Virginia creeper

Virginia creeper: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Deciduous climber up to 15–20 m that climbs with tendrils and covers a wall like a dense carpet.

Leaf

Alternate; in true Virginia creeper palmately compound with 5 leaflets, in Boston ivy three-lobed and glossy.

Tendrils

Tendrils with tiny suckers (adhesive pads) that let it climb walls.

Flower

Inconspicuous green flowers in summer, loved by bees.

Fruit

Bluish-black berries with a waxy bloom; not edible.

Difference from ivy

Ivy is evergreen and climbs with aerial roots.

Difference from grapevine

Grapevine has tendrils without adhesive pads and bears grapes.

Flowering: June–July · Pruning: November–March

Identify by feature: Red autumn colour · Blue berries · Aerial roots and sucker pads

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Common ivy Hedera helix: evergreen, with aerial roots. Difference from common ivy
• Grapevine Vitis vinifera: tendrils without adhesive pads; grapes. Difference from grapevine

Why grow it?

• Brilliant red autumn colour, among the finest of all climbers.
• Covers a wall in a few years and keeps it cool in summer; in winter it lets the sun through.
• Grows in sun, partial shade and shade, on any soil.
• Flowers for bees, berries for birds.
• Climbs without support thanks to its adhesive pads.

Virginia creeper: where does it grow best?

• Sun to shade; in sun its autumn colour is most intense.
• Any soil that doesn’t dry out.
• Boston ivy and true Virginia creeper cling with their pads and need no support. False Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus inserta), the one that most often escapes into the wild, has hardly any pads and needs wires, mesh or a fence.
• The pads do not damage a sound wall but do leave marks; keep it away from gutters, roof tiles, window frames and shutters.

Light

Sun to shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

15 m tall, 5 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Common ivy: Evergreen next to the creeper: green in winter, red in autumn. Give each its own stretch of wall.
• Climbing hydrangea: Another self-clinging climber for a shady wall, with white flowers in summer.
• Common honeysuckle: Twines along the same fence and scents the summer air while the creeper is still green.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Can climb into old, large trees: english oak, scots pine, sycamore, large-leaved lime

Virginia creeper: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant in autumn or spring; from a pot almost all year, except in frost or drought.
2. Plant 30–50 cm from the wall, where the soil is not too dry, and guide the shoots to the wall with a cane.
3. In the first year it grows slowly; after that it is fast.
4. One plant already covers a good stretch of wall: allow one plant per 4–5 m.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first year; rarely needed after that.

Feeding

Not needed; a little compost if it is slow to get going.

Upkeep

Keep windows, gutters, roof tiles and joints clear every year.

Seedlings

Birds spread the berries: pull up seedlings in the garden and in nearby woodland edges while young.

Tip: If you plan to repaint or repoint the wall later, don’t plant a self-clinging creeper directly against it: the pads are hard to get off.

Virginia creeper: when to prune it?

Pruning months: November–March.

When: In winter, when it is bare.

How:

• Cut away stems around windows, gutters, roof tiles and joints.
• Cut generously, half a metre around windows and gutters: then they stay clear all summer.
• A plant that has become too thick or heavy can be cut back hard; it will shoot again.

Caution: The sticky pads leave marks on a wall if you remove it later.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Cuttings

Hardwood cuttings of 20 cm in winter, or summer cuttings of young shoots; they root easily.

Layering

Shoots that creep over the ground often root by themselves: dig them up and replant them.

Virginia creeper: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy.
• In winter it is bare: the wall then gets the sun and dries out.

Diseases and pests

• Gutters and roof tiles: Shoots grow under roof tiles and into gutters, which get blocked. Cut them well back every winter.
• Marks on the wall: After removal, the adhesive pads stay stuck. Let them dry out and scrub them off with a stiff brush.
• Slow start: In the first year it hardly climbs. Keep the soil moist and guide the shoots to the wall; from the second year on it grows fast.
• Escaping into the wild: An exotic: birds spread the berries and seedlings turn up in woodland edges and verges. Pull them up, and don’t plant it next to woodland or a nature reserve. For a native climber, choose ivy.

Through the year

• January: Winter pruning around windows and gutters.
• February: Winter pruning; clear the gutters.
• March: Last pruning before bud break; planting.
• July: Flowering: bees on the small green flowers.
• September: The berries turn bluish-black.
• October: Brilliant red autumn colour.
• November: Leaf fall; clean the gutters; winter pruning can start.
• December: Winter pruning.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

Green wall cover that keeps the house cool in summer and turns bright red in autumn.

For wildlife

Bees love the flowers; birds eat the berries.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Did you know?

• Covers a wall in a few years and keeps it cool in summer.
• The name Parthenocissus means ‘virgin’s ivy’ (Greek parthenos, virgin, and kissos, ivy), just like the French ‘vigne vierge’.
• Parthenocissus means ‘virgin ivy’ (Greek parthenos, virgin, and kissos, ivy), probably after the French name vigne vierge or the English Virginia creeper.
• Boston ivy, the three-lobed species, is not American at all: it comes from China, Korea and Japan.