Filed In:
Growing Vine Plants: Choices, Design Tips
Vine plants are versatile, but also a little scary. You have to be careful with your choices, since some types are aggressive or downright invasive. That's the purpose of these articles: to help you make intelligent choices in your selection of vines. I also introduce you to the staggering potential of vine plants, which boast a diversity of uses. What other class of plant can either hug the earth as a ground cover or scale a trellis skywards?
Pictures of Vine Plants
There's a little bit of everything in this photo gallery showing some of the types of vine plants available. Kiwi is grown for its variegated leaves and is relatively uncommon in the many areas of the U.S. By contrast, morning glory is grown for its flowers and is ubiquitous in American yards! I also cover, for example, wild vines and examples of some to be avoided.
A Vine Plant for Every Landscaping Need?
Well, not quite every need. Nonetheless, the range of functions covered by vine plants is impressive. Dry, shady areas under trees are frequently a problem in landscaping. One solution is growing Vinca minor there. Or how about when you have an ugly fence you wish to camouflage? Morning glory fits the bill in full sun, climbing hydrangea in shade. Explore further possibilities in this article.
Hardy Kiwi
As the picture in my article will show, 'Arctic Beauty' kiwi's foliage isn't just variegated -- it can be tri-colored, flashing colors of pink, white and green. While we often associate a change in leaf color with the fall foliage season, note that the color display put on by these vine plants is at its height not in autumn, but in spring.
Morning Glory Flowers
Morning glory (Ipomoea tricolor) is a classic and has myriad uses. Besides disguising fences, it is a good choice for covering an arbor or for running up a lamppost or mailbox post. As an annual vine plant, it may not fill up a space as early in the season as you'd like, but the trade-off is its drop-dead beautiful flowers.
Boston Ivy
Boston ivy is so firmly associated with Ivy League colleges that I almost expect to find Latin inscriptions when I flip over the leaves to inspect the undersides! Both Boston ivy and its cousin, Virginia creeper are occasionally mistaken for poison ivy.
Climbing Hydrangea
Climbing hydrangea's chief value is as a vine plant that will tolerate shade. Among other things, this fact allows you to grow climbing hydrangea right up a tree (it will not harm the tree). However, a climbing hydrangea growing in at least partial sunlight will give you a better floral display.
Winter Jasmine
Winter jasmine vine plants can be grown in zones 6-10 and can either be trained to climb or allowed to sprawl across the earth as a groundcover. The yellow flowers of winter jasmine vine plants measure one inch across.
Chinese Wisteria
When talking "wisteria," it is important to distinguish between Chinese and American types. Chinese wisteria vine plants are beautiful but slow to flower and invasive in North America. This article tells you how to improve your chances of inducing blooming.
Sweet Autumn Clematis
Sweet autumn clematis is prolific in putting out its white, fragrant flowers in fall. Too bad that is not the only thing prolific about this vine plant. Because, unfortunately, its seedlings will pop up all over your yard. You'll have to pull them up if you don't want more autumn clematis than you already have.
English Ivy
Think ivy is ivy? Think again! Growing English ivy, a vine plant notoriously invasive in places like the Pacific Northwest, is an entirely different matter from growing Boston ivy. Even in New England, I have to keep a very close eye on English ivy lest it spread out of control.
Virginia Creeper
Virginia creeper is sometimes mis-identified as poison ivy but has "leaves of 5" rather than "leaves of 3." Bearing attractive fall foliage, this vigorous vine plant is sometimes used in the landscape; but included in this article are some of the caveats in growing Virginia creeper.
Bittersweet: Trick or Treat for Landscapers?
There are three plants called "bittersweet," and I lay out all the facts about each of the three in this piece. Oriental bittersweet is a poor choice for use in your landscaping, as it is invasive and inflicts severe damage on trees. When these vine plants coil around a tree trunk, they squeeze so hard that the disfigurement they cause remains...
Trumpet Creepers: Invasive Vine Plants
I told you to watch out for invasive vines, right? Here is yet another one. Trumpet creeper is invasive, but many are tempted to grow it because it attracts hummingbirds with its orange to salmon flowers. Personally, my choice would be to resist the temptation (take it from one who knows!).
When to Prune Clematis Vines
Growing clematis vines is pretty easy. But pruning them often causes trepidation in the greenest of green thumbs. About's Gardening Guide, Marie Iannotti calls this fear "unwarranted," however, noting that correct pruning really just comes down to knowing when your clematis blooms.