Fast growing climbing plants: vines that cover a support quickly

Fast growing climbing plants include morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus), Clematis montana, trumpet vine (Campsis radicans), and vigorous honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). Annual vines grow fastest, covering a fence or pergola 8-10 ft (2.4-3 m) in a single season for instant screening. Among perennials, the vigorous species climb several feet a year once their roots establish, filling a support within two to three years.

Speed comes with a catch worth knowing before you plant. The fastest climbers are often the ones that need the most controlling, since the same vigor that covers a fence in a season keeps pushing once the job is done. And fast growth and invasiveness frequently travel together, because vigor is exactly what helps a plant escape and spread. The trick is choosing fast vines that stay put.

In our zone 5b trial bed, my go-to test for a bare new fence is to race an annual against a perennial. The first summer I sowed morning glory at the base of a fresh 6 ft (1.8 m) chain link run, and it topped the fence by early August, a wall of blue flowers from a packet of seed. Behind it I had planted a trumpet honeysuckle that did almost nothing visible the first year. By the third summer the honeysuckle had taken over, and I stopped sowing the annual. Fast cover now, permanent cover later.

Fastest annual climbers

Morning glory is the classic fast annual. Soak the hard seeds overnight, sow them once the soil warms above 60 degrees F (16 degrees C), and they climb 8-10 ft (2.4-3 m) by late summer, opening fresh trumpet flowers each morning in blue, purple, pink, or white. They twine, so they grip a trellis, fence, or netting on their own. They die at the first hard frost, so resow each spring. The cultivar ‘Heavenly Blue’ (Ipomoea tricolor ‘Heavenly Blue’, grown as annual) is the classic sky-blue selection and tends to set fewer self-seeds than Ipomoea purpurea in cold zones.

Hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus, zones 9-11 grown as annual) grows tall and fast with purple-tinged stems, lavender pea flowers, and glossy purple seed pods 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cm) long that hold into fall. It covers a tall fence or pergola by August and looks good well past the flowers thanks to the pods. The raw pods and seeds are toxic, so keep it away from where children pick at the garden, but for sheer speed and a long season of interest it is hard to beat.

Scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) climbs hard, flowers bright red, feeds hummingbirds, and gives you edible beans as a bonus. It reaches the top of a pergola 8-10 ft (2.4-3 m) in a season and casts dense shade. Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata, zones 9-11 grown as annual) stays smaller and tidier for a patio pot or a short trellis, with cheerful orange flowers all summer. Both are quick annuals that finish at frost.

Annuals are the answer whenever you need cover this year rather than in three years. They are cheap, they grow from seed, and they screen a fence or roof a pergola within a few months. The trade is that you start over each spring, but in a cold garden that resowing is no real burden, and it lets you change the display year to year.

Fast perennial climbers

Clematis montana is the fastest clematis, a vigorous species that covers a fence, wall, or pergola within two or three years and smothers it in small flowers each spring. The straight species reaches 20-40 ft (6-12 m) and is hardy in zones 6-9, while the cultivar ‘Rubens’ (zones 6-9, 15-25 ft / 4.6-7.6 m, bronze-tinted foliage and pink flowers) is slightly more compact. It is far more vigorous than the large-flowered hybrids, so give it room and a sturdy support. It flowers on old wood, so prune it only after flowering, and only to keep it in bounds.

Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans, native to the southeastern US, zones 4-9, 25-40 ft / 7.6-12 m) grows fast and flowers hard in full sun while feeding hummingbirds. It clings by aerial roots and spreads by suckers, so it covers a tough spot quickly but needs containing in a small garden. Plant it where vigor is welcome, like a bank or an outbuilding, and prune it hard each spring to keep it productive and in check.

Honeysuckle, the native trumpet type (Lonicera sempervirens, zones 4-9, 10-20 ft / 3-6 m), fills a long fence or arbor fast once established and flowers from June to frost. It twines vigorously and gives more cover, more quickly, than most clematis. Prune it after the main flush to stop it going woody and bare at the base. Avoid the invasive Asian honeysuckles, which grow just as fast but escape into the landscape.

Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia, native to eastern and central North America, zones 3-9, 30-50 ft / 9-15 m) is a fast native that climbs almost any surface by adhesive pads, tolerates sun or shade, and turns brilliant red in fall. It covers a wall or fence quickly with no support needed. It grows vigorously and drops its leaves in fall, so site it where the vigor and the leaf drop are no problem. The closely related Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) is similar but clings more tightly, which is why it covers brick walls in older cities, though it can mark some surfaces.

Fast climbers to avoid

Some fast growers are invasive and should never go in the ground, however tempting the quick cover. Asian wisteria, the Chinese (Wisteria sinensis) and Japanese (W. floribunda) types, grows fast and strangles trees while seeding into the wider landscape. Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) climbs and topples mature trees and spreads through bird-eaten berries. Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) smothers native plants along woods and field edges. The USDA NRCS and most state invasive species councils list all three as noxious or invasive across most of the eastern US.

The problem with these vines is that their speed is exactly what makes them dangerous. A fast grower that also spreads by runners or seed covers your fence in a season and then keeps going past the fence into the woods next door. By the time you notice the spread, removal takes years of cutting and digging. A single oriental bittersweet plant can produce 1,000+ seeds per year once mature, and the seeds remain viable in the soil for 2-3 years.

Check the invasive list for your region before planting any vigorous vine, since a fast climber that is fine in one area is a noxious weed in another. Most agriculture and conservation departments publish these lists online. When in doubt, choose a fast annual vine, which cannot establish a spreading population in a cold climate, or a known well-behaved perennial like Clematis montana or native trumpet honeysuckle.

Getting fast cover the smart way

Combine a fast annual with a perennial for the best of both. Sow the annual at planting time for cover the first season, while the perennial puts its energy into roots and grows little above ground. By the second or third year the perennial takes over and you stop sowing the annual. This gives you a screen straight away and permanent cover later, from a single planting.

Help a perennial establish fast by getting the basics right. Water deeply through the first season, since a vine under drought stress grows slowly no matter how vigorous its nature. Improve the planting soil with compost, mulch to hold moisture and keep the roots cool, and feed lightly in spring. A well-tended young perennial covers a support a year sooner than a neglected one.

Choose the support strong enough for the speed you are after. A vigorous fast climber adds weight quickly, and a flimsy trellis that holds a young plant fine bends under a two-year-old Clematis montana or honeysuckle. On chain link the open mesh handles a fast twiner with no extra work. On a board fence, run sturdy 12-gauge wires before you plant, so the vine has somewhere solid to grip as it races up.

Fast climbers for a shaded spot

Most fast climbers want sun, which leaves gardeners with a shaded fence or wall short on quick options. The fastest shade-tolerant climber is Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), a native that grips almost any surface by adhesive pads, covers a wall in a couple of seasons, and turns red in fall. It tolerates deep shade and poor soil, so it fills a difficult dark corner where flowering vines refuse to grow.

Climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala petiolaris, zones 4-8) handles shade well but is slow, so it is the wrong choice when speed matters. For faster cover in shade, an annual vine like the black-eyed Susan vine tolerates part shade and still climbs several feet in a season, though it flowers less than it would in sun. Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla, zones 4-8, 15-30 ft / 4.6-9 m) is another vigorous climber that grows fast in part shade with large heart-shaped leaves 6-12 inches (15-30 cm) across that screen a fence densely. Be aware that Dutchman’s pipe is a host plant for pipevine swallowtail butterflies and may draw caterpillars that some gardeners find unwanted.

The trade in shade is usually flowers for foliage. A fast climber in shade gives you green cover quickly, but you sacrifice the heavy bloom you would get in sun. If the goal is screening rather than a flower display, that trade is fine, and Virginia creeper or a leafy annual covers a shaded support as fast as anything in sun. For flowers in shade, accept a slower vine like climbing hydrangea instead.

A fast-climber comparison at a glance

The table below compares the fastest climbing plants by season-of-growth, mature height, and how they climb, to help you match a fast vine to the support you have.

Speed is useful, but it is not the only thing to weigh. The fastest vine is the right choice when you need cover this season, and the wrong one if it spreads where it should not or outgrows the space and becomes a pruning burden. Match the vigor to the job, lean on annuals for instant cover while perennials establish, and check any vigorous vine against the invasive list first. Done that way, a fast vine covers a bare support quickly without becoming a worse problem than the bare support was.