Annual Vines From Seed

Vertical Gardens

• For small garden spaces, annual vines grow vertically on trellises or other supports. These vertical gardens allow many plants in a small area, as the plants take up only a few inches of ground while growing upward. Sun-loving flowers such as sweet peas grow easily by using their tendrils to climb the wires or trellises. Vegetables such as cucurbits--cucumber and squash vines--benefit from vertical gardening because they're trained off the ground, keeping the maturing fruit clean and making it easy to harvest.

Summer Shade

• Add natural shade to patios, gazebos and pet areas with fast-growing plants such as scarlet runner bean or cardinal vine. These vines grow 15 feet or more and need full sun for profuse flowering. Create a green screen by hanging landscape or bird netting from a building overhang or overhead support. Because the plants need only root irrigation, a soaker hose or drip-irrigation system keeps the vines watered without splashing the outdoor living space. The vines fill the screen with summer foliage and colorful flowers. These and other flowering vines, such as cup-and-saucer vine, yield fragrant blossoms that attract hummingbirds and other pollinators. Change the vines every year for a variety of outdoor wall screens.

Groundcover

• When a landscape project is unfinished or a vacant corner is a garden eyesore, plant annual vines to cover the ground and reduce erosion. The plants protect soil from wind and rain erosion while providing a leafy greenscape. Many annual flowering vines, such as morning glories and black-eyed Susans, grow upright with supports or sprawl over open ground. Their flowers draw pollinators and beneficial predators such as ladybugs that devour aphids and other garden pests. The beneficial bugs use the vines as habitat and forage in surrounding garden areas for insect prey.

Accents

• Use annual vines to cover a neglected structure or unsightly fence. Vines such as moon flower and hyacinth bean twine over arbors, trellises or poles for summer camouflage. Squash vines, planted in an old wheelbarrow or barbecue pit, spread around the impromptu planter with large flowers followed by edible produce. Gourd vines such as the birdhouse gourd grow vines 30 feet or more and sprawl over planter wagons and backyard slopes, producing gourds that crafters turn into birdhouses. These annual vines cover large areas for a seasonal patch.