| Genus
- Wisteria |
|
| Common Names
- Wisteria |
| Growth Rate
- Medium to Fast |
| Height
- Up to 9m |
| Spread
- Up to 5m |
| Position
- Full sun or very
light shade |
| Hardiness
- Fully Hardy |
| Flowering
Period - May
to June |
| Flower Colour: White,
Pink or Purple depending on cultivar |
| Habit
- Twining climber. Wisteria is ideal for training into
trees and covering walls, pergolas and other garden
structures. |
| Soil - Fertile,
moist, well-drained soil |
| Origin
- There are ten
species of Wisteria native to the eastern United States and
to China, Korea, and Japan. Japanese Wisteria grows to 25 feet
tall and its blooms are 12 to 18 inches long.
Chinese Wisteria is bigger and grows to more than
25 feet with flowers 6 to 12 inches long. |
| Wildlife
Benefits - |
| Buying notes - When
buying Wisteria choose one that has been grown from cuttings
or by grafting. Seed raised wisterias flower less reliably and also take longer to flower. Grafted plants can be
detected by the visible bulge of the graft union near the
base of the stem. Named cultivars are almost always grafted,
whereas species plants may not be. |
| Wisteria
available
online from - Gardening Shop UK |
|
| Wisterias
are beautifully aromatic deciduous climbers with spectacular hanging flowers. The twining stems
grow in a clockwise manner, keep this in mind when
training as a lot of energy can be wasted by the
plant when trying to undo itself from a
anticlockwise direction. |
| Wisteria
is ideal for training up pergolas, trellis, wires
and trees and is a popular climber in China and
Japan. |
| There are ten
species of wisteria native to the eastern United States and
to China, Korea, and Japan. Japanese Wisteria grows to 25 feet
tall and its blooms are 12 to 18 inches long.
Chinese Wisteria is bigger and grows to more than
25 feet with flowers 6 to 12 inches long. |
| Wisterias can be
trained against walls with the use of horizontal supports
and on garden structures such as pergolas and as standards in
pots and borders. When grown and shown correctly they can
create a wonderful focal point in any garden. Originally
growing in forests using trees as supports and taking
nutrients from the leaf falls Wisteria will thrive in
similar man made conditions in our gardens. Choose a spot
that allows the roots to be shaded and the top growth to
find the sun. Use well rotted manure, not fresh, when
preparing the site as this can cause root burn on new
plants. Maintain the area annually by adding a top dressing
of organic matter every spring. Wisteria grows and flowers
by searching for tree branches and winding the shoots
clockwise around them, this can be imitated by using wire or
structures. The wire should be placed along a wall or a
fence in horizontal lines ensuring the wire is securely
attached. When training the plant to the wire twist the
shoot in a clockwise direction or the plant will simply
untwist itself and waste energy in doing so. |
| Young plants grown from
seeds can take up to 20 years to flower, the varieties
listed below are grafted onto mature rootstock to ensure
quick flowering. |
|
| Wisteria
Pruning |
| Young
Wisteria - Choose
a Wisteria with short flower trusses to display against
walls and fences. Space the branches 40-60cm apart
initially and thin if needed as the plant spreads out
with regular pruning. Wisteria with longer flower
trusses show best on pergolas and arches. For standard
trained Wisteria you need a young single-stemmed plant
and a strong stake of the length that you require your
plant to grow to that is not going to rot or give way
whilst the plant is growing. Once you have allowed the
plant to grow outwards it will no longer continue to
grow upwards. Once the desired height has been achieved
remove the tip in late winter, this will cause side
shoots to grow at the top thus building up a head of
branches. To encourage this further prune every winter
to 15-30cm or if the shoots are weak or damaged prune
back completely. Late summer pruning can start once the
head is developing, prune back to above the 7th
leaf all shoots that you do not require and then prune
again in late winter to within 3cm of their bases. |
| Mature
Wisteria -
Established Wisteria requires bi-annual pruning for
optimum flowering and to keep control over the growth
and size of the plant. In late summer prune all of the
current side-shoot growths to 30cms leaving only the
shoots you require to replace any worn out branches or
those you wish to train on. In late winter hard pruning
is required to promote growth and flowering. Cut back to
within 5cms of the main stem above a bud, again leaving
only the shoots you require to extend the growth of the
plant or to cover bare spaces. |
| Pruning
Summary |
| Why -
Wisteria needs pruning to keep the growth down to a
manageable size as well as improving the flowering
vigour.
Watch
- Keep an eye on Wisteria getting into building fabric
like guttering, fascias and prevent from covering
windows.
When -
Twice a year. Winter prune in January, Summer prune in
July.
Summer
Prune - Prune the current seasons shoots right down
to 5 or 6 leaves after flowering.
Winter
Prune - When the plant is dormant cut back the same
shoots to two or three buds. |
|
| Wisteria
available
online from - Gardening Shop UK |
