Climbers

About

Climbing plants earn more cover per dollar than anything else in the nursery, using a fence or wall you already own instead of garden space. This range runs from self clinging climbing fig to fragrant star jasmine, flowering bougainvillea and white wisteria, over 80 climbers in all. The real choice is how the plant attaches and how much vigour you can manage: some cling politely, some need wires, and a few will swallow a weak pergola. Self clinging, twining or scrambling: how a climber attaches Match the plant to the surface before you think about flowers. Self clinging types such as climbing fig ( Ficus pumila ) and Boston ivy grip masonry with no wires at all, which makes them the answer for bare block walls, but their pads and rootlets can mark render and paint, so keep them off soft surfaces. Twiners, including star jasmine , pink jasmine and the native pandoreas, need something to wrap around: tensioned wire, mesh or a trellis. Scramblers like bougainvillea hold on loosely and need tying in while young. Vigour is the trade-off that matters A fast climbing plant never stops being fast. White Chinese wisteria ( Wisteria sinensis 'Alba') will cover 8m but demands a genuinely strong pergola and two prunings a year, and the thornless banksia rose spreads past 4m if left alone. If you have a courtyard rather than a farmhouse, scale down: a dipladenia stays under 2m on a small trellis, and the native Hardenbergia 'Sea of Purple' climbs to about 2m then stops. Buy the vigour you are prepared to prune. Where climbing plants work around Australia In tropical and subtropical gardens, bougainvillea, orange trumpet vine, stephanotis and passionfruit all thrive, though passionfruit needs a warm frost free spot to fruit well. In cooler southern gardens, work from the frost hardy list: star jasmine, pink jasmine, banksia rose, wisteria and Boston ivy, whose autumn colour is the best of any climber. Coastal gardens are well served by bougainvillea, climbing fig, star jasmine an