Wisteria.....

Hiya

My first question for you green fingered bunch.
I inherited a large wisteria (covers most of the front of my house) the problem is that it's not had anything done pruning wise so it's now at the "triffid" stage (i like to keep all my windows open and regularly have to chop off the tentacles that seem to want to live indoors....heehee), i have taken the long whispy bits back to 6 shoots but there is a rather large tangled mess in the middle (about 2/3 foot thick) that is mainly bare woody stems and i'm a little unsure what to do....a few people have advised me to cut it back to the ground and start again.....but i REALLY don't want to)
I quickly searched wisteria posts but none helped as they were maily about general pruning and not what to do with an out of control mess....haha
It was all bare when i moved in at the begining of february but soon greened up and did flower quite well (stunning!!!) so i don't want to do anything too drastic.....

I will get some pics tonight so you can see the extent of what i'm talking about

Thanks in advance

Kate

Here are a few pics so you can see what i'm dealing with:gaagh:

 

It does appear to be a little unruly as it's blocking out your light.

As you've said that you've already pruned it to within six nodes of the main stem, I personally would wait until Jan or Feb when you can see the bare branches and so it would be more obvious which bits you need to prune back. Once you've cut the plant to a more manageable shape, take any other bits back to within two nodes of the main stems and hopefully that will do the trick

I've pruned my Wisteria back quite hard and it didn't do any harm at all, just didn't flower as prolifically that year.

 

Sorry to go a bit off topic, but my wisteria, transplanted from a friends garde, after struggling for a couple of years, has died. When is best time to plant another one?

 

Hi Plant anytime when grown in a pot , why did the other one die and why was it strugling.

Spruce

 

Hi Kate

We are all jealous , as you have the bones of a wonderful wisteria , it looks like it has gone into the guttering so that need to be sorted as it will cause damp if the water is not draining away properley .

NO DONT cut to the ground it will probably die ....

I would wait till all the leaves drop off and then you can see whats happening as doing it now would be a waste of time and dangerous if going up a ladder , you can take out whole branches but try and do that from the main stem as it will look much better , rather than nasty stumps work from the bottom up , and every so often have a cup of tea stand in the garden and have a look this wil help in knowing which ones to take offf , not being nosey but if you dont know what you are doing it will look a right mess plus I have already mentioned very dangerous , might be the time to get a expert in .
I forgot to ask what is it growing up , wires????

Old georgian house I pass to go to work they prune the wisteri realy hard back every year (July) then again in (December) but this has been trained realy well and allocates the space it has been given .
Hope this helps , any more questions just ask


Spruce

 

Thanks for reply Spruce.. It was healthy in my friends garden He is experienced and dug it up carefully. A deep hold was dug. Compost, grit, manure and fertilizer were added. It had a one inch main stem and was trained horizonally along my fence. It seemed to do quite well for over a year, with leaves etc then died. When I dug it up it did not have any root ball.

 

Hi

No root ball I wonder what eat that ( voles) or what made it rot away , could be lots of reasons some times the graft doesnt work properley and that can be a problen after a couple of years which most people dont realise or water loggded , you can have a look at my wisteria if you have a nose in the albums section , that one grew in a barrell for years and I took it with me when I moved and has romded away in the open soil.

So many choices with wisteria I got in contact with a nusery that speciialises in climers and I explained what I was after and they helped choose the variety , some are real strong growers ie up trees others are more suited to a rose arch .


pppoooo its raining again !!!! no bulb planting today !!!!!

Spruce

 

Thank you Spruce.......even in this state it looked really nice when it flowered so i can imagine what it will look like once it's been sorted.....:yess:
yes it has gone into the guttering.......it's getting everywhere....lol......
I don't know what it's growing up....i know that below the room window there is some of that plastic netting stuff but think that's it......
I think you might be right about getting someone in as i'd hate to do anything to destroy it.....a house where i work has one and i've admired it for years....never knew what it was called though....but i always said i'd love a house with that growing.....so i was DELIGHTED when it flowered and i realised
it was just a woody mess when we viewed and bought the house so hadn't got a clue

 

Hi
Not all gardeners know how to prune , my brother gardener I would of got rid of years ago , but he is mainly there to sort out the lawns I was told !!!! as I went round pointing stuff out .

And I know if you ask they will say yes , if I lived closer a cup of tea and lunch I would have it sorted in a afternoon as thats all it would take , maybe be ask at your garden centre ??? do they know anyone knowlegable to give it a good pruning , I know its easy when you know what you are doing .

Get it out the guttering it will pull it down and cost you more ££££ thats the first thing you must do

Let me know how you get on


Spruce

 

Thank you for the offer........i will enquire as I also need other stuff doing....just have to convince OH to pay for it....

 

Tell OH ??? how much it will cost ££££ if you dont !!!

Spruce

 

He seems to think it's going to cost hundreds.....well maybe it will....never looked into it before....