STIHL tip
If you have decided on a climbing plant and know what kind of climbing frame you need, you can build your own individual climbing support.
Climbing plants types and climbing techniques
When there is little space on the ground, climbing plants can provide lots of greenery on walls, fences and trellises. We present the most diverse types of climbing plant and their characteristics.
21.11.2025
Overview: Climbing plants
- Climbing plants need support to grow to height
- Self-climbing and scaffold climbers use different climbing techniques
- Annual or perennial climbing plants: both have advantages
- Fast growing, over wintering, flowering: the right climbing plant for every requirement
What are climbing plants?
As a growth form, climbing plants develop a climbing technique instead of load-bearing stems, stalks or trunks. They cannot support themselves independently and must find support from other plants, walls, fences or climbing supports. Climbing techniques vary, so there is a distinction between self-climbing and scaffold climbing.
Self-climbing and scaffold climbing plants
The type of support climbing plants need depends on whether they are able to form adhesive organs or whether they hold on with tendrils or looping shoots. Self-climbers can climb surfaces independently with their adhesive roots or discs, while scaffold climbers rely on climbing aids such as trellises or rope systems to gain height.
Self-clinging climbers
Self-climbing plants use adhesive roots or discs to attach themselves to a surface as soon as they touch it. This can be tree bark, a wall or a house façade which they then grow up independently.
Ivy, climbing hydrangeas and Virginia creeper are typical self-climber species. When used for façade greening, some self-climbers quickly provide a green wall, but sometimes need to be cut into shape twice a year to keep windows and gutters clear.
Cutting climbing plants made easy
Scaffold climbing plants
Scaffold climbers do not have adhesive organs and need more climbing assistance than just a bare wall to grow up. They can be further divided into trellis plants, creepers and ramblers, based on their climbing technique.
Passion flowers are magnificent trellis plants.
trellisplants
Trellis plants such as clematis, vines and passion flowers form stem- or thread-like tendril organs with which they can grow in height and width on thin branches or on a corresponding trellis structure. The frame should be lattice-shaped and consist of slim profiles (thin wooden rods, fence wire) so that tendril-forming climbing plants can spread.
Chinese wisteria 'blue rain' is a popular creeper.
Creeper plants
Creeper plants need vertical climbing supports such as round support rods or vertically tensioned ropes, which they hold on to with the help of individual shoots and then wind upwards. Honeysuckle, chocolate vine, wisteria, etc. cling strongly around the climbing support so that they do not slip, which is why the climbing system for creeper plants should be very stable.
In the case of façade greenery, there must be sufficient space between the climbing system and the wall for the creeper shoots to wind around the rods or ropes.
Creepers need vertical climbing supports
Ramblers
Ramblers such as blackberries, climbing roses or winter jasmine do not creep or wind themselves, but hook themselves onto the climbing support with strong cross-shoots and sometimes with thorns. Ramblers require robust climbing supports that are as horizontal as possible and are securely attached.
Annual or perennial climbing plants?
Quick, simple greenery for a gardening season or long-lasting beauty that develops over years: depending on how and where you want to use climbing plants, annual and perennial climbing plant species have their advantages.
Annual climbing plants
Annual climbing plants such as morning glory, black-eyed Susan or sweet pea can be raised from seed, grow rapidly and often have a lot of flowers. These are ideal if you are looking for a short-term climber privacy screen for your garden or balcony.
These climbers can even be a mobile privacy screen if you plant them in pots or roller boxes with climbing supports. With annual climbing plants you can, for example, create a varied annual fence planting with no need to worry about overwintering.
Perennial climbing plants
Perennial climbing plants can reach enormous growth heights and are suitable for the long-term greening of façades and pergolas. Some climbers, such as wisteria, become woody over time and need stable climbing supports. Clematis, wisteria, honeysuckle and Virginia creeper take a break in winter and start growing again in spring. Make sure that perennial climbing plants are also hardy enough to overwinter in their specific location in your garden.
STIHL tip
Fast growing and flowering annual climbers can be combined with slower growing perennial climbers to give a pergola or fence a generous covering of plants in the first few years.
10 popular types of climbing plant
Climbing plants provide vertical greenery with different climbing techniques, growth heights and location requirements. To help you find the right plant for your garden, we have compiled a list of tried-and-tested climbing plant species and their properties as a decision-making aid. Climbing plants for shade and sun are just as much a part of this as evergreen, flowering or fast-growing plants.
Probably the most well-known climbing plant of all, it boasts a wealth of species and varieties in all conceivable flower colours. Depending on the variety, the flowering period is between May and September. Different varieties planted together ensure a blooming wall throughout the summer. Alpine clematis are particularly hardy.
- Trellis plant
- 2 to 4 m high
- grows between 30 and 50 cm per year
- Location: full sun to semi-shade
- depending on the variety, hardy to -30 °C
Climbing hydrangea grows slowly at first, but becomes bushy and dense. On walls and façades, young plants should be guided into the right direction with a climbing support. The white umbrella-shaped flower clusters often only appear after 5 years.
- Self-clinging climbers
- 3 to 6 m high
- grows between 15 and 40 cm per year
- Location: semi-shade to full shade
- slightly acidic soil, damp
- hardy to -30°C
- feeds insects
Perfoliate honeysuckle is a native climbing plant and is correspondingly hardy. Its numerous distinctive flowers are yellowish-white and exude an intense scent in the evening hours, inviting insects to collect nectar. People say that the longer you smell it, the better the flowers smell. That’s why honeysuckle is also known in Germany as “Jelängerjelieber” (the longer the better).
- Creeper plant
- 3 to 6 m high
- grows between 30 and 50 cm per year
- Location: full sun to semi-shade
- strongly fragrant flowers
- source of nectar
- hardy
Winter jasmine drops its leaves in autumn, but blossoms with bright yellow flowers from December to March, while its branches remain green. Slowly growing in the early years, this rambler needs a stable trellis and is also suitable for pots.
- Rambler
- 3 to 5 m high
- grows between 20 and 30 cm per year
- Winter bloomer
- Location: full sun to semi-shade
- loves calcified soil
- hardy to -20°C
- for walls, façades, pots
With climbing roses, you can choose from countless varieties and flower colours. Some varieties even bloom twice a year. The ramblers need a stable climbing frame and should be securely attached.
- Ramblers
- up to 5 m high
- Location: full sun to semi-shade
- winter protection required
- for walls, rose arches
One of the most popular self-climbing plants for façade greening: Boston ivy grows up to two metres a year and can reach a height of 20 metres. Its leaves are bronze in colour as they grow, green throughout the summer and glow in golden, orange and red tones in autumn before they fall off. The most beautiful leaf colours are created in a location with full sun.
- Self-clinging climbers
- up to 20 m high
- rapid growth
- Location: full sun to shade
- hardy to -23.3°C
Fast-growing, undemanding and native classic among climbing plants. Ivy can even climb up smooth concrete walls with its adhesive roots and ensures any surface has an evergreen, dense covering of green. If the dark green leaves are too dark for you, you can use varieties with lighter leaves such as English ivy.
- Self-clinging climbers
- up to 20 m high
- Location: full sun to full shade
- hardy to -23.3°C
- evergreen
With funnel-shaped petals in yellow, orange and red, these flowers are a popular nectar source for bees and bumblebees in July and August. However, it can take a few years for the trumpet vine to bloom for the first time. Its rapid growth ensures fast greening of façades, pergolas and walls. If the surface is slightly rough, the trumpet vine does not need a climbing support.
- Self-clinging climbers
- 5 to 10 m high
- grows between 80 and 100 cm per year
- Location: sunny and warm
- needs winter protection
- source of nectar
This fast-growing wisteria needs a robust climbing frame; they have been known to crush rain gutters with their strong, woody shoots. In May and June, the fragrant blue-violet blossoms attract bees, and by autumn, the wisteria will form a dense leafy wall.
- Creeper plant
- 8 to 10 m high
- grows between 150 and 100 cm per year
- Location: sunny and sheltered from wind
- 30 cm long flower clusters
- winter protection required in the first few years
Thanks to the shape of its fruit, the chocolate vine is also known as a climbing cucumber. The climbing plant forms small pink male flowers and slightly larger purple female flowers in April and May. Cucumber-shaped, edible fruits are revealed in autumn.
- Creeper plant
- 4 to 6 m high
- Location: full sun to semi-shade, protected
- winter protection required in the first few years
- evergreen in mild layers
- first bloom in year 5
- Garden fences, wall greening, pergolas
Climbing plants Hardy, evergreen and more
Whether fast-growing, native or flowering, climbing plants for shade, sun or as privacy screens: here you can browse for climbing plants that meet the specific requirements of your garden.
- Common hop
- Chinese 'blue rain' wisteria
- Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
- Ivy
- Morning glory (annual)
- Blue passion flower
- Red-leaved celastrus
- Runner beans (annual)
- Perfoliate honeysuckle
- Wisteria
- Common ivy
- Climbing hydrangea
- Winter jasmine
- Alpine clematis
- Russian vine
- Dutchman's pipe vine
- Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
- Common ivy
- Virginia creeper 'Engelmannii'
- Fortune's spindle
- Evergreen honeysuckle
- Dutchman's pipe vine
- Climbing hydrangea
- Russian vine
- Early flowering clematis, e.g. alpine clematis
- Black-eyed Susan (annual)
- Blue morning glory (annual)
- Passion flower
- Trumpet vine
- Wisteria
- Rambling rose
- Virginia creeper
- Clematis
- Chocolate vine
- Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
- Perfoliate honeysuckle
- Alpine clematis
- Wide-leaved flat pea (sweet pea, annual)
- Wisteria
- Winter jasmine
- Trumpet vine
- Rambling roses
- Ivy
- Evergreen honeysuckle
- Climbing fortune's spindle
- Winter jasmine
- Russian vine
- Clematis armandii
- Chocolate vine
- Wisteria
- Trumpet vine
- Russian vine
- Ivy
- Hop
- Virginia creeper
- Black-eyed Susan (annual)
- Honeysuckle
- Rambling rose
- Clematis
- Climbing hydrangea
- Trumpet vine
- Wisteria
- Honeysuckle
- Passion flower
- Sweet pea (annual)
- Black-eyed Susan (annual)
- Chocolate vine
- Winter jasmine
