Remove seedpods at will or leave a few for winter interest. If you bring any indoors for display/decoration, be aware that the ambient warmth of the home may cause them toexplode. For how to grow wisteria successfully, follow these step by steps to start it off well. The method is that for planting bare root trees and shrubs: 1. Soak the wisteria Leave your young wisteria unpruned until it has covered the wall or garden structure and then begin the regular pruning to encourage flowering. Each spring, apply a layer of compost under the plant and a 2-inch layer of mulch to retain moisture and controlweeds.

Wisteria grows so fast it feels like you can see it happening. Shoots branch out continually and can easily put out as much as ten feet of growth in a single year, sometimes even 25, in all different directions. By the time it’s mature, Wisteria can reach 30 feet in height. Once planted, pruning is about the only important requirement for wisteria vine care. Since this vine is an aggressive grower, there’s no need for fertilizing and being drought tolerant, wisteria requires little watering. Training Wisteria Vines & When to Prune Wisteria Origins Most are found in Japan, but wisteria are also native to China and the USA. The three most commonly grown species in the UK are Wisteria floribunda (Japanese wisteria), Wisteria sinensis (Chinese wisteria) and Wisteria brachybotrys (silky wisteria).If you’re wondering how to tell the difference between American and Asian varieties, then you’ll find the answer in how the vines grow. Asian varieties grow much faster than American types, and Asian varieties also produce fuzzy seed pods. Foreign varieties of wisteria include Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda), and Chinese wisteria (Wisteria Sinensis). Both of these varieties are not native to Northern America, and many U.S states classify wisteria as an invasive species. Winter is the time to clean up and shape your Wisteria. How much you need to do depends on how formal of a look you want. Avoid leaf spot by keeping your plant well pruned and by watering at the soil level rather than on the leaves. Best Uses for Wisteria Flowers Silky wisteria ( Wisteria brachybotrys) has downy leaves and short racemes of 10-15cm (4-6in) and can be grown against walls or on pergolas. Wisteria brachybotrys f. albiflora 'Shiro-kapitan' AGM has white flowers with central yellow markings, is highly scented, and hangs in sprays 10-15cm long in spring and early summer.

Fruit trees might be the traditional choice for espalier, but wisteria vines can be pretty incredible trained up a wall. Add compost if your soil is in poor condition; otherwise, wisteria will grow in most soils. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.With Wisteria, you may need to do a hard prune if the vine has taken over a space you don’t want it to grow on. For example, it may be covering windows, suffocating a neighboring shrub, or pulling down an arbor that wasn’t built sturdily enough for its weight. Whichever method you choose, once you’re ready to transplant in the ground, prepare the soil well by working in lots of well-rotted compost at least a foot deep and two feet wide. From Seed Sometimes, Wisteria reminds me of a supervillain. It seems determined to take over the world. That’s why a good pair of pruners is a must when you’re growing Wisteria. It’s famous (or infamous) for running wild, so you need to set your boundaries. American varieties have smooth seed pods, and they produce seeds that have a cylindrical bean shape. American types also only start to flower in the late spring after the vines finish producing leaves. The flowers in Asian varieties appear before the leaves. How to Plant Wisteria

If you're growing wisteria on a wall, strong wires are much more suitable than wooden trellis work which is likely to rot. It's worth investing in a trellis with self-tensioning stainless steel wires and these can be expensive. S3i sell functional, stylish kits. You can also use strong wire and vine ties, although the wire is difficult to tighten once it sags. Wisterias are generally pruned twice, once in July and once in February or March depending on the weather. You need to prune before the buds break so those with warm gardens in the south of England may prune in January in good years. Never prune in severe weather, always choose a clement, still day. Wisteria is generally pruned twice a year, once in late winter or early spring and once in the middle of summer. Winter pruning should be done while the Wisteria is dormant. If you have harsh winters, wait until the coldest days have passed to do winter pruning. Most gardeners do their winter pruning in January, February, or March. It’s also possible to have a wisteria as a standalone ‘standard’ (like a small tree, with a clear stem and a canopy of foliage and flowers). You can train a young plant to grow as a standard yourself – but it takes years to get it just right and it’s a lot easier to buy one that’s trained and ready to plant. Wisteria floribunda‘Domino’ works well as a standard. How to prune wisteriaIf you’re going to give your Wisteria a hard prune, winter is the time to do it. You can get a head start in the summer but only with more recent growth. For any branches over an inch in diameter, wait for winter. Pruning wisteria will reduce the weight of the wires and encourage more flower. Summer pruning of wisteria

Make sure to put the plant in the ground a few weeks before the first predicted frost date in your region. Air Layering Whichever wisteria you choose, these vigorous climbers in full flower are a glorious sight to behold and provided you ensure they are grown in the right conditions – and are properly trained and pruned – your success in growing one is virtually guaranteed. How to grow wisteria How to train wisteria

Where to plant wisteria

If they resist, make some cuts with the secateurs. Make sure the graft union (the bumpy bit ) is above the ground. Dig a hole as deep as the root ball and two to three times as wide and top up with compost. Place your root ball in the hole - the top of the pot should be level with the top of the soil when you’ve finished. A good bluish-mauve hybrid with long (35-45cm), broad racemes offering a wonderful show. Young shoots are brown in colour, a trait inherited from its At one of the leaf nodes where a leaf was growing, peel away some bark to expose the inner green cambium layer. Hard pruning is needed when regular maintenance pruning hasn’t been done, and more drastic action is needed. It’s like a whole new hairstyle instead of just a trim. A hard prune may also be done to older plants to rejuvenate them and encourage them to bloom again. You’ll need to ensure that you aggressively weed around the plant when it’s young and keep weeding throughout the plant’s lifecycle. Some gardeners say that feeding the plant with phosphorus aids in the plant’s flowering process, producing the biggest and most colorful flowers.