Versatility is the trademark of vines. If you haven’t included vines in your landscape, you are missing the benefits of natures most versatile plant. Draping gracefully from a garden arbor, twisting and twining up a trellis, spilling over a wall or used as living screens along a chain link fence, they offer it all. Those selected for their ability to provide wildlife food do double duty in the landscape.
Basic Information Vines are available for most any region and condition. Sun, shade, sandy soil or clay, you can find a suitable specimen. Their uses seem infinite, limited only by the homeowners imagination. They make excellent screens and can define garden rooms. Use flowering specimens to create a stately entrance arbor or brighten an existing entry. Bare walls will come alive when vines are trained against them. They will provide shade for the backyard pergola or perhaps a swing. Vines soften hard edges and give the landscape a mature appearance, even in infancy. Any barren vertical space is an ideal candidate for a twining specimen.
Vines range from woody vines, such as wisterias and grapes to ivies, climbing roses, and annual and perennial specimens. Morning glories, clematis and vegetable vines, such as peas and beans are well known. Native vines such as passion flower and honey suckle are common here in the south. Many common plants now have cultivars offering trailing, vine like habitats, including Climbing Hydrangea, Blackeyed Susan vine and Rosemary Irene.
Vines Beneficial to Wildlife Let’s look at those specimens most beneficial to wildlife. Woodbines, deciduous woody vines are excellent choices, two most commonly known are Virginia Creeper and Boston Ivy. Woodbines are easy to grow and hardy in zones 4-8. Virginia creeper, which sadly is commonly mistaken for poison ivy in the wild, has proven a bird favorite in our landscape. Virginia creeper bears fruit that is known to attract more than 40 bird species according to popular birding publications. This vine offers a dazzling red fall color. Virginia creeper can be distinguished from poison ivy by its five leaves, not three. This beauty does well in shade or sun. Boston Ivy, with its maple shaped deep green leaves also provides blue-black berries favored by birds. Boston Ivy is the most commonly seen ivy adorning college campuses and stately homes. It is often a preferred choice for accenting brick walls. Boston Ivy.
 Trumpet honeysuckle , an evergreen, offers a showy bloom that provides nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies. Bright red berries appear in the fall after bloom ceases. It’s dense evergreen habitat, often reaching lengths of 20 feet per tendril, also provides cover throughout the seasons. Most homeowners immediately call to mind the prolific and invasive Japanese honeysuckle. However, there are many non invasive species of honeysuckles to choose from, such as Gold flame, Browns and Tatarian. Each of these is suited for zones 3-9. Where as we have an abundance of the Japanese variety in our landscape, we have chosen to let select vines grow along fences and arbors. This is a high maintenance choice for us. However, we feel worth it. It is a main forage plant of not only our birds in winter, but whitetail deer. The birds eat the blackened berries, the deer the foilage. We have also transplanted native trumpet vines under attack by their aggressive cousin as well.
Edible Vines Probably the most overlooked vines in the landscape are those providing edible human consumption. Yes, vegetable and fruiting vines once banished to the vegetable garden are enjoying new appreciation in other landscape uses. Homeowners with small spaces long ago discovered the beauty and diversity of mixing the traditional vegetable garden vines in with flowering vines, shrubs, borders, containers and elsewhere. Sweet potato vines are excellent in hanging baskets, scarlet runner and other pole beans complement climbing roses. Melons can add whimsy to a less formal border, and so on. So be creative and sow a few vertical fruits and vegetables specifically for wildlife within your landscape.
An absolutely wonderful vine for wildlife and the homeowner is the grape vine. Early settlers to America discovered wild grapes growing profusely. These grapes, called muscadines here in the south, have a strong, sweet flavor and tough skins that slip off to reveal the decadent flesh. Fortunately for us, there are now many cultivars of American, European and combinations of the two available to us. Grapes are excellent for arbors, chain link fences and pergolas, but are even better when given their own domain. If you have the space, consider installing a vineyard in a sunny location of your yard. Grape species are available for most every hardiness zone. Only those in the deep south have limitations on cultivar selection. To learn more on grapes and creating a vineyard, go here.
Flowering Vines Want a showy and fragrant climber? Flowering vines, such as roses, clematises, jessamines and jasmines meet the bill. Native Carolina Jessamine produces showy yellow flowers in early spring and is semi evergreen here in the south. Confederate jasmine blooms prolifically with small extremely fragrant white flowers in spring and sporadically thereafter until frost. Each of these are best suited to southern locals, zones 6-9. Clematis is a perennial or woody vine. Most are deciduous. Many are familiar with the large leaved purple species, known as Jackmanii growing along rural mailbox post. The beauty in clematises beyond their flowers is the versatility of bloom times offered. Armand clematis is a true evergreen with fragrant white star blooms in late spring. Armand thrives in zones 3-8. Sweet Autumn clematis offer fragrant white blooms in the fall, August through October in zones 6-8. Golden clematis offers nodding yellow flowers June through July in zones 2-8. Many other cultivars exist to serve the garden almost year round. Clematis’s only requirement is that the roots be kept cool, via heavy mulch or shade from supporting plants. Hummingbirds and honey bees will visit clematises, and other birds benefit from their cover.
 Roses of course are always a fragrant show stopper. Vigorous climbers such as the thorn less Lady Banks, are carefree. Others producing canes of 10 -20 feet can be attached easily to trellises and other structures. Species such as Dortmund offer food via rose hips in the winter as well as provide cover with their prickly presence. Arbors covered in the very fragrant, pink blossoms of New Dawn delight. Roses offer over 200 plus species, of which a considerable number are climbers. A rose can be found suited to any climate or hardiness zone with a little research. Special note: If like us, you seek to attract wildlife in addition to birds and butterflies, plant roses in a secured area. Whitetail deer favor roses tremendously and will forage them heavily prior to your enjoyment.
Conclusion Vines are typically low maintenance and easily trained. Remove dead wood from them any time to spruce up their appearance. They require little to no fertilization,with exception of roses. Only grapes and wisteria require annual pruning to keep in check. The aggressive, invasive, non native, Japanese honeysuckle, requires consistent pruning throughout the season and is best avoided. Never purposely plant this variety, too many other favorable selections are available.
Whether you are looking to complement a lamp post or mailbox, accent a balcony or cover an arbor, vines are the dependable choice. You and your feathered friends will enjoy them many years to come. The right selections offer more and more every year of their maturity.
For more information on using vines and other wildlife friendly plants in the landscape, see our garden plans in the Plans and Tips section.
|
