Plant group
Eleven climbers with the support each one needs, how they attach, where to stop them, and when to prune so you do not lose the flowering.
Last reviewed 12 March 2027
Climbers give you cover in a plane rather than a volume, which makes them the most space-efficient plants in a small garden. They are also the group most often planted without a plan for how they will be held up, where they will stop, and who will cut them back. A climber with no defined limit becomes a roof problem within five years.
There are three mechanisms in this group, and they need different structures.
Twiners wind their stems around something thin. Hardenbergia, both Pandorea species, star jasmine, Kennedia rubicunda and passionfruit all work this way. They need wire, mesh, or a trellis with members no thicker than about 20 mm; they cannot grip a flat wall or a wide post. Run horizontal wires at 300 to 400 mm spacing, held about 50 mm off the wall face on spacers so air moves behind the plant and the wall stays dry.
Tendril climbers such as grapevine and Clematis aristata grip with modified shoots and need something fine to catch. Wire and mesh both work. They will not climb a smooth post or a rendered wall.
Self-clingers attach directly with adhesive pads. Boston ivy is the example here. It needs no structure at all on sound masonry, which is its great advantage, but the pads mark paint and render and it should be kept off timber cladding, painted surfaces and anything requiring maintenance access.
Scramblers such as Hibbertia scandens and Rosa banksiae have no attachment mechanism whatsoever. They lean, and they need tying in if you want them upright. Both work beautifully cascading down a wall or bank instead, which is usually the better use of them.
A mature climber is heavy, especially when wet, and the load runs downwards on whatever holds it. A pergola carrying a mature Pandorea pandorana or grapevine needs proper structural posts and beams, not a light garden frame; the heaviest vines will pull an under-built structure apart over a decade. Size the frame for the plant at ten years, not at planting.
Fix wires with proper eye bolts into masonry or into timber framing, not into render or mortar joints. Tension them. Slack wires sag under load and let the plant lean out from the wall, at which point wind gets behind it and the whole planting comes away in one piece.
Decide this before planting and enforce it every year. The three places a climber must not reach are the gutter line, the roof space and any surface that needs painting. Growth that gets into a gutter blocks it and holds moisture against the fascia; growth that reaches roof tiles lifts them and gets under them.
The practical rule is to keep the top of the planting at least 500 mm below the gutter, and to cut it back to that line once a year at the appropriate season for the species. On a pergola, keep growth clear of the outer 300 mm of the beam so the structure can be inspected and maintained.
The rule is the same as for shrubs, and getting it wrong costs a whole season's flowers. Species that flower in late winter and spring — Hardenbergia, Pandorea pandorana, Clematis aristata, Rosa banksiae — carry their buds on wood made the previous season. Prune them immediately after flowering finishes, and never in winter. A winter prune on Rosa banksiae removes the entire display, which is the most common climbing rose mistake in the country.
Species that flower on new season's growth — passionfruit, Pandorea jasminoides in warm districts, star jasmine to a degree — can be cut back in late winter before growth starts. Grapevine is pruned hard in winter back to a permanent framework of arms, leaving short spurs.
Whatever the species, thin rather than shear. Take whole stems out at their origin to open the interior. Shearing a climber produces a dense outer shell over a mass of dead twiggy growth, which holds moisture against the wall and provides nothing but weight.
Plant climbers 300 to 450 mm out from the base of the wall or fence, not hard against it. The strip immediately at the base of a wall is the driest ground in a garden: it sits in the rain shadow of the eaves, and footings take moisture from it. Plant into that strip and the vine struggles for years with no obvious cause. Lean the plant towards the support and tie the first shoots in.
Mulch the root zone and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Water deeply through the first two summers. Most climbers are naturally fast once established, and a slow first two years almost always means dry roots rather than a poor plant.
The figures below are height of growth and spread across a support at maturity, in open ground in average conditions.
Hardenbergia violacea
Light twiner smothered in purple pea flowers through late winter, ideal on a wire fence, a low balustrade or a mesh panel. It is too slight to fill a pergola and will look sparse if asked to. Tolerates dry sites once established and needs only a light trim after flowering.
Zones: temperate, subtropical, arid
Pandorea jasminoides
Glossy warm-climate twiner with large pink or white trumpet flowers through spring and summer, and the standard pergola climber in the tropics and subtropics. Frost cuts it back hard in cold districts, so treat it as a sheltered-position plant south of the subtropics. Thin the interior annually.
Zones: tropical, subtropical, temperate
Pandorea pandorana
Vigorous evergreen climber that will cover a full pergola in about three years, carrying masses of small cream bells in spring. It needs annual thinning to keep it off gutters and out of roof spaces, and it should never be planted against a wall without a support that holds it clear.
Zones: temperate, subtropical
Trachelospermum jasminoides
The default evergreen screening climber in temperate Australia: slow for its first two years, then dense, and easy to keep flat against a wall or a wire frame. Heavily scented white flowers in early summer. Also works trained horizontally as a low cover along the top of a wall.
Zones: temperate, subtropical, cool
Hibbertia scandens
Yellow-flowered scrambler for sandy coastal sites that works equally well tumbling over a low wall as climbing one. It has no tendrils and needs tying in if you want it upright. Flowers on and off for most of the year in warm districts. Frost-tender, so keep it out of cold valleys.
Zones: tropical, subtropical, temperate
Clematis aristata
Cool-climate native climber carrying starry cream flowers in spring followed by silky seed heads. It wants the classic clematis arrangement of shaded roots and a lit top, so plant it behind a low shrub and mulch the root zone. Prune only to remove dead growth and control size.
Zones: cool, temperate
Parthenocissus tricuspidata
Self-clinging deciduous cover with strong red autumn colour, and the correct plant for a large blank masonry wall. It attaches with adhesive pads, so keep it off painted render, timber cladding and anything you will need to repaint. Cut it back clear of windows and gutters every winter.
Zones: temperate, cool
Vitis vinifera
Deciduous crop vine grown on a pergola for summer shade and winter sun, which no evergreen can provide. It needs a genuinely strong structure and hard pruning every winter back to a permanent framework of arms. Grown here as a fruiting and shade plant only; this site does not cover processing.
Zones: temperate, arid, cool
Passiflora edulis
Fast evergreen climber that fruits on new season's growth and covers a fence in a single warm summer. It is a heavy feeder with a short working life — expect to replace the vine roughly every five years rather than trying to rejuvenate an exhausted one. Needs regular water in fruit.
Zones: tropical, subtropical, temperate
Kennedia rubicunda
Fast rambling pea with dusky red flowers, useful for covering a bare fence or a rough bank quickly while slower plants establish. It is vigorous enough to smother small shrubs if left alone, so cut it back from neighbouring plantings at least twice a year and give it a defined area.
Zones: subtropical, temperate
Rosa banksiae
Near-thornless climbing rose that will cover a shed wall or a long fence in cascades of small flowers in spring. Prune straight after flowering and never in winter: it flowers on wood made the previous season, and a winter prune removes the whole display. Very drought-hardy once established.
Zones: temperate, arid, cool
Vigorous climbers are strongly represented on state and regional weed lists. Check that the species you are considering is not declared in your area before planting, and check current biosecurity restrictions with your state or territory service before moving plants, cuttings or soil between states or regions.