21 Best Plants To Grow Along Your Fence Line

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Looking to enhance your fence line with beautiful, functional plants? Whether you want to add privacy, attract pollinators, or create a lush backdrop for your garden, the right plants can turn a simple fence into a stunning landscape feature. This guide shows you the best plants to grow along a fence line for a natural, eye-catching border.

clematis plants growing along a wooden fence line.

Benefits of Growing Plants Along Your Fence Line

Incorporating plants along your fence offers numerous advantages beyond just aesthetics. Here are some key benefits:

Increased Privacy: Tall shrubs and climbing vines create a natural barrier, shielding your yard from prying eyes.
Noise Reduction: Dense foliage helps absorb sound, making your outdoor space more peaceful.
Wildlife Attraction: Many plants provide nectar and shelter for birds, bees, and butterflies.
Erosion Control: Deep-rooted plants help stabilize soil and prevent erosion along fence lines.
Seasonal Interest: A mix of flowering, evergreen, and deciduous plants ensures year-round visual appeal.

Now, let’s explore the best plants for your fence line!

Climbing and Vining Plants

1. Clematis

Clematis is a beautiful, fast-growing vine that produces large, eye-catching flowers in a variety of colors. It thrives best in full sun, but its roots prefer shade, making mulch or ground cover plants an excellent companion.

This vine can climb fences, trellises, or arbors, creating a stunning vertical display. With proper pruning and care, clematis can bloom multiple times a year, providing long-lasting beauty.

2. Honeysuckle

Lonicera japonica Thunb or Japanese honeysuckle yellow and white flower in garden.

Honeysuckle is a fragrant vine that attracts hummingbirds and bees with its sweet-smelling flowers. The trumpet-shaped blooms come in shades of yellow, pink, and red, adding color and charm to your fence line.

This hardy plant grows quickly and requires minimal maintenance, making it a great choice for covering fences. It can tolerate a range of soil types and light conditions, thriving in both sun and partial shade.

3. Climbing Roses

Beautiful pink climbing roses in spring in the garden.

Climbing roses bring elegance and timeless beauty to any fence with their cascading blooms. These hardy plants come in various colors and varieties, adding romance and sophistication to outdoor spaces.

With proper training and support, climbing roses can spread beautifully along a fence, creating a natural floral wall. They require regular pruning and fertilization but reward gardeners with continuous blooms throughout the growing season.

4. Virginia Creeper

Colorful red leaves of a Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) on the fence.

Virginia creeper is a fast-growing vine that provides lush green foliage in spring and summer. In the fall, its leaves turn vibrant shades of red and orange, adding seasonal interest to your fence line.

This hardy plant can thrive in almost any soil and light condition, making it an easy-care option. It attaches itself to fences with small tendrils, quickly creating a dense and natural covering.

5. Trumpet Vine

Red trumpet vine flower buds- Latin name - Campsis radicans.

Trumpet vine is a vigorous climber that produces bold, orange-red trumpet-shaped flowers. It’s a magnet for hummingbirds and can quickly transform a fence into a tropical-looking garden feature.

Although beautiful, this plant can be aggressive, so it requires regular pruning to prevent it from overtaking nearby structures. It thrives in full sun and well-draining soil, making it an excellent choice for warm climates.

6. Bougainvillea

Colorful Pink bougainvillea glabra flowers in the garden.

Bougainvillea is a show-stopping vine known for its brilliant, papery flowers in shades of pink, purple, and red. It thrives in warm, dry climates and can tolerate poor soil conditions.

This plant climbs fences and trellises with ease, creating a vibrant, cascading effect. Bougainvillea requires minimal water once established, making it perfect for drought-prone areas.

7. Passionflower

Blooming purple passionflower in a yard.

Passionflower is an exotic-looking vine that produces intricate, fragrant flowers in shades of purple and white. Its unique, otherworldly appearance makes it a stunning choice for adding visual interest to your fence line.

This vine grows quickly and provides dense coverage, making it useful for privacy and shade. Passionflower also attracts butterflies, adding an extra layer of beauty to your garden.

Shrubs for Privacy and Structure

8. Arborvitae

Arborvitae green privacy hedge with cloudy sky above.

Arborvitae is a popular evergreen shrub that creates a dense, year-round privacy screen. Its tall, columnar shape makes it an excellent choice for lining fences and blocking out unwanted views.

This low-maintenance plant thrives in full sun to partial shade and adapts well to different soil types. With minimal pruning, arborvitae can maintain its neat, structured appearance for years.

9. Cherry Laurel

Cherry laurel bush with long white flowers.

Cherry laurel is a fast-growing, evergreen shrub that forms a lush, natural barrier along fences. Its glossy green leaves provide a rich backdrop, and in spring, it produces small, fragrant white flowers.

This hardy shrub thrives in various conditions, including shade and poor soil. It requires occasional pruning to keep its shape but remains an excellent low-maintenance option for privacy.

10. Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are beloved for their large, colorful blooms that change shades depending on soil pH. Their rounded clusters of flowers add a soft, romantic touch to any fence line.

These shrubs thrive in partial shade and moist, well-drained soil. With proper pruning, they can bloom year after year, bringing beauty and charm to your yard.

11. Boxwood

Boxwood shrubs offer a classic, structured look along fences, making them a favorite for formal landscapes. Their dense, evergreen foliage can be trimmed into neat hedges or left to grow naturally.

These plants are slow-growing but highly durable, tolerating various soil conditions. Once established, they require minimal care and provide year-round greenery.

12. Forsythia

Forsythia flowers in front of with green grass and blue sky.

Forsythia is one of the earliest blooming shrubs, bursting into bright yellow flowers in early spring. Its cheerful color makes it a fantastic way to brighten up a fence line.

This fast-growing plant is highly adaptable and thrives in both sun and partial shade. With minimal pruning, it can quickly create a vibrant, natural hedge.

13. Lilac

Lilac shrubs are known for their intoxicating fragrance and lush purple, white, or pink flowers. They add both beauty and a delightful scent to any fence line in the spring.

These hardy plants thrive in cooler climates and require well-drained soil. Once established, they need little maintenance and can provide decades of beauty.

14. Privet

Privet is a dense, fast-growing shrub that forms a thick hedge for privacy. It can be trimmed into various shapes, making it a versatile option for fence lines.

This hardy plant thrives in different soil types and light conditions. With regular pruning, privet can maintain its shape and create an attractive, natural fence.

Perennials and Ornamental Grasses

15. Lavender

French lavender (Lavandula dentata) growing in a garden.

Lavender is a drought-tolerant perennial that produces fragrant purple flowers. It thrives in well-drained soil and full sun, making it perfect for adding a Mediterranean touch to your fence line.

This plant attracts pollinators like bees and butterflies while also repelling pests. Its aromatic foliage and beautiful blooms make it a great addition to any garden.

16. Russian Sage

Russian sage perennial that bloom spring to fall

Russian sage features silvery foliage and spiky lavender-blue flowers that bloom from summer to fall. It thrives in dry, sunny conditions and adds an airy, delicate texture to fence lines.

This low-maintenance perennial is highly drought-tolerant and resists deer and pests. Once established, it requires little care, making it an excellent choice for low-water gardens.

17. Miscanthus Grass

Mountain with Chinese silvergrass or maiden grass.

Miscanthus grass is a tall, ornamental grass that adds movement and texture to your fence line. Its feathery plumes emerge in late summer, creating a soft, elegant look.

This low-maintenance plant thrives in full sun and well-drained soil. It provides year-round interest, with golden-brown foliage in fall and winter.

18. Coneflower

Echinacea, or coneflower, is a hardy perennial that produces bright, daisy-like flowers in shades of pink, purple, and white. It’s a favorite among pollinators, attracting butterflies and bees to your garden.

This drought-tolerant plant thrives in full sun and well-drained soil. Its long-lasting blooms add color and charm to any fence line from summer through fall.

19. Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed susan or Rudbeckia hirta plant, brown betty, gloriosa daisy, golden Jerusalem.

Black-eyed Susan is a cheerful, sun-loving perennial with bright yellow petals and dark centers. It provides a burst of late-summer color and attracts beneficial insects.

This plant is easy to grow and thrives in various soil types. It requires little maintenance and reseeds itself, creating a natural, cottage-garden effect along fences.

20. Switchgrass

Switchgrass is a native ornamental grass that adds height and texture to your fence line. Its green foliage turns shades of red, gold, and purple in the fall, providing year-round interest.

This hardy grass is drought-tolerant and thrives in poor soil conditions. It also helps prevent erosion, making it a great choice for stabilizing sloped areas.

21. Daylilies

Orange perennial daylilies growing in a garden

Daylilies are vibrant, hardy perennials that bloom in a variety of colors, from bright yellow to deep red. Their trumpet-shaped flowers last only a day, but new blooms continue to appear throughout the season.

These low-maintenance plants thrive in both sun and partial shade. They are resistant to drought, pests, and diseases, making them an excellent choice for easy-care landscaping.

Purple lilac flowers growing along fence line.

Conclusion

Growing plants along your fence line can transform an ordinary boundary into a lush, vibrant feature of your garden. Whether you choose climbing vines, dense shrubs, or colorful perennials, each plant adds beauty, privacy, and character to your outdoor space.

By selecting a mix of fast-growing and low-maintenance plants, you can create a dynamic and ever-changing landscape. No matter your climate or style, there’s a perfect plant to enhance your fence line and bring your garden to life.

21 Best Plants To Grow Along Your Fence Line

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one of the links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read our affiliate disclosure here.

Benefits of Growing Plants Along Your Fence Line