Climber plants are the perfect addition to any outdoor space needing some extra greenery. Climbing vines can help you create gardens out of vertical surfaces and soften harsh exteriors with fresh foliage. With some encouragement, you can train climbers over and around doorways, windows, trellises and walls.
But which plants are the best for this purpose?
Here is a basic guide to some of the best climbing plants to add another dimension of greenery to your outdoor space:
Bougainvillea is a tropical vine with huge clusters of vibrant flowers. You can train this plant to grow in a shrub form, but they can also produce vines up to 40 feet long when climbing structures like trellises. Bougainvillea thrives in full sun to partial shade, but will die back in colder climates if not brought indoors.
Climbing roses are shrub roses trained to grow on trellises, fences and other support structures. There are several varieties producing pink, red, white, yellow, orange or purple blooms. While these rose vines grow quickly, they do require some help to climb: simply tie the stems or canes to the structure with strips of cloth to encourage them upright.
Trumpet vine is native to the Southeastern United States, but is an invasive species in some areas due to its aggressive growth. The orange, red and yellow trumpet-shaped flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Trumpet vine grows and spreads quickly, which means you’ll want to prune it regularly to keep it under control.
Star jasmine is a perennial vine that produces fragrant flowers in the late spring to early summer. The vines are covered in long, dark leaves throughout the year, making it an attractive climbing plant to grow on fences, trellises and arbors. In cool climates, you can grow star jasmine in containers so that you can bring them indoors for the winter.
Whether you’re interested in perennial vines with showy flowers, adding sweet fragrance or merely softening your outdoor structures with plant life, these varieties of climbing plants are worth considering.
I'm John Mahan, Sales Associate with William Raveis Real Estate, Harwich Port Office.
Throughout his childhood, John Mahan spent summers on Cape Cod at his parents’ home in Dennis Port. His intro to the Cape was, as he puts it, when his parents “carried me down the stairs at Sea Street Beach when I was a week old.” With a lifelong connection to Cape Cod, it seemed only natural for John and his wife, Mary, to move to Harwich – where they still reside – with their two young children in 1996.
Prior to moving to Cape Cod, John lived in the Worcester-Auburn area where he worked for Mass Electric for 10 years and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Utility Workers. When John and his family moved to the Cape, he worked at NSTAR for six years.
John began his career in real estate in 2002 when he joined Team Waystack Realty in Harwich Port. He has been a consistent top producing realtor in the Harwich area for the past 20 years. John’s approachable demeanor, combined with an integral understanding of the Cape Cod residential real estate market, have allowed him to build trusting, long-term relationships with his clients – both sellers and buyers.
