nights. The leaf waste is washed, dried and reused as fertilizer.

climate change - plants - 34 - das fundamentale Gesetz und die Zufälle

  The fundamental law and the coincidences When the trees emerge from their winter quarters on April 30, they stretch out towards the rain and fresh air. Their leaves expand, become plump and start to shine. Now the leaves draw in moisture from the air. It is an experience to be in this energetic space […]

climate change - LiMa Orangerie - 35

Possibilities When I bought a lemon tree by chance in 2020, I had no idea how to cultivate citrus trees. For example, I carried the tree in and out in the first spring because I thought the rain would damage it. In the meantime, however, the trees have taught me everything. In these four years […]