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Fact Sheet: Training a Climber

Millie shows us how to train a climber to properly cover a wall

Presenter: Millie Ross, 15/07/2017

SERIES 28 - Episode 20

How to ensure your climbing plants fill a space rather than just racing skywards and tangling up at the top.

The solution starts with planting. The aim is to train the plant to grow horizontally from the beginning, a bit like espaliering a tree.

  1. Pick your two best stems and tie them down to the horizontal frame. You can even use tent pegs to secure the stem outward to the ground.

  2. Remove any extra growth from the middle of the plant so that the energy is going to the main lateral stems.

  3. Training the plant horizontally takes the energy from a dominant end bud and shares it amongst the buds along the stem.

  4. When the buds along the first lateral stems start to grow, train them horizontally as well. This will mean the whole are is filled with the climbing plant.

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