How to grow Sweet Peas?

How to plant and train Sweet Peas?

Scented peas are sown in clusters of 3 seeds directly in place in April or under cover with planting in May. A wall or support exposed to the sun all day or to morning sun and afternoon shade in the hottest regions suits them perfectly, while avoiding drafts. They appreciate rich, cool, consistent, and well-draining soil.

When the shoots reach about fifteen centimetres, you can start guiding them towards the support by tying them with ties such as raffia, coconut string, or hemp rope. This will allow them to begin climbing the support. Remember to orient the shoots in a fan shape so that they fill it out evenly.

Make sweet peas climb a teepee

To support Sweet Peas, a teepee structure is ideal as it provides beautiful verticality to punctuate the flower beds. For this, you will need:

• Bamboo stakes or branches between 1.5 and 2 m in length. Each teepee should have at least 5 stakes.
• Strong string
• Your planting tools: spade, hoe, rake, claw, and a watering can
• Scissors and a pruning shear

Setting up is simple:

• Choose a sunny location
• Arrange your sticks in a circle, pushing them into the soil to a depth of 10 cm to ensure the structure is stable and sturdy
• Bind the tops of the sticks together using the string
• You can connect the sticks with horizontal strings every 20 cm along the height of the teepee. This will help the Sweet Peas cling more easily.
• Plant or sow the Sweet Peas with your planting tools and guide them as they start to climb so they attach to the support. Guide them around the teepee as they grow to cover the entire structure.

Beautiful flowering teepees will add height and colour to your garden, easily and quickly

Get sweet peas to climb on a trellis or fence.

Supports such as trellises are perfectly suited for climbing Sweet Peas. There is a plethora of trellises: made from wood, plastic, or metal, with straight or angled designs, integrated into planters or pots, etc. It is best to favour natural materials, and if you feel crafty, you can make them yourself from wooden battens or branches.

Trellises allow Sweet Peas to be easily integrated near a home to quickly fill an empty space or hide the faded render of a building. They can also be easily attached to a fence to enhance its appearance or brighten up somewhat dull areas.

The tendrils of Sweet Peas allow them to easily cling to trellises and fences

Make sweet peas climb a obelisk

Obelisks add a touch of elegance and classicism to the garden, and Sweet Peas will adorn them beautifully. You will find various models and sizes of obelisks available commercially, unless you prefer to make one yourself. Those skilled with their hands can embark on creating a wooden structure, perhaps by recycling pallet wood. You can then paint your creation or leave it in its natural wood state.

Not feeling capable of making such a structure? Opt for creating an obelisk from willow, chestnut, or bamboo branches, similar to a teepee but with a squarer base and horizontal supports. Everything can be tied together with sturdy string.

Whether classic in painted wood or more natural in branches, the obelisk adds verticality and elegance to the garden

Let sweet peas climb up a small fence or trellis.

Thanks to its rampant nature, Sweet Pea will easily cling to a fence, a wooden palisade, or a hurdle. Country gardens are often equipped with these small fences and barriers that can be very rewarding to flower throughout the beautiful season. Feel free to sow or plant along any linear space you wish to flower and guide the stems at the beginning of growth to cover this structure in a homogeneous way.

Flowering wooden fences and hurdles with Sweet Peas

Get Sweet Peas to Climb on Supports

Wooden stakes (sweet chestnut, hazel, ash, bamboo), sturdy battens, or reinforcing bars can serve as supports for climbing Sweet Peas. Create a solid structure reinforced with horizontal elements attached with durable twine, according to your garden and imagination. The Sweet Peas sown or planted at the base will climb this structure.

This solution can be ideal for quickly and inexpensively greening a garden or a bed under development during a season. Sweet Peas planted at the base of the supports will need guidance at first, then will attach themselves with their tendrils as they grow. Remember to remove the flowers as soon as they fade to prevent pod formation and prolong flowering.

Plant Sweet Peas at the base of supports; they will beautifully fill the space at little cost

For further reading...

For everything you need to know about growing and sowing sweet peas, check out our sheet “Sweet Peas: Planting, Growing, Care and Use” and our illustrated tutorial: “How to Succeed in Sowing Sweet Peas”