arch for wisteria

Hi

I have a wisteria which it is starting to grow steadily through a wall, and im planning what to do with it next year

I would like to buy an arch, and train it to cover it, but i dont know if it would work. Plants always grow upwards and not downwards, so it means it will not cover the arch isnt it? What i plan to install is something similar to this (imagine the wisteria is already covering the white wall

Thanks

 

Wisteria flowers do hang down and the long summer shoots tend to grow horizontal.
It would work if high enough but the plant would usually be planted on the outside of the arch, I assume yours is against the wall.

 

Thanks Pete yes, it is growing along the wall and the intention is that it climbs through the outer part of the arch.

Thanks!

 

It won’t be happy being trained downwards and you will struggle to do so. But as @pete says the long summer growth and flowers will hang down so you could train it over the top so you get an attractive wisteria canopy rather than a tunnel effect. Most walkthrough tunnels of wisteria (and everything else) have them growing up each side of the arch. You could possibly do that here, but the interim against the wall will resent the shading from the outer wisteria so probably won’t flower very well

 

Blimey! Once a Wisteria gets going, one is plenty. Having two or more is asking for Javidr to disappear without trace, strangled in his own personal jungle . Although the natural tendency of climbers is to twine upwards, the shoots of Wisteria are long and flexible enough to tie in to a support. Just let one strong shoot near each horizontal bar grow on (cut back the others to a couple of buds from main branch). Tie the strong shoots loosely to the bars with soft string. Each year they'll thicken up and harden up to form branches. You could even try training them downwards when they get to the front. The worst that can happen is that they'll wither at the ends. I'd plant thornless roses or clematis at the base of the uprights but each to their own