Select the Right Support for Vines

Reduce heating and cooling costs, soften harsh structural features, or mask unsightly views while adding beauty to the landscape with flowering vines.
Select a vine suited to the growing conditions and your landscape design. Then provide a sturdy support that the vine is able to climb.

Clinging vines, like climbing hydrangeas need rough surfaces for their root-like holdfasts to attach to and climb. They can damage wooden structures and make repair and routine maintenance of wood and siding difficult.

Twining vines, like clematis and honeysuckle, need some sort of structure for the twining stems or petioles to attach to and climb. You may need to initially secure the vine to the support.

Proper pruning from a young age and as needed throughout the vine’s lifetime can encourage leafy stems from tip to ground and increase flowering.

A bit more information: Consider planting an annual vine with your perennial vine for cover and flowers the first season. As the perennial vine covers the support you may choose to let it shine alone or continue adding annual vines to extend the floral display.