Write about climbers in about 50 words.

Climbing plants are plants which climb up trees and other tall objects. Many of them are vines whose stems twine round trees and branches. There are quite a number of other methods of climbing.

The climbing habit has evolved many times..

It is a key innovation which has been very successful. Over 130 plant families include climbers. Vine species may represent more than 40% of species diversity in tropical forests.

It has evolved independently in several plant families, using many different climbing methods. Botanists generally divide climbing plants into two broad groups:

• Bines, which twine their stems around a support. Many bines have rough stems or downward-pointing bristles to aid their grip.
  • Hops are a commercially important bine.
  • Morning glory
  • Vines which use tendrils, suckers and other methods.

• • twining petioles 
  • using tendrils, which may be specialised shoots, leaves  
  • using tendrils which have adhesive pads at the end. The pads attach themselves quite strongly to the support.
  • using thorns  or other hooked structures, such as hooked branches 
  • by clinging roots 

The climbing fetter bush has a strange habit. It is a woody shrub vine which climbs without clinging roots, tendrils or thorns. Its stem goes into a crack in the bark of fibrous barked trees . The stem flattens and grows up the tree underneath the host tree's outer bark.

Most vines are flowering plants. These may be divided into woody vines or lianas, such as wisteria, kiwifruit, and common ivy, and herbaceous vines, such as morning glory.

One odd group of climbing plants is the fern genus called "climbing ferns".The stem does not climb, but rather the fronds  do. The fronds unroll from the tip, and theoretically never stop growing; they can form thickets as they unroll over other plants, rock faces, and fences.

Examples   A climbing rose

• Bougainvillaea
• Clematis
• Common ivy
• Cucumber
• Cyclamen
• Grape
• Honeysuckle
• Hydrangea
• Kudzu
• Morning glory
• Nepenthes

Climbing plants are plants which climb up trees and other tall objects. These plants have long and flexible stems that goes entwined around the support. Some of the examples of climbers are Money plant, Jasmine, Honeysuckle, Peas, Ivy, etc. 

 

Climbers are versatile plants that can often serve the same purpose as shrubs, while using less space. If you have a small garden, climbers can be used to hide walls, or fence off boundaries, without spreading into the limited space of the garden. Climbers can also be used to provide shelter or shade by enclosing structures, such as shadehouses, pergolas and arbours. They are also a cheap and easy way to cover up something unsightly, such as a shed or water tank, or to soften a harsh wall, fence or tree trunk. Many have very attractive flowers or foliage.

The only major problems are that, if left uncontrolled, some rampant climbers can block drain pipes or gutters on buildings, while some can do serious damage to the structure (or tree) they are clinging to. Some climbers cause less damage than others, but no matter what you use, you should check for damage every few years, and trim back the climber if need be. If you are worried about climbers causing damage, ones to avoid are those such as Hedera (ivy) and Ficus pumila which cling to even smooth surfaces such as a concrete wall, and can eventually grow into small cracks in the wall then expand enlarging those cracks.

Most climbers need something to climb on. You can use materials such as trellis, wire mesh, single wires or nylon strings (not jute -that will rot).
These can be readily attached to:

• A fence or wall.   A climber on a wall will create a softer appearance and help reduce temperature extremes (eg: keeping the garden cooler on a hot day).
• The supports or roof of a pergola, arbour or archway.
• Between two posts.
• A frame made of galvanised water pipe, or similar material.  
• Climbers can also be allowed to climb other plants, or even to scramble over rocks, tree stumps or logs.

 

Climber plants climb on trees and other straight objects.