Crown vetch is widely planted along highways to control erosion off of the slopes. Some caution should be taken when using this plant, since once established it can become very aggressive and difficult to eradicate.
Plant Type
All Plants, Groundcovers and vines
Hardiness Zone
#4
Sunlight
full sun, tolerates light shade
Soil & Site
Tolerates infertile poor soils where few other plants will grow, in rich soil it quickly spreads. Prefers a ph of 6.0-7.5, will not tolerate below 5.5.
Flowers
pink in June and July, dense umbels, long peduncles that arise from the leaf axil.
Leaves
alternate, pinnately compound, 11-25 leaflets and green
Stems
form a tangled mass as they grow together becoming difficult to walk through
Dimensions
1-2 feet high
Maintenance
If used in an urban site it should be cut to keep it compact. It doesn't like to be closely cut and this may be a way of controlling its spread. I have observed this at the school where I teach. In the wooded area, the Crown Vetch has creeped in a solid mass up to the edge of the Cross Country course. This course is always mowed and the plant is nonexistent. Crown vetch has jumped over to the other side of the course and is becoming invasive into the natural area. Now it is fighting it out with Canadian Goldenrod.
Propagation
Seeds which need to be inoculated or division of crowns.
Misc Facts
The word Coronilla is latin for little crown describing the dense cluster of flowers. Europe
Notes & Reference
#68-Groundcovers for the Midwest (Voight, Hamilton, Giles)