Vetches: planting, pruning & the most beautiful species

Vetches are widely grown wild plants or can be grown as forage and food crops. We provide an overview of vetch species, their requirements and possible uses.

Vetches (Vicia) are versatile crops: they are sometimes grown for animal feed, food, green manure, or ornamentation. We introduce some species and give tips on planting vetches in the garden.

Vetches: origin and characteristics

Vetches belong to the legume family (Fabaceae), are represented with numerous species in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere and are thus also widespread in Europe. Sweet pea (Lathyrus) is also known as noble vetch, but is not more closely related to true vetches. Most vetch species are annuals, but there are also hardy and perennial plants.

Vetches are often filigree plants with thin stems that grow creeping to climbing. An exception is the vigorous and erect field bean (Vicia faba). On average, the plants reach a height of growth between 30 and 100 cm, but can also grow up to 200 cm high. Vetches form a dense and deep root network. Typical of butterfly plants, vetches also enter into a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria called rhizobia (Rhizobium). These settle in around nodules on the roots and fix nitrogen, which they provide for the plant in exchange for sugar from photosynthesis. This allows vetches to survive on very poor, nitrogen-deficient soils.

The leaves of the vetch, consisting of up to thirteen pairs of leaflets, are alternate, pinnate and ovate, elliptic to lanceolate in shape. They usually end in a fine tendril. The yellow, white, red-purple or blue-violet butterfly flowers sit singly or together in a multi-flowered, long raceme. The flowering period of vetch is in the summer between June and August. Vetches can self-pollinate, but cross-pollination is not uncommon because the flowers provide large amounts of nectar. Vetches are therefore often a component of bee pastures. After fertilisation, elongated, flat to around pods form, containing two to eight around or flat seeds. Vetch seed can be creamy white, beige, light brown to reddish brown in colour. At seed maturity, the dry pods burst open and partially eject the vetch seed.

How deep do vetches take root? Vetches are deep-rooted plants. Exactly how deep they root depends on various site factors such as soil type. On suitable soils, vetch roots reach more than 100 cm in depth.

The most popular species and varieties

In Europe, numerous vetch species are widespread and sometimes appear in the garden as wild plants. Some vetches can be used as vegetables or green manure. We give an overview of the most popular species and varieties.

• Field bean (Vicia faba): Old familiar vegetable species with strongly erect plants, pinnate leaves and large, white, dark striped or red flowers with black eye. From it develop pods with thick seeds, which are also called puff beans or broad beans. Popular varieties are ‘Bioro’, ‘Hangdown’, ‘Tiffany’, ‘Ratio’ or ‘Reina Mora’.
• Pea vetch (Vicia pisiformis): Climbing, perennial and hardy vetch with large pods and around, pea-like seeds. When young, they can be used like sugar snap peas, and when dried, they can be used like sweet peas.
• Hairy vetch (Vicia hirsuta): A common vetch species found in cereal fields, dry meadows, or roadsides, with growth heights up to 50 cm. The rough pubescence of the leaves and the soft pubescence of the two-seeded pods are typical. Rough-haired vetch blooms from June to August and features light purple to whitish, rather small flowers.

• Common vetch (Vicia sativa): Widely used annual green manure crop, especially for nitrogen-hungry vegetables such as kale (Brassica). The vigorously growing, deep-rooted summer vetches grow up to 80 cm high and produce red-purple flowers and also serve as a bee pasture. It is also used for fodder production.
• Bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia): One of the very first useful plants of man, now rarely cultivated and prepared like lentils (Lens culinaris). Therefore, she also got the nickname lentil vetch. The extremely protein-rich seed thrives on filigree plants about 50 cm high with red-purple flowers and later elongated pods with creamy white vetch seeds.

• Tufted vetch (Vicia cracca): Low-lying to climbing, 30-100 cm tall, widespread species of vetch in Europe. It forms dark purple-blue flowers, 10-30 of which sit together in long clusters and bloom between June and August.
• Wood vetch (Vicia sylvatica): Species found mainly in mountain forests at altitudes up to over 2000 m. The low-lying to climbing plants can reach a growth height of 50-200 cm. They produce long clusters of white, purple-veined butterfly flowers from June to August.

• Bush vetch (Vicia sepium): Widespread, 30-60 cm tall, climbing vetch species that stays upright by means of its tendrils. It forms several sessile, purple-striped butterfly flowers between May and August.
• Fodder vetch (Vicia villosa): Also known as winter vetch, cold-tolerant green manure plant with soft hairs on stem, leaves, and calyces. The deep-rooted fodder vetch, which blooms in reddish-purple clusters, accumulates nitrogen in the soil, serves as bee pasture and can also be used as animal feed.

Are vetches weeds?

In principle, vetches are extremely useful plants, as they provide food for insects, strongly root the subsoil and fix nitrogen. Vetches are indicator plants for nitrogen-poor soils and can spread more than other plants on such sites because they produce their own nitrogen supply thanks to nodule bacteria. Thus, vetches can establish in places in lawns and as undesirable weeds in beds and spread rapidly. Especially on green areas, regular lawn fertilisation ensures that grasses become more competitive and vetches disappear again. In beds, unwanted vetches can be removed manually before seed set.

Planting vetches

Vetches are adaptable plants and thrive in more difficult soils. We give tips on the location and sowing vetches.

The right location

The ideal location for vetches is in deep, well-moisture retentive, nutrient-poor soils in full sun to partial shade. They thrive even on heavy ground, as long as waterlogging does not prevail. The optimum pH of the soil is between 6.2 and 7.2 in the slightly acidic to neutral range.

Sowing vetches

Vetches should be sown directly into the bed. Pre-cultivation is not necessary, but possible for field beans for earliness. The dark seedlings are sown from March to April about 5 cm deep in the soil. The distance between planting is about 10 cm. With regular watering and optimal germination temperature of 8-15 °C, the first seedlings appear after one to three weeks. Vetches are rarely sown as a single species, as they are included in numerous flowering mixtures.

Vetches as green manure

Vetches quickly form a lot of organic matter, root deeply and add nitrogen to the soil. All these advantages make vetches ideal green manure plants. Annual freezing vetch species such as summer vetch are usually selected for use as a nitrogen-enriching winter cover crop. Alternatively, frost-tolerant winter vetch can be used as a green manure. It is cut, mulched and raked under in the spring to incorporate the organic matter into the soil. Sowing vetches for green manure is done in late summer from August to September.

The right care

Vetches are low maintenance plants, they do not require fertilization or pruning. However, in the seedling stage, they should be watered regularly in dry, hot weather. After germination, it may be necessary to remove unwanted weeds until the vetches become competitive. This is especially important for edible vetches and field beans, also to simplify harvesting. Green manure requires no care other than any initial watering until the plants are mulched.

Vetches are easy to propagate as they usually produce numerous seeds. The pods are harvested at seed maturity, when they become increasingly dry and brown, and laid out to dry for a few days. They then often open on their own or are cored out to recover the vetch seeds. They can be stored dry, cool and dark without problems for four to five years without losing germination.

Which vetches are hardy?

Winter-hardy vetch species are pea vetch, bird vetch, forest vetch, winter vetch and fence vetch. They sometimes die above ground in late fall and sprout fresh or remain green into spring. Perennial vetches are completely hardy and do not require any winter protection in the garden.

Are vetches poisonous or edible?

In principle, vetches are not poisonous. The tender shoots and flowers of fence vetch or bird vetch, for example, can be eaten raw. However, the green pods and seeds contain mildly toxic alkaloids that serve to protect against feeding. Heat destroys these molecules, which are harmful to us, which is why vetches can be eaten cooked, boiled or blanched without worry. All parts of the pea-vetch are also edible raw. Vetch seeds can be prepared like lentils, but require a long soaking and cooking time.

The large legume family also includes the lupins (Lupinus). With us you can read which species are suitable as attractive garden perennials or for growing edible lupine seeds and how to grow them successfully in the garden.