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 DESIGN ELEMENTS

Climbing Plants An Introduction-Why Use Climbers?

Pandorea jasminoides photo M Cannon

Pandorea pandorana

With so many gardens decreasing in size don’t forget to make the most out of your vertical planes.  The walls of the house, ugly boundary fences, posts on your pergolas, decking balustrades or even the letterbox can act as a support for climbers or surfaces for the climbers to grab on to. 

Allowing some greenery to cover these surfaces will give your garden another dimension.

Do you realise that you can stuff heaps of these types of plants into the smallest of gardens and have something in flower for most of the year.

We’re talking climbing plants in this new series.

So how do plants climb?

Let’s find out. I'm talking with Glenice Buck, Consulting Arborist and Landscape Designer.

Ever thought about why plants climb and where they came from?

Climbing plants originate in rainforests and started life on the forest floor.

As rainforests developed a thicker canopy there was less and less light that reached the forest floor so that plants gradually evolved ways to climb up towards the sunlight. Here’s an amazing fact, 90% of the world’s vines (climbing plants) grow in tropical rainforests



Pandorea jasminoides needs a strong supporting structure. photo M Cannon

What You Need To Consider When Using Climbing Plants

What type of climber will be able to climb on the structure you want to use? Do I need a twiner, a scrambler, one with aerial roots or one with far reaching tendrils?  The answers to these questions will be determined by the materials the structure is made out of