How to Grow Sweet Peas on the Fence

Sweet peas are highly fragrant flowers that bloom in a wide variety of colors. Sweet peas grow as either bush-type or climbing varieties. The climbing varieties use tendrils to pull themselves up support structures. Unlike vines that cling to surfaces with aerial roots, such as English ivy, sweet peas need an open-weave type fence, similar to the lattice of a trellis rather than a solid surface. Sweet peas are an ideal annual vine to dress up a chain link fence.

Sweet pea seeds or seedlings
Open-weave fence
String

Instructions

- 1
  Choose a location that receives 8 to 10 hours of sunlight. When buying seeds, select from among the vine-type of sweet peas including heirloom, old-fashioned, antique, early flowering, winter elegance, spring flowering or summer flowering.
- 2
  Turn the soil over with a small shovel or spade. Mix the loose soil with organic matter such as compost to increase its nutrient level and improve drainage.
- 3
  Nick seeds with a nail clipper to allow moisture into the seed. Sow directly into the ground when the soil temperature consistently is a minimum of 55 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit by placing the seeds 1 to 2 inches below the surface of the soil. Space the seeds 3 to 4 inches apart from one another.
- 4
  Tie the seedlings loosely to the fence with string as they grow to encourage the plants to extend their tendrils on the fence rather than along the ground.
- 5
  Monitor the seedlings' growth and weave the stems around the fence's structure to train the plants to adapt to the fence's shape.
- 6
  Provide additional support for tendrils that cannot hold onto the fence under the weight of foliage and blossoms with string or coated wire.
- 7
  Cut the stems of dead annuals, leaving the roots in the ground to provide nitrogen for the next growing season. Pull the vines from the fence or leave in place to add to the support structure for future vines.

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