Designing with Vines

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Vines create tremendous vertical effects while using little horizontal space. They can be an asset to a garden’s color, texture, and form.

If a garden is small, with a lot of wall or other vertical space, vines become an important design element.

Vines can complement architecture or other hardscape in a garden or landscape.

Vines can soften hardscape or serve as a transition between a building or other built elements in the design and the planted landscape.

Vines can also hide hardscape such as fences or walls.

What vines can do

Here are a few reasons to use vines in a garden design:

• Vines can complement a building by adding texture and color.
• Vines can be used to frame a doorway or window.
• Vines can be used on an arbor to frame a garden entrance.
• Vines can provide shade when climbing up and over a pergola or overhead garden structure.
• Vines can soften, camouflage, or hide a fence or wall.

How to choose a vine

Here are some considerations when selecting a vine or climbing plant for your garden design:

• What color are the foliage and flowers? When does it flower?
• How tall does it grow? Some vines can grow to 30 feet or more.
• What kind of support does it need? Some vines become woody and heavy as they mature and require solid permanent support.
• Does the plant need sun or shade?
• Is the plant annual or perennial?
• Is the plant evergreen or deciduous? Can it survive cold winter temperatures where you live?
• What are the plant’s soil and water requirements?
• What is the plant’s climbing habit? Does it climb using tendrils that can wrap around a trellis or stake? Does the plant use stickfasts or aerial roots to attach itself to a wall? Stickfasts can be hard to remove when it comes time for painting.
• Will it reseed?

Vines for arbors and trellises

Common Name	Botanical Name	Zones
Black-eyed Susan vine	Thunbergia alata	Annual
Chocolate vine	Akebia quinata	5-9
Clematis	Clematis spp.	3-9
Jessamine, Carolina	Gelsemium sempervirens	7-9
Morning glory	Ipomoea tricolor	Annual
Moonflower	Ipomoea alba	Annual
Passion flower	Passiflora spp.	7-10
Roses, climbing	Rosa spp.	Variety
Jasmine, star	Trachelospermum jasminoides	8-10
Sweet pea	Lathyrus odoratus	Annual
Trumpet honeysuckle	Lonicera sempervirens	4-9

Vines by height

Common Name	Botanical Name	Zone
Small (10 feet and under)
Black-eyed Susan vine	Thunbergia alata	To 10’
Clematis, large flowered	Clematis spp.	To 10’
Jasmine, star	Tracelospermum jasminoides	To 6’
Nasturtium	Tropaeolum majus	To 10’
Bean, scarlet runner	Phaseolus coccineus	To 10’
Sweet pea	Lathyrus odoratus	To 8’
Sweet potato vine	Ipomoea batatas	To 8’
Medium (10-20 feet)
Cardinal climber	Ipomoea x sloteri	To 20’
Carolina jasmine	Gelsemium sempervirens	To 20’
Hyacinth bean	Lablab purpureus	To 20’
Moonflower	Ipomoea alba	To 20’
Morning glory	Ipomoea tricolor	To 20’
Night blooming jasmine	Cestrum nocturnum	To 12’
Pink Jasmine	Jasminum polyanthum	To 20’
Roses, climbing	Rosa spp.	To 20’
Star jasmine	Trachelospermum jasminoides	To 15’
Tall (20 feet or more)
Bittersweet, American	Celastrus scandens	To 25’
Euonymus, wintercreeper	Euonymus fortunei	To 40’
Hydrangea, climbing	Hydrangea anomala	To 80’
Ivy, English	Hedera helix	To 50’
Firethorn	Pyracantha coccinea	To 15’
Honeysuckles	Lonicera spp.	To 30’
Sliver lace vine	Polygonum aubertii	To 30’
Trumpet creeper	Campis radicans	To 40’
Virginia creeper	Parthenocissus quinquefolia	To 50’
Wisteria	Wisteria spp.	To 30’