Pruning Wisteria

Pruning Wisteria.

If you are lucky enough to have a south facing wall or pergola with lots of space available, then Wisteria is an ideal plant to grow. The beautiful lilac or white blossoms drip down from the branches and put on a magnificent display in the early summer, but to ensure these amazing results this vigorous climber needs a little attention twice a year.

Wisteria pruning isn’t as difficult as many might fear when faced with a daunting mass of twirling tendrils. January or February is the best time to sort out the jumble of stems and also to encourage flowering. You just need to methodically cut back each side shoot to three buds and tie in any stems that you are trying to train onto sturdy wires. In high summer Wisteria will happily and speedily head behind guttering, down pipes and into the roof, so it is worth taking time to coax it to where you want it to go and in doing so avoid damaged roof tiles. When you have finished, you will be left with a well-spaced framework of stems covered with short spurs, all bearing buds that will burst into flower in late May. This hard pruning also ensures the flowers won’t be obscured by a tangle of leafy branches and that any dead, damaged or diseased growth is removed.

As a quick note, don’t be too quick tidying and chopping up the pruned stems! This soft young material is ideal for making into rope or wreaths to support dahlias, delphiniums, and roses in the summer (See Snippets, January 2022).

The next pruning phase is after flowering in July or August. This is the time that Wisteria puts on a lot of growth, so shortening the long, whippy tendrils keeps it under control and gives it a quick tidy if you cut back to five or six leaves. Go gently with the secateurs as you may accidentally snip off repeat flowering buds. Last year, with all the sunshine, the wisteria on the front of our house flowered until September which I have never seen before!