10 Unique & Beautiful Climbing Plants For Vertical Gardens

Vertical gardening is one of the most amazing and old trends. This involves using a variety of trailing or climbing plants to decorate fences, trellis, or other structures in a garden. These climbing plants not only beautify your garden but also help in creating privacy and attract many pollinators.

Climbing or trailing plants can decorate gardens in many different ways such as ground covers or hanging baskets. However, you’ll need to carefully select the plant variety as many plants have different climbing or trailing abilities.

So, to help you select the right type of climbing plants and how to use them in your gardens we brought this complete guide on 10 Unique & Beautiful Climbing Plants.

What are Climbing Plants?

Climber plants feature soft and delicate stems that spread and grow larger than most other plants. These stems produce small leaflets and with a little extra care, these plants can also produce beautiful and vibrant flowers.

Climbing house plants have vertical growth but due to the soft and weak stems, they require support to remain standing like sticks, mesh wire, etc. You can also train these plants to climb over different garden structures such as walls, pillars, fences, and more.

There is also a common confusion between Climbers and Creeper plants and the difference between them is pretty basic. Creeper plants grow horizontally while climbers grow vertically—other than that these plants have the same growing conditions and plant care needs.

Types of Climbing Plants

Several different types of climbing plants are categorized based on their growing and trailing patterns –

• Self-climbers – These climbing plants don’t need any support to grow along a surface. Self-climber plants use aerial roots or adhesive pads on the foliage to cling to any surface and grow accordingly.
• Twiners – These types of climbing house plants wrap their stems around the surface they are growing along.
• Scramblers – Scramblers feature stiff stems often with thorns so it is suggested to tie these plants to the surface you want them to grow along.

Different plants can be grown in a garden to fill it with a variety of foliage. You can also design with these plants to create different themes in your vertical garden.

10 Best Climbing Plants

Star Jasmine

These climbing plants have delicate white flowers with a sweet scent. These are fast-growing perennials, however, they take a few years to reach their growing pace. These plants thrive in full sun and look great on fences. The Star Jasmine isn’t a real jasmine but an evergreen variant that produces similar white flowers.

• • Plant Care – Full sun, well-drained and moist soil.
  • Plant Size – 3-6 feet tall and wide.

Wisteria

With their showy long and drooping clusters of fragrant flowers, these climbing house plants are sure to create an attractive display in your gardens. These beautiful flowers come in shades of blue, purple, pink, and white. Wisteria are also cold-hardy, but these are fast-growing perennial plants that can spread quickly so make sure you give them enough space.

• • • Plant Care – Full sun, well-drained soil.
    • Plant Size – 15-25 feet tall, 4-8 feet wide.

Black-Eyed Susan

One of the most popular tropical plants, Black-eyed Susan is known for their very attractive yellow flowers with a dark center and lush green foliage. These plants look good in hanging baskets, pots, or growing over a trellis. Black-eyed Susan is a fast-growing and low-maintenance plant. These are considered small climbing house plants as they grow only 3 to 8 feet tall. However, they are one of the most attractive trailing plants.

• • • Plant Care – Full or partial shade, well-drained loamy soil.
    • Plant Size – 3-8 feet tall, 3-6 feet wide.

Honeysuckle

The beautiful tube-shaped flowers of these climbing plants go very well on any garden structure. Many pollinators such as hummingbirds and butterflies get attracted to the red, pink, white, or blue flowers of Honeysuckle. You can also choose from many varieties of these plants, however, make sure to select the right variety for your garden as some are considered invasive and can take over the entire space. Moreover, depending on the variety these plants can be deciduous or evergreen.

• • • Plant Care – Partial shade to full sun, well-drained nutrient-rich soil.
    • Plant Size – 10-20 feet tall, 3-6 feet wide.

Bougainvillea

These climbing house plants are known for their papery flowers, which come in shades of purple, red, magenta, orange, and more. The thorny vines of these plants can grow large under full sun. Moreover, Bougainvillea can also be grown to fill your garden as ground cover, Different varieties of these plants come in different sizes, however, all of them require support to grow.

• • • Plant Care – Full sun and well-drained soil.
    • Plant Size – 15-40 feet tall.

Climbing Roses

Many varieties of roses such as The American Beauty Rose are beautiful flowering plants. These plants don’t grow as compared to other climbing house plants, however, they can easily brighten up garden fences or small trellises. Furthermore, climbing roses grow repeatedly throughout the season, and their blooms come in shades of red, pink, yellow, and white.

• • • Plant Care – Full sun and consistently moist, well-drained soil.
    • Plant Size – 10-15 feet tall, 5-8 feet tall.

Passion Flowers

These climbing house plants are very easy to grow and spread quickly. The unique flowers of these plants are sure to make an attractive display in your vertical gardens. You can choose from several varieties of passion flowers as they come in about every color, and many are scented. Moreover, some varieties also produce edible fruits.

• • • Plant Care – Full sun to partial shade, rich and well-draining soil.
    • Plant Size – 10-30 feet tall, 3-6 feet tall.

Clematis

Known for their large and showy flowers, Clematis are popular climbing plants that come in several varieties. These can be categorized based on color, size, and type of flowers. The flowers of these climbing house plants can be single, semi-double, or double. Moreover, different varieties of Clematis have different bloom times. These plants can look great on any structure as they wrap their leaf stalks around the structure to climb.

• • • Plant Care – Full sun, well-draining loamy soil.
    • Plant Size – 3-30 feet tall depending on the variety.

Mandevilla

The big vibrant and trumpet-shaped flowers of these plants bloom from late spring to fall. The red, pink, and white flowers of Mandevilla attract many pollinators such as hummingbirds and bees. These plants grow quickly but don’t spread wide. The vibrant blooms and dark lush foliage of these climbing house plants are perfect for creating an accent in your vertical garden.

• • • Plant Care – Full sun or partial shade, moist and well-drained soil.
    • Plant Size – 3-10 feet tall, 20 feet wide.

Cypress Vine

These fast-growing climbing plants are known for their delicate tubular flowers that come in colors such as red and pink along with fern-like leaves. The unique foliage of these plants is perfect for many vertical gardens. Moreover, the flowers attract pollinators such as hummingbirds. These annual plants do well in full sun.

• • • Plant Care – Full sun, moist and well-drained soil.
    • Plant Size – 6-15 feet tall, 3-6 feet wide.

How To Choose The Right Climbing Plants?

Several factors are involved in choosing the right climbing plants for your vertical gardens. Such as –

• • • Climate – One of the most important factors that can affect your selection of plants is your local climate. Some climbing house plants are well-suited for warmth while others thrive in colder climates.
    • Soil Quality – The type and quality of the soil also plays an important role in selecting the right climbing plants. Most climbers prefer rich well-draining soil while many plants are adaptable and can grow in any type of soil.
    • Space – It is really important to know the growth habits of climbing plants as these plants require enough space to grow and thrive. This requirement varies depending on the plant you select. So make sure you get only the plants that can grow in the space you can provide for them.
    • Theme & Appearance – Lastly, the plants you are selecting should settle well with the theme of your garden if you have any. Moreover, you need to make sure that the plants you select are not invasive and don’t take over your garden.

Each climbing plant has specific needs that you should be able to fulfill only then you can choose to grow those plants in your vertical garden.

How To Care For Climbing Plants?

Each climbing plant has different care requirements, however, there are some common things that you should keep in mind for maintaining these plants in your garden.

• Provide Support – Each climbing plant needs a support structure to grow. These structures should be big and sturdy enough to hold the weight of the plants and provide them enough space to spread.
• Watering – Climbing house plants require regular watering. These plants should not experience any prolonged dry spells, and young climbers require more frequent watering.
• Pruning – Many climbers can grow quickly and can spread wide. Therefore, to control their growth you need to frequently prune these plants. Moreover, it also helps in removing any dead or decayed parts of the plants.
• Training – Another important step in caring for climbing plants is training them. To control the growth of these plants you’ll need to direct them along the structure they are growing on. This also helps in shaping the plants.
• Pests and Disease – Climber plants aren’t susceptible to any specific plant disease or pest problems. However, you should regularly monitor the health of your plants and look out for any symptoms. Use natural remedies such as neem oil to treat your plants.

Conclusion

So these are some of the important things that you need to know about climbing plants. Moreover, you can select the right plant for your vertical garden from the list mentioned in the article. Make sure to research the needs of the plants you select and if you can provide them to ensure healthy plant growth.