Discover the Beauty and Versatility of Virginia creeper
A high value ground cover for birds and other wildlife
There are many reasons why our native plant Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefoliais) is a fantastic addition to most gardens, from its stunning visual appeal to its practical benefits and value for wildlife.
So, let’s dig a little deeper and unleash the magic of Virginia Creeper.
When it comes to enhancing the aesthetics of your woodland garden, few plants can rival the beauty and charm of Virginia Creeper. With its vibrant green leaves that turn into a stunning display of red, orange, and purple in the fall, this versatile vine adds a touch of elegance and drama to any garden landscape.
Here is an example of Virginia Creeper in our garden acting as a ground cover.
Virginia Creeper is hardy in zones 3-9, drought tolerant, and grows in pretty much any soil from poor to humus-rich woodland soil. It can handle both wet and dry conditions as well as sunny or shady areas.
It is a woody deciduous vine that can climb or trail up to 30 - 40 feet (up to 12 meters). The only real limiting factor is the structure it is climbing on, whether it be a tree, fence or trellis.
Virginia Creeper climbs by means of tendrils with discs that fasten on to bark, rocks or any structure. Although it is often said that the vine will damage brick, it is not true. The discs will, however, leave unsightly marks on siding or bricks and can push into spaces between brick and siding or, if left unchecked, into spaces above the home’s faschia.
Its coarsely toothed leaves have five leaflets (occasionally as many as seven) that radiate from the tip of the petiole. It is one of the earliest vines to begin changing colour in fall.
The delicate tendrils of Virginia Creeper gracefully climb up trees, fences, and walls, creating a picturesque scene that is sure to captivate anyone who sets foot in your garden. Whether you’re looking to create a romantic, cottage-style garden or a more contemporary design, Virginia Creeper is the perfect choice to add depth, texture, and visual interest to your outdoor space.
First memories of Virginia Creeper
I remember the first time I came across Virginia Creeper. It was early fall and I was working on a photographic slide show about a creek and meadow that ran behind our first home. In a wooded area I noticed a beautiful vine growing over an old tree stump. The combination of vibrant colours – greens, yellows, oranges and reds – together with its delicate tendrils caught my attention and resulted in a prolonged photographic study of the plant.
It wasn’t until later that I learned the name of the plant and the fact that it was native to our area.
I’ve loved the plant ever since. There was no need, however, to plant it in our current garden, the birds took over that job for me.
All I needed to do was recognize the plant both for its beauty, its benefit to wildlife and its role in the woodland garden, and let it do its thing.
Images of Virginia Creeper shown here in it’s many colours and uses from climbing walls and trellises to being used as a ground cover.
How Virginia Creeper transforms your woodland garden
In addition to its stunning visual appeal, Virginia Creeper offers a range of practical benefits that make it an ideal choice for your woodland garden.
One of the key advantages of this vine is its ability to provide natural shade and cooling effects. As the tendrils climb and spread into nearby trees or trellises, they can create a dense canopy that helps to reduce the temperature in your garden, providing a cool and comfortable environment for you to relax in during hot summer days. This natural shading also helps to protect delicate woodland plants from excessive sunlight, preventing them from wilting or drying out.
Another practical benefit of Virginia Creeper is its ability to act as a natural privacy screen. As it grows and covers fences, walls, or trellises, it forms a thick barrier that shields your garden from prying eyes, creating a secluded and intimate space for you to enjoy. This can be particularly valuable if you have neighbours nearby or if you simply prefer to have some privacy in your outdoor sanctuary.
This image shows Virginia Creeper in different stages of growth. Insects are obviously munching on the plants. Virginia Creeper is a host plant to the Sphinx moth caterpillar.
Furthermore, Virginia Creeper is known for its low maintenance requirements. Once established, it is a hardy and resilient plant that can withstand various weather conditions, including drought and frost. It is also resistant to most pests and diseases, making it a hassle-free addition to your garden.
For more information on ground covers to consider for your garden check out the following posts: Bunchberry: perfect ground cover, Three Great Ground Covers for a woodland garden, Easiest ground cover to grow, How to grow and care for creeping thyme, Moss and moss-like ground covers
How I use Virginia Creeper in our garden
In our garden, Virginia Creeper is used primarily as a ground cover in a natural area as well as a climber that is scrambling up one of our mature locust trees, where I can easily keep my eye on it.
Used as a ground cover, Virginia Creeper spreads readily to fill bare spots locking its tendrils onto the cedar mulch and going to work covering the ground with a thick cover of green leaves followed by berries in fall. Right about the time the berries appear, the plant’s leaves begin turning the ground into a beautiful tapestry of fall colours of red, orange, yellows and purples.
I like to grow it along with numerous other groundcovers such as stonecrop, epimedium, wild geranium and Mayapple. The result is a tapestry of woodland groundcovers that compete for their place on the forest floor.
Yes, Virginia Creeper can spread rapidly and cover small plants, stumps and even climb trees and shrubs. As explained later in this post, that is its task in the natural world. As gardeners, we need to accept these traits and just learn how to control them as much as exploit them.
Valuable habitat for backyard wildlife
Lastly, this versatile vine serves as a valuable habitat for wildlife. Its dense foliage provides shelter and nesting sites for birds, while its berries attract a variety of insects and small mammals. By incorporating Virginia Creeper into your woodland garden, you are not only enhancing its natural beauty, but also creating a welcoming haven for local wildlife.
Birds such as chickadees, nuthatches, mockingbirds, finches, flycatchers, tanagers, swallows, vireos, warblers, woodpeckers, and thrushes will all feast on the berries and the insects this vine attracts. Deer too, will gladly sample the grape-like fruit.
The green to blue-black berries mature in late summer or early fall and persist on the vines until eaten by wildlife.
So, whether you're looking to create a cool and shaded retreat, add privacy to your garden, minimize maintenance tasks, or support local wildlife, Virginia Creeper is the perfect plant to fulfill your practical needs.
“As a culture we have allowed ourselves to hate a plant that we enabled, while it yet serves us a massive purpose we fail to recognize widely.”
The pros and cons of planting Virginia Creeper
Not everyone agrees that Virginia Creeper is a valuable addition to a garden. One only needs to scan Facebook’s garden forums to witness the hatred many gardeners have for this native plant.
The problem is that most of these gardeners are unaware of how to properly use this sometimes aggressive native vine and the role it is meant to play in the natural environment.
Gardeners who are looking for small, neat and tidy yards made up of well-behaved plants growing in individual clumps, will likely not appreciate the aggressive growth of Virginia Creeper.
Virginia Creeper tendrils makes their way through the mulch adding texture in summer and a tapestry of colour in fall.
These same gardeners will probably not appreciate the qualities of other aggressive ground covers as well, whether they are native or non-native.
It’s important to understand the role Virginia Creeper plays in the natural environment.
In an informative essay by Wisconson-based Johnny Nativeseed on Facebook, Virginia Creeper is given its due as an early and important colonizer in the natural woodland.
In their words: “The lies told about this plant are a projection of those who despise it rather than truly know it, or it’s purpose in nature.
“While it’s abilities to climb are vaunted, and hated by humans who decimate the environment it calls home, it is humans who have caused this plant to appear as nemesis, when really its true purpose is in a forest environment that never intended humans to strip it bare… .
The author goes on to explain that “Virginia Creeper and Wild Grape both hold great value to nature in many ways.
“They both host various native fauna, and they both grow in like environments, sharing the duties of an important job in what was once vast, unending forest.
“In the endless canopies of former ancient forests that blanketed this land prior to the arrival of colonizers, if a tree died of disease or age, it’s weakness while dying, or it’s eventual death would punch a hole in the dense canopy under which both Virginia Creeper and Wild Grape Vine typically grow small, muted, ineffectual, and unnoticed.
“That new source of light however is all the batteries needed to juice these two valuable vines into becoming super performing plants bent on their fulfilling their multifaceted purpose.
“The vines sudden rapid growth in the newfound sunlight causes them to race for it, greedily feeding on the light, reaching massive, accumulative size in an extremely short time.
“They know their time in the sun will be short, by their perspective….
“In a world we have deforested, defoliated, colonized and bent to our will, these two vines have been wrongly vilified by the true villans themselves.
As a culture we have allowed ourselves to hate a plant that we enabled, while it yet serves us a massive purpose we fail to recognize widely.
These plants both are major food sources for insects and animals alike. This includes an invasive species we have all come to despise.
The Japanese Beetle: Virginia Creeper and Wild Grape
The author goes on to explain how Virginia Creeper and Wild Grape are magnets to the Japanese Beetles.
“Japanese Beetles will favour Virginia Creeper and Wild Grapevine before almost any other native, vegetable, or ornamental plant.
And it is with this magnetism that we must shift our perspective on to see that these vines are our allies….
The author uses the vines to attract the beetles so he can very easily pick and flick them into soapy water, daily….
“The vines, in their new purpose, act as a foil and in doing so, save the entirety of the other garden/prairie/yard space.
So while some may scream to get rid of the vines for false fear that they destroy healthy trees, or attract a hated invasive beetle...knowing fact and purpose while shifting perspective is all that is needed to utilize, co-habitate, and have success with these two venerable and useful native vines.”
Conclusion: Embrace the Charm and Benefits of Virginia Creeper in Your Woodland Garden
In conclusion, Virginia Creeper is a truly remarkable vine that brings both beauty and practical benefits to your woodland garden. With its stunning visual appeal, it enhances the aesthetics of your outdoor space, adding a touch of natural elegance and charm. But it doesn’t stop there. This versatile plant also offers a range of practical advantages that make it an ideal choice for any gardener.
From providing natural shade and cooling effects to acting as a privacy screen, Virginia Creeper creates a comfortable and secluded environment where you can relax and enjoy the serenity of nature. Its low maintenance requirements make it a hassle-free addition to your garden, allowing you to enjoy its beauty year after year without constant upkeep.
But perhaps one of the most rewarding aspects of incorporating Virginia Creeper into your woodland garden is the positive impact it has on local wildlife. By providing shelter and nesting sites for birds and attracting insects and small mammals with its berries, this vine becomes a valuable habitat for various creatures, contributing to the biodiversity of your garden.
So, whether you're looking to enhance the aesthetics of your woodland garden, create a cool and shaded retreat, add privacy, minimize maintenance tasks, or support local wildlife, Virginia Creeper is the perfect plant to fulfill your practical needs. Embrace the charm and benefits of this remarkable vine and let it weave its magic in your outdoor sanctuary.
• Looking for more garden news, check out Feedspot for a list of some of the best garden websites including Ferns & Feathers Woodland/wildlife gardening site.