Looking for a way to decorate a fence, create
privacy, complement a good architectural feature (or hide a bad one), or
break a monotonous corner? Climbing vines, which have a large effect on a
landscape but use a only small amount of ground space, could be your
answer.
Their diversity of leaves, flowers, fruit, and
structure makes vines exciting, and they should be considered an integral
part of the landscape. The best thing about vines, though, is they are easy
to grow, colorful, interesting, and fun, and they make nice fast-growing
screens.
Vines are opportunistic plants with long flexible
stems that typically rely on neighboring plants and other structures for
support. Vines can provide shade, and many have colorful, interesting, and
often fragrant flowers. Often they’re attractive to birds, and, if
used as ground cover, they can help control erosion.
You’ve got a wide range of choices for
structures to support your vines: a pergola or arbor, a trellis set 12 to
18 inches from the wall of the building, pillars linked by ropes, a fence,
an arch framing an entryway to a garden, barrels, tree stumps. Structures
may be made of wood, metal or plastic; the best types of wood to use for
support structures are redwood, cedar, and cypress. Make sure that the
support is strong enough to hold the weight of a mature vine.
Different vines attach themselves in several ways:
¥ Aerial
rootlets, which don’t penetrate but secrete a cementlike material
that helps them adhere to the surface, grow best on brick, block, and
coarse bark or wood surfaces. English ivy and climbing hydrangea are
examples of this kind of vine.
¥ Some
vines climb with the use of tendrils — thin wirelike appendages,
often with disk-shaped pads at their tips. Tendrils either wrap around
their support or, if they have disks, secrete that cementlike material we
discussed earlier, helping them stick to the surface. Usually tendrils are
formed on the shady sides of the leaves. Plants with tendrils attach well
to chain-link fences, metal-sculpted supports, and trellises. Tendrils with
disks they cling well to brick, block, coarse bark, and other smooth or
coarse surfaces. Grapevines, Boston ivy, Virginia creeper, and sweet pea
are examples of vines with tendrils.
¥ Twiners
are vines whose stems spiral around their base of support. They’re
good for covering chain-link fences, trellises, poles, tripods, and trees
with thin trunks. Twiners will not ascend the trunks of large trees. They
either spiral clockwise or counterclockwise, although about 5 percent of
species don’t show a clear direction). Examples include wisteria,
bittersweet, honeysuckle, and Dutchman’s pipe.
There are many types of vines, differing in size,
growth habits, means of attachment, leaf and flower characteristics, and
blooming season. Some are slow growers that need help to get started;
others take off at warp speed.
Every yard needs at least one vine. For more
information, attend the University of Illinois Extension’s program on
May 3 or 5 (see sidebar), or visit North Carolina State University’s
Web page on vines,
www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/hortinternet/vines.html.
Credit for information used in this article goes to
Greg Stack, a horticulture educator with University of Illinois Extension.
Vine time
Vines offer an exciting diversity of leaves, flowers,
fruit, and structure that can add a new dimension to your garden.
The Sangamon-Menard unit of the University of Illinois
Extension will offer “Climbers and Twiners: Vines for the Home
Garden” at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, and again at 7 p.m. Thursday, May
5.
Join Greg Stack, horticulture educator, as he explains
how these versatile plants can add a whole different look to even small
gardens. You’ll leave knowing what to look for in vines and how to
care for them.
The program will be held at the U of I Extension
Building, on the Illinois State Fairgrounds. To reserve a seat and obtain a
packet of information, call 217-782-4617. There is a $2 fee.
“Vines for the Home Garden” is the latest
installment in the U of I Extension’s “Four Seasons”
telenet series.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2005.
