Vicia cracca | tufted vetch

Scrambling small wildlife friendly climber with otherworldly colour

Scrambling and scribbly, Vicia cracca known as tufted vetch, is one of my top future plants for gardens. I first noticed it climbing up rusty metal fences in waste grounds of south London, then I spotted it growing among ox-eye daisies and grasses of meadows.

Pops of purple, pink and blue from its space-age vertical one-sided racemes of flower lend an almost ultraviolet colour, a colour I treasure in gardens.

Beautiful ladder leaves on stems as though I’ve scrawled on a piece of paper. Its mess shouldn’t work and yet it does. Creating a wonderful mound of non-stop colour all summer.

Need to know information about Vicia cracca

Part of the Fabaceae tribe, consisting of the peas and beans, Vicia cracca is a perennial scrambling wildflower that clings with short tendrils at the end of those compound leaves.

Originating from all over temperate parts of Eurasia, outside of this range it can be problematic in the wild, such as in the Americas. For us sitting on the Eurasian continent however, it’s a wonderful wild addition to gardens.

Tufted vetch needs full sun to part-shade, though it will tolerate any soil and seemingly any level of moisture. It does well in drought.

How to propagate Vicia cracca

Vicia cracca grows easily from seed collected from dried seed pods in late-summer, or from spreading rhizomes. Yet it never seems to takeover. Vegetative spread is slow and seeds seem to be sporadic at germinating, meaning we are never over run.

Try growing from seed in spring, it germinates easily. If you have some in your garden already, you can dig up some roots in spring when the shoots emerge to transplant elsewhere. It is illegal to do this in the wild and I don’t condone digging up any wild plant because it can harm that ecosystem - look out for seeds instead.

Using tufted vetch in garden design

One of my favourite combos is growing Vicia cracca in partnership with Geranium x oxonianum. The geranium creates an impenetrable groundcover for anything else, but the tufted vetch grows up through it. Both turning into a giant froth of pink and purple all summer.

You could try this with different coloured geraniums or replicate it with other plants. Try growing tufted vetch through other perennials or shrubs. I’m currently growing it through a Hydrangea which is making a perfect partner as the vetch allows light through to the other plants. In other spots, teasel are managing to grow through both as the tufted vetch climbs their strong tall stems.

Of course, you can also grow tufted vetch through hedges or up trellis. In meadows its growth will be reduced by competition, it clings daintily to grass stems.

Is tufted vetch edible?

Young shoots and flowers are reportedly edible in small quantities but it’s so wiry I personally wouldn’t ever bother. Apparantly in large quantities it can cause stomach upset.

Is Vicia cracca good for wildlife?

Tufted vetch growing in the same spot of our wildlife haven garden for the fifth year in a row, adding a much loved blast of purple

You betcha. All wild vetches are useful for wildlife above and below ground where the roots lock in atmospheric nitrogen like most pea plants. I see wild bumblebees visit tufted vetch frequently, and according to Durham Moths, it is used by Pea Moth, Cydia nigricana; Latticed Heath moth; Chiasmia clathrata; Blackneck moth, Lygephila pastinum; and Burnet Companion moth, Euclidia glyphica.

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Tufted vetch has been such a big part of my life for so many years, writing about it feels like talking about part of me. In our garden I’m hoping to grow more plants to add it to a few more spots. There are some in our meadow and I’ll try planting a few more plugs there, starting with the area closes to our garden fence to continuity of colour.