DIY Landscaping With Trumpet Vines

Trumpet vine flowers are followed by seed pods 3 to 6 inches long.


Flowering trumpet vines (Campsis radicans) can be used effectively to beautify your yard. Trumpet vines, also known as trumpet creepers, grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4b through 10a. Plant trumpet vines where they have plenty of space to grow, as the mature vines can reach 40 feet in height.

Wildlife Yards

Use trumpet vines in wildlife-friendly yards to attract and provide food for hummingbirds. The bright colored, trumpet shaped flowers bloom for about two months in the summer through early fall. To extend the bloom season, use two different cultivars. The cultivar "Praecox," which grows in USDA zones 4b through 10a, blooms earlier than other cultivars. To encourage lush growth and abundant blooms, fertilize trumpet vines in the spring by working 1 cup of dry fertilizer, with a ratio of 5-10-5, into the soil around the base of the plant. The vines are considered invasive in some areas. If you live in an area where they're invasive, choose other plants instead.

Dry Areas

The showy flowers of trumpet vines are a good way to add color to a low water use landscape. Established trumpet vines have a high tolerance for drought and will grow in a variety of soil conditions, including moist or dry soils that are composed of sand, loam or clay. They prefer well-draining soil, and do better in soils that are acidic or only slightly alkaline.

Tropical Feel

Though trumpet vines are resiliant, the bright flowers work well in a tropical-inspired landscape. For example, they can be trained up a wall or trellises around a patio. Different cultivars bear different colored flowers, including scarlet, dark red, orange and yellow. To encourage more flowers, plant trumpet vine in full sun. The vines will grow in shade, but do not flower as well. Once planted, trumpet vines require little maintenance other than trimming, and pests or diseases are generally not a problem.

Vining Screen

Trumpet vines can be trained up walls or trellises to provide privacy or add height to landscape designs. The vines grow fast, and will quickly cover a trellis, pole, wall or arbor. They climb using aerial roots, to anchor them to the support structure, and with twining stems that can be trained to weave through a trellis. Because the vines grow so rapidly and so large, the largest branches may need to be tied to the support structure. The vines can also be managed by trimming in early spring, and pinching back the tips of new stems throughout the growing season.

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