Climbing plants serve multiple purposes in gardens, enhancing aesthetics while providing practical benefits like privacy or camouflage.
These versatile and often fast-growing plants, are resilient and adaptable, thriving in diverse environments ranging from garden beds to compact pots. Some varieties can even flourish without the need for trellises or support wires.
Despite their rapid growth, it’s crucial to select climbing plants carefully, considering their maintenance requirements and potential for causing damage. For example, while bougainvillea boasts striking beauty, its stems have sharp thorns. Similarly, passion fruit vines, though known for their beautiful flowers, can overrun gardens if left unchecked.
The top 8 climbing plants in New Zealand
1. Chinese Star Jasmine
Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) is a heavily fragrant climbing plant that bears delicate white flowers. Jasmine plants can be weedy; keep them under control with ruthless pruning. As the flowers fade, trim over the plant to remove the spent flowers.
Best for: Covering walls and pergolas, or as a flowering groundcover
Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: 30 – 90cm per year
2. Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea is a hardy, sun-loving, fast-growing scrambling climber that will provide a pretty pop of colour against a back fence or garden shed. Bougainvilleas come in a range of colours — orange, pink, purple, red, yellow, and white — and sizes, from dwarf to rampant, so make sure to check at the nursery.
Best for: Along fences or in pots
Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: Up to 2m per year
3. Boston ivy
Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), also called Japanese Ivy, is a voluptuous, deciduous climber that will grow freely to camouflage a shed, garage or tank. It doesn’t require a trellis and can cover bare courtyard fences or garden walls turning your backyard into a gorgeous green oasis. Turning a bright reddish-purple colour in autumn, it’s technically part of the grape family so tends not to be as invasive as other ivy varieties.
Best for: Covering fences and walls
Sun/Shade: Full sun/ part shade
When to plant: Late spring / early summer
How fast it grows: 1 – 3m per year
4. Passionfruit vines
Passionfruit vines are an ideal climber that also serves a double purpose as an edible plant in your garden. There are many varieties to choose from, including Yellow Giant, Panama Gold, Panama Red and Nellie Kelly. Passionfruit vines do best in warm areas and produce glossy green leaves and the most incredible shaggy-looking purple and white flowers.
(For alternative edible climbers, you could go retro with a choko vine. Seasonal veggies that work well to cover a wall include climbing spinach, peas and snow peas, beans and cucumbers.)
Best for: Growing on trellises, pergolas and in pots, and for producing edible fruit
Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: 3 – 4m per year
5. Wisteria
Wisteria sinenses and Wisteria floribunda are the most commonly grown varieties in New Zealand. Wisteria is a classic climber that produces thick trunks adorned with pretty perfumed purple flowers that hang down when draped across a patio roof or passageway. Being deciduous, wisteria provides summer shade and winter sun.
Best for: Growing over pergolas or along verandahs
Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: Up to 3m per year
6. Mandevillas
Mandevillas produce a series of pink and red flowers, thrive in large pots, and bear masses of trumpet blooms most of the year. This fast-growing climber is commonly found in tropical and sub-tropical style gardens but can be grown all around New Zealand’s North Island, and northern parts of the South Island.
Best for: Growing on trellis or frames
Sun/Shade: Full sun / part sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: Up to 2.5m per year
7. Hardenbergia
Hardenbergia (Hardenbergia spp.), also known as Purple Coral Pea, is a heavily flowering Australian native climber that will bring a burst of colour, along with birds, bees and other insects to your garden, year-round. It will quickly (even faster than Jasmine) climb over fences, and sheds, or can be trained to trail along a trellis. It’s a very low-maintenance climbing plant, with the most common varietal being the Hardenbergia violacea ‘Happy Wanderer’.
Best for: Growing on trellis, fence or walls
Sun/Shade: Full sun / part sun
When to plant: Late winter
How fast it grows: Up to 2.5m per year
8. Pandorea
Pandorea (Pandorea jasminoides) is another Australian native climbing plant that produces an abundance of pretty trumpet-shaped flowers from spring through to autumn. There are a range of different varietals that produce slightly different shades of flowers, but its rapid growth makes it a particularly popular climbing plant.
Best for: Climbing along trellis or fences
Sun/Shade: Full sun / part sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: Grow up to 5m
What are the best shade-loving climbing plants?
Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) is the best choice for shady fences. Other shade-loving creepers are climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris), creeping fig and ivy. When planting a climber, it’s important to consider how much sun or shade they will receive. Sun-loving climbers in shady spots will bolt to the top in search of the sun and can leave your fence looking bare.
What are the best sun-loving climbing plants?
If you want to cover a fence that gets full sun for most of the day, you’ll need a climber that can withstand the harsh rays and heat. Some popular sun-loving climbing plants include bougainvillea, passionfruit flower, common jasmine, Dipladenia (Mandevilla Boliviensis), and orange trumpet creeper (Pyrostegia venusta).
What climbing plant grows the fastest?
Crimson glory vines (Vitis coignetiae) are an excellent option for times when you need an extremely fast-growing creeper or climber to hide a wall or other eyesore in the garden. Other fast-growing alternatives include Bower of beauty vine (Pandorea jasminoides) which has trumpet-shaped blooms, commonly available in pink flowers with a crimson throat.
What is the best-scented climbing plant?
Consider lemon-scented jasmine (Jasminum azoricum) or climbing bauhinia (Bauhinia corymbosa) for perfumed climbing plants. Both are perfect for warm areas, but beware, they are not frost-tolerant. To clothe an outdoor pavilion or pagoda, try chocolate-scented Akebia quinata, fragrant white bridal wreath (Stephanotis) or yellow Carolina jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens).
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