Meadow vetchling

How to recognise it

Habit

Perennial climber with creeping rhizomes; angled stems 30–120 cm long, climbing or sprawling.

Leaf

A single pair of narrow, lance-shaped leaflets 1–3 cm long with a tendril at the tip. At the base, two large, arrow-shaped stipules.

Flower

Bright yellow, 1–1.8 cm, with 5–12 together on a long stalk, from June to August.

Fruit/Seed

A flat pod 2–3.5 cm long that turns black when ripe and then splits open.

Roots

Creeping rhizomes with nodules housing nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Confusion with

Bird’s-foot trefoil also has yellow pea flowers, but leaves with five leaflets and no tendrils. Tufted vetch has many leaflets per leaf and bluish purple flowers. Ribbed melilot has three-part leaves and long spikes of small flowers.

Flowering: June–August · Pruning: September

Why grow it?

• Sturdy yellow pea flowers for bumblebees and solitary bees, such as the mining bee Andrena lathyri, which collects pollen from vetchlings and vetches.
• Food plant for the caterpillars of the wood white, a scarce butterfly found mainly in the south of Belgium, and of several moths.
• Fixes nitrogen through root nodules, so it fits into poor, flower-rich hay meadows.
• Brings yellow to a rough verge, hedge or wildflower meadow once the spring flowers are over.
• Climbs through grass and shrubs with its tendrils and takes up little space.

Meadow vetchling: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: hay meadows, verges, dykes, rough ground, field edges, hedgerows and woodland edges.
• Sun to light shade.
• Ordinary to moist soil that is not too rich: clay, loam or sand.
• In the garden: a wildflower meadow, a rough verge, against a hedge or a woven fence.

Goes well with

• Tufted vetch: Bluish purple beside yellow, both climbing on the same verge.
• Common knapweed: Purple heads in summer, for butterflies.
• Oxeye daisy: White in May–June, before meadow vetchling starts to flower.
• False oat-grass: A tall grass to climb into.
• Red clover: Another pea flower for bumblebees, in the same hay meadow.

Meadow vetchling: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy plants from a native-plant nursery, or sow your own.
2. Soak the seed overnight in lukewarm water: despite its hard coat, it then germinates better.
3. Sow in September–October or in March–April, 1–2 cm deep, in pots or straight into place.
4. Set plants 40 cm apart, at the foot of a hedge or fence, or among tall grasses to climb into.
5. Water until the plant is well established.
6. Never dig up plants from the wild.

Care

Water

Only in the first season, during dry spells.

Feeding

Not needed: it makes its own nitrogen, and fertiliser mainly benefits the grass.

Support

In a meadow it climbs through the grass; in a border a few twigs or a small fence help.

Mowing

In a hay meadow, cut once in September after seed set, and remove the cuttings.

Spreading

Spreads gently by rhizomes; pull free any stems that wander too far.

Tip: Sow meadow vetchling and tufted vetch together at the foot of a mixed hedge: the tendrils find their own way and you get yellow and bluish purple mingled together.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: September.

When: In September, when most of the pods are black and ripe.

How:

• Mow or cut the stems at 5–10 cm.
• Leave the cuttings for a few days so the seeds can drop, then remove them.
• In a hedge the dead stems can stay until they rot away.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Pick the black pods in August–September before they split. Soak the seed and sow in autumn or spring.

Division

In March–April, cut off a piece of rhizome with a shoot and replant it.

Meadow vetchling: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Everything above ground dies back; the rhizomes overwinter in the soil.
• Dead stems in hedges and rough ground give shelter to insects.
• Fully hardy, to about −30 °C.

Diseases and pests

• Poor germination: Hard seed coat. Soaking or rubbing lightly with sandpaper helps.
• Aphids: Aphids on the shoot tips in early summer. Let ladybirds and hoverflies deal with them.
• Powdery mildew: A white film on the leaves in dry late summers; harmless, and it disappears with mowing.
• Lost in the grass: On rich soil the grass wins. Stop feeding and remove the cuttings.

Through the year

• March: Sow (soaked seed). Plant or divide.
• April: New shoots. Give support in the border.
• June: Flowering begins; bumblebees on the flowers.
• July: Full flower.
• August: Last flowers; the pods turn black. Collect seed.
• September: Mow after seed set; remove the cuttings. Sow.
• October: Sow and plant.
• November: Rest. The rhizomes overwinter.

Did you know?

• Lathyrus is an old Greek name for a pea-like plant; pratensis means ‘of the meadow’.
• Mainly bumblebees and larger bees are strong enough to push the flower open and reach the nectar.
• Ripe pods turn black, twist open as they dry and fling out the seeds.