Draping Plants for Retaining Walls

Deciduous

• Deciduous plants lose their foliage in winter, but their root systems remain in place, preventing erosion and weed growth. The winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum), a trailing shrub, grows to 4 feet tall with a 7-foot spread. This tolerant shrub grows in a variety of soils and sun to partial shade exposures. It blooms with yellow spring flowers. The sweet potato vine (Ipomoea pandurata) grows to 13 feet long and blooms with large white flowers with a red-purple throat. This native, trailing vine thrives in sunny sites and grows quickly.

Semi-Evergreen

• Semi-evergreen plants are evergreen in warmer climates and deciduous in cooler climates. Memorial rose (Rosa wichuraiana), a trailing vine, can be grown as a ground cover. This semi-evergreen grows quickly to 1 foot tall with a 6- to 15-foot spread. Memorial rose has dark foliage and produces white flowers with yellow centers. It thrives in sunny sites with well-drained soil. Creeping bramble (Rubus calcyinoiden) grows to 4 inches tall with a 3-foot spread. A semi-evergreen, it has lustrous, lobed foliage that turns bronze in fall. Creeping bramble prefers well-drained soil and sun to light shade.

Evergreens

• Evergreen plants keep their foliage year-round. Blue rug juniper (Juniperus horizontalis “Blue Rug”) grows to 6 inches tall and has trailing, creeping stems. This evergreen has silver-blue foliage and grows best in full sun and well-drained soil. The evergreen trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens) grows from 2 to 4 inches tall and produces trailing stems covered with hairy, gray-green foliage. It blooms in early spring with aromatic white and pink flowers and prefers light to partial shade and moist, acidic soil. Trailing arbutus is hardy in zones 2 to 8.

Annuals

• Annuals live for only one growing season, but compensate by providing long-lasting blooms. The trailing petunia (Calibrachoa xhybrida) flowers from summer through late autumn with small yellow, blue, red, purple and deep-pink blossoms. It grows from 3 to 6 inches tall in a prostrate form and produces the most flowers in sunny sites. Another annual, trailing coleus (Solenostemon pumilus), is grown for its colorful red, maroon and white foliage. This trailing plant grows well in full sun and comes in a range of colorful cultivars.