Wisteria

[Robinjay]

Posted a similar thread about our Virginia creeper recently and got some good advice.

I have a similar question about this Wisteria. Again we want to keep it and have it trail over our back windows. But there's just so much wood and branches here. Wondering how much we can cut back of this now during the winter and not risk killing it off?


Would be happy to cut it back substantially and let it take a few years to trail over the windows again if it means we can tidy up some of these branches?

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Have a look through Sean Regan's threads, he grows wisteria and keeps it well ordered, he mentioned stripping leaves off and starting to prune recently in the 'What did you do in the garden today' thread recently.
I reckon you could make a good start taking out the crossing over stuff. The recommended time for doing it is Jan to Feb, but with most of the leaves off I reckon you could start anytime. Sean seems to take his back pretty hard and reduce the number of branches.

 

[Sean Regan]

It's a big job.

We can't see the whole plant, but you need to decide what you want to keep.
It's then a question of tracing each branch back down to the root. Then marking them so you don't accidentally cut them.
You can then start stripping out what you don't want to keep. Start near the root and progress upwards, cutting out a manageable section of each branch, one at a time. Don't try to pull them all out in one go.

At the moment, the energy of the plant is going in far too many directions.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Taking it in small sections makes sense, trying to strip out a long length might well damage the bits you want I guess.

 

[cpp gardener]

Or the house.

 

[nilsaflorida]

Taking it in small sections makes sense, trying to strip out a long length might well damage the bits you want I guess.

You are right!

 

[blenor]

There is à mature wisteria in the front garden - originally a cutting from a grandmother's bush - which has been cut back quite hard a number of times to keep away from the windows and to allow decorating or building work. It is still vigorous and is a mass of flowers every year with a sweet scent. I do clip back the last year's growth to about three buds from a branch (Jan or feb) and keep it trained like a smallish tree or bush. A sprinkling of bone meal around the roots also seems to help. I also prune the long tendrils which shoot out during the growing season. It certainly does no harm!

 

[Sean Regan]

The best description of a wisteria is that it's like a weed. Hard to kill.

 

[blenor]

I wouldn't like to try to kill it. I'm sure that it would fight back and sprout up in the middle of the lawn again as it has once or twice.

 

[Robinjay]

It's a big job.

We can't see the whole plant, but you need to decide what you want to keep.
It's then a question of tracing each branch back down to the root. Then marking them so you don't accidentally cut them.
You can then start stripping out what you don't want to keep. Start near the root and progress upwards, cutting out a manageable section of each branch, one at a time. Don't try to pull them all out in one go.

At the moment, the energy of the plant is going in far too many directions.

So I made a start. I think that will do for this year. Succeeded in reducing the quantity of branches/wood I think.

Let's hope it looks ok in Spring!

 

[oneeye]

So I made a start. I think that will do for this year. Succeeded in reducing the quantity of branches/wood I think.

Let's hope it looks ok in Spring!

That is a lot of work and you did a good job friend. I'm looking forward to seeing it in the Spring so please keep us posted.

 

[Sean Regan]

This is not a criticism. Sometimes you "inherit" an "untrained," wisteria when you buy a property.

For any one new to this plant. It's important to establish "who is boss," from the get-go. Restrict it to a single trunk, It'll push out new shoots from the base, "within hours of you planting it."

Train the branches laterally, if space allows. We restricted them to about five main branches each side. Let more branches grow from these. Remove any others that start to grow. These are supported by strong wires strung between the concrete posts. They aren't fixed in this position, so they can move along the wires.
We bought this in a six in pot thirty-five years ago.

Prune side shoots down to between two and four buds, NOW!


Then you'll get this in May.

Once the blossom has fallen, you'll get a lot of foliage from mid-summer to autumn, which will hide most of the branches and the trunk.
During this time it will try to ruin your handiwork, by continuing to throw out new shoots from "everywhere" until October. These will grow several inches overnight.
These really need pruning off almost weekly.

Once these start to "turn" in late October, a couple of weeks after I took this photo, I strip off the leaves. It's not essential, but it saves me collecting fallen leaves, "forever."

This is our youngest wisteria, it's about ten years old it's white, it shares the pergola on the side of the garage with two blue ones, either side.

This is an example of what wisterias try to do.

It tries to send out new shoots from just above the root every year. There's probably about a dozen scars where I've pruned off this unwanted growth.
I took this photo today.

 

[Robinjay]

Are you saying I should be more aggressive?

The problem is that some of those spindly newer shoots from the base have become some of the more established and voluminous branches further up (above the window for example).

(Thanks for the super detailed reply though!)

 

[Robinjay]

So here's an update on this with a further question.

As you can see there are a few branches that have no buds on them yet. Are these likely to remain this way, ie can they be chopped back?

I still feel there is a lot of wood/branch there that is redundant.

 

[Sean Regan]

The buds are formed in February/March. You'll see two types of buds. Fat ones which will produce the blossom and thin ones which will just be foliage. By now they will all be formed. You won't get any more blossom. You've got quite a bit of blossom there. As you say, you've got far too many branches. Too much of the plant's energy is going into this many.
You could easily lose three-quarters of them. This will encourage more side shoots to form off the main ones. It will continue to put out more shoots from the base if you don't prune them off.