Climbing plants ideal for pergolas
In case of climbers, it matters whether your pergola is directly in the sunlight, or in semi-shade. A sunny place will be ideal for grape vine, climbing rose, wisteria, morning glory, and trumpet vine. Shade will be welcome by birthwort and ivy, half-shade will fit hydrangea, clematis, firethorn, honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, and spindle.
Species of climbing plants
- climbing woody species – low-maintenance, usually do not grow to a great height
- twining plants – they ideally twine on columns or other vertical elements
- climbing woody species with tendrils – the tendrils tend to grow wide, so a dense wire mesh or a sturdy structure with horizontal wires is the most suitable for them
- woody species with holdfast roots – can catch on a completely smooth surface and grow over large areas, but can also grow into the plaster
Flowering, or non-flowering climbing plants?
Most climbing plants bloom, adorning the pergola or another structure with distinctive flowers and pleasant smell. But there are also climbers with small, discrete flowers, the best-known being ivy, birthwort and woodbine.
Do you want to harvest tasty fruits on your pergola? Try bean, caigua, grape vine, or Actinidia arguta (kiwiberry).
Fast-growing climbing plants
Almost all climbers grow relatively fast, the record holders being scarlet runner bean, grass pea, nasturtium, and black bindweed. Large areas can be covered with silver lace vine.
Perennial and annual plants for flower boxes
Flower boxes on the pergola floor can contain the same plants as flower boxes for windows and terraces. If you want colourful flowers, plant “Million Bells”, petunia, and creeping zinnias. Peculiar ornamental colourful leaves can be found on coleus (painted nettle). You don’t have to worry what to do with empty flower boxes over the winter – plant perennials in them, like hosta, elephant-eared saxifrage, and houseleek.
Instead of flower boxes, plant unconventional containers – wheelbarrow, old enamelled colanders, wooden troughs, or old rubber boots.
Hanging plants for pergolas
The most rewarding plants for hanging baskets are geranium, lobelia, petunia, begonia, and fuchsia. Hanging plants adorn the pergola primarily in the first years, when the climbing plants have not covered a sufficiently large part of its area.
Vertical garden in a pergola
If your pergola is anchored in a wall (such as MIRA 2), you can add a vertical garden to it in addition to the climbers and flower boxes. The “wall gardens” can be ornamental, but also kitchen gardens – and you can pick strawberries, tomatoes, peas, lettuce, or herbs directly from the wall. You can use special boxes for your vertical garden, or build your own structure using an old wooden pallet, for instance.
Plants around the pergola
You can plant shrubs around and in front of the pergola. They will provide privacy without loading the pergola structure. Pleasant smell and views of beautiful flowers will be brought by lilac, rose, mock-orange, or buddleja. An “edible” hedge can be formed by chokeberry, shadbush, honeysuckle, dogwood, sea buckthorn, and jostaberry. In autumn, small birds will appreciate the berries of rowan, hawthorn, and privet. Another possibility is surrounding the pergola by ornamental grass, lavender, and hydrangea.
In the winter, your garden can be livened up by red dogwood, whose red branches are in stark contrast to the snow cover.
