When to plant and prune Virginia creeper
Virginia creeper is grown for foliage and form rather than flowers and the dates below cover planting, flowering and the pruning window.
Planting, flowering and pruning by region
Virginia creeper is grown to the calendar rather than to the frost, so the same dates apply across the whole UK and every region below reads the same. Where a plant’s timings do follow the frost, Plot shifts them from the Midlands and Lowland Wales baseline using Met Office average frost dates.
| Where you are | Plant | Prune |
|---|---|---|
| South West Coast and Cornwall | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| South Coast and Channel | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| Greater London (Urban Heat Island) | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| South East and Home Counties | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| East Anglia | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| Midlands and Lowland Wales | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| Wales and West Coast | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| Northern England | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| Scotland Lowlands and Central Belt | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| Scotland Highlands and Islands | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| Northern Ireland | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
| Channel Islands and Isle of Man | late March to mid May | early November to late December |
Growing notes
Self-clinging by adhesive pads, so no wires are needed, but it is very vigorous and needs cutting back yearly to keep it out of gutters, windows and roof tiles. It is listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, so it must never be planted or dumped in the wild.
At a glance
- Spacing
- 250 cm between plants
- Eventual height
- 1200 cm
- Eventual spread
- 600 cm
- Hardiness
- H6
- Sun
- Shade tolerant
- Frost tender
- No
- Grows in a container
- No
- Balcony rating
- 1 out of 5
Feeding
An annual spring mulch is enough; extra feeding only makes it grow faster.
Pruning group
RHS pruning group 11: cut back to fit the space in early winter once the leaves have dropped; long shoots can also be shortened in summer.
What usually goes wrong
- very vigorous growth blocking gutters and windows
- glasshouse red spider mite
- vine weevil in containers
Related guides
Timings cross-checked against RHS guidance for virginia creeper.