Wisteria - Care and Pruning

With a natural climbing habit, wisteria are a vigorous plant however they are easily pruned. They grow by twining or winding their stems around any support they can find. In cultivation they do require to be controled and we can start with where to grow them.

Wisteria are best planted with a support that is not a structural part of a building, they are best trained up wires, and even on a pergola they should not be allowed to wind themselves around the supports, use a wire instead.

In terms of pruning it will depend on they style of growth, climbing, which is the most common, or standardised, which is increasinly popular especially in small spaces and for container grown wisteria.

Pruning Climbing Wisteria

All wisterias are strong growing plants and they will wrap themselves around branches, posts, patio supports, in fact anything, looks great, but is not practical.

It is very difficult to prune a wisteria that has entangled itself in the structure of a building. We suggest using wires to support a climbing wisteria, in the long term you may appreciate the advice.

As for pruning, wisteria are forgiving, you can use a controlled method that will promote more flowers and a bushy habit. Or you can simply cut back as needed in winter to developing buds.

Our pruning method.

• Prune regularly from a young age to form a framework that suits the frame you are traing the wisteria to grow on.
• Leave the leaders that you need to form the framework.
• Each year prune the current years growth back to around 4 - 6 inches long as soon as the flowers have finnished. The pruning should leave 5 - 6 leaf joints on each stem. We leave some of the current growth, because wisteria flower on the last seasons growth.
• You can, second prune, after the first cut back new growth will be fast, so consider cutting this back to 2 leaf joints. This maintains a really bushy habit.
• Remove any unwanted leaders
• Prune any suckers from grafted varieties that are shooting from below the graft
• You can also winter prune, leaving 2 - 4 buds on each stem.

Pruning Standard Wisteria

Wisteria species are many, with Wisteria sinensis the most common seen scrambling along fences, pergolas and even over buildings. A lovely plant, but what about a standard wisteria ?

These are plants that have been trained in nurseries with one strong leader to a height of around 6ft (2m), side shoots and buds are pruned away.

The leader is then pruned and side shoots from the top of that tall stem form a weeping cascade of wonderful wisteria. Wisteria longissima is a great candidate for this treatment. And as we have just trained our standard wisteria to but out sideways growth, then the flowering will be prolific.

General Wisteria Care

Wisteria require a little fertiliser, even in good soil, the trick is to dig in lots of well rotted compost and manure 4 - 6 weeks before planting.

The time gives the compost time to settle in and eliminates slumping. When planting make sure you place the plant at the same ground level as it was in the pot.

Firm in well, and water in with your favourite seaweed solution. A general purpose slow release fertilizer applied at the end of winter as new growth appears should keep your wisteria growing happily