Asiatic Jasmine Care – Tips On Growing Asian Jasmine Vines

(Image credit: poteco)

Asiatic jasmine is not a true jasmine, but it is a popular, fast spreading, hardy groundcover in USDA zones 7b through 10. With fragrant flowers, low maintenance requirements, and dense trailing foliage, Asiatic jasmine is an excellent addition to any warm weather garden. Keep reading to learn more about Asiatic jasmine care and how to grow Asiatic jasmine as a groundcover and a trailing vine.

What is Asian Jasmine?

Asiatic jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum) is not actually related to jasmine plants, but it does produce white to yellow, fragrant, star-shaped flowers that are similar to jasmine. It is native to Japan and Korea and is hardy in USDA zones 7b through 10, where it grows as an evergreen groundcover. If it is allowed to grow continuously through the winter, it will form a dense leafy groundcover within two years. If grown as a groundcover, it will reach 6 to 18 inches (15-46 cm.) in height and 3 feet (91 cm.) in spread. Its leaves are dark green, small, and glossy. In the summer, it produces small, delicate, and very fragrant flowers, though in hotter climates flowers may be scarce.

How to Grow Asiatic Jasmine

Asiatic jasmine care is very minimal. The plants do best in moist and fertile soil, but they can handle much harsher conditions. They are tough and moderately drought and salt tolerant. The plants prefer full sun and will grow in most types of soil. They perform best when they are somewhat neglected. Occasional pruning is sometimes necessary to keep growth in check. The plants won’t climb, so growing Asian jasmine vines as groundcover or trailing vines is the most effective. They do very well in containers or window boxes, where they are allowed to hang down over the edges of balconies and railings.

Liz Baessler
Senior Editor

The only child of a horticulturist and an English teacher, Liz Baessler was destined to become a gardening editor. She has been with Gardening Know how since 2015, and a Senior Editor since 2020. She holds a BA in English from Brandeis University and an MA in English from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. After years of gardening in containers and community garden plots, she finally has a backyard of her own, which she is systematically filling with vegetables and flowers.