How do you grow a vine up a tree trunk?

English Ivy is a fast growing plant that will cover lots of area fairly quickly. It is considered invasive so you'll have to keep an eye on it so it does not overwhelm.

https://www.invasive.org/alien/pubs/midatlantic/hehe.htm

English, Ivy, Boston Ivy, Clematis, and Climbing Hydrangea are all good choices.

Do you know what plant zone you are in? That will help to know for recommending vines. Also what sort of tree is it? Some trees will be made very unhealthy by growing vines on them.

Hello. Hello. It might be best to know your geographical zone before suggesting plants.

What is the height of the tree trunk that you wish to cover?

in my zone 7A Using an invasive aggressive ivy can go up very high whereas a if shorter trunk exposure could be could be disguised with a flowering vine like clematis.

When my mother wanted this done, my did used cotton string to train the vine. Hers was clematis.

wisteria but it is hard to control as well as English Ivy

Make sure you pick a vine you like VERY much as some are impossible to get rid of if you ever change your mind due to the underground root system that spreads. Plant around the tree and hold the end of the vine up with string until they attach on their own, especially ivy. It will send out "feet" and you can remove the string after the first season.

The Pros and Cons of Vining Plants

https://ourtropicalsoil.com/2018/08/31/pros-cons-vining-plants/

Hi Chantelle, you need to plant a vine that will grow in your climate, English Ivy, and Hops are very fast growing and hardy. These vines will grab the trunk themselves, but you can use strings hung from the trunk to "train" them, tie the strings around the trunk and leave a long tail hanging down for the vine to grab, do this on the trunk with about 5 strings to give the vines some direction, also here's a video that may help you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qinUlLQ31QM

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/do-vines-harm-trees.htm

Ivy is very easy to grow. To get it to climb to have to attach it to the tree at first. I used a small piece of Susan wrap to hold the vine in place while it gets established.

Hi Chantelle: I'd be careful with covering the entire trunk with vines as the trunk needs to breathe and have sun and rain on it. I found this "The vines can kill the tree: Vines are bad for trees in several ways. First, they can grow up into the canopy, cover the tree's foliage and starve the tree for sunlight. Second, they can strangle the tree and inhibit its ability to transport sugar and other chemicals down to the trunk and roots, leading to a slow death by starvation and thirst." So, I'd give it another thought before I did it.

We love Morning Glories. They're super easy to grow and cheap. I know some people find them to be very invasive, but we've never ever had that issue. Plus many climbing vines have the same tendencies, so whatever you choose, I would place them in a pot around the trunk. Then they tend to stay contained. https://www.exquisitelyunremarkable.com/2020/10/morning-glories-pros-and-cons.html

Hello. I think you could grow any climbing vine so that it grows up your tree. Definitely DO NOT use string or wire to train the vine. They will cut into the the vines. I suggest using strips of old nylons or pipe cleaners. You may want to consider putting chicken wire very loose around the tree trunk and have your vine grow into it. That's what used to form shapes with vining plants. I hope this helps you. I love gardening and I love sharing info too. Good Luck.

Try a variety of Virginia Creeper. Once it starts to clime, you may have to manually train it where to go..

Hello Chantelle,

Garden Centre or online eBay etc. Clematis, Honeysuckle, etc. Lots to choose from.

How about morning glory? When it starts growing, you can use string to hold the vine in place around the tree so that it knows the path to keep going up.

Lots of time that winds up killing the tree.... my neighbor killed her 2 trees with Clematis vine. She almost killed one of my trees with a honeysuck vine that took a lot of work on my part to get it out of the tree canopy after it escaped her yard. And ivy is absolutely the worst.

Hi Chantelle, I live in zone 3 and we have Hops that grow up the trees in our river valley, and they are perennial, so they come back every year! You could also try English Ivy, or Honeysuckle Vine. You can buy these at a greenhouse and plant them in the spring, so they have time to take root.