Topic: wisteria

[bennettsleg]

I've done a search on A4A and on yahoo, but my query still remains...

There's a big wisteria skeleton that climbs all they way up our building (very suitable for haloween).  The previous owners - not known for their diy or gardening ability - cut through the wysteria about a foot off the ground and just left it.  It duly died.  This is our second summer here, last year there was nothing growing, this year a plant is climbing back up the skelton.  I've checked out the leaves on other people's wysteria (amazing what a commuter's traffic jam is useful for) and our new climbing plant certainly looks the part.

My query is: I understand that they can keep on going but would a wisteria lie dormant for a few years? Is it something to do with the "prune" (HA!) it was given? How can I find out what type it is? I suspect it's the fast growing one as the tendrills are about 10ft high already. How long till it flowers?

I love the plant, but wonder if it ould be better to dig it out and replace it with a slow grower instead (less chance of it taking over thebuilding and upsetting the upstairs neighbours).

I await your advice... :)

[saddad]

My wife poisoned mine with Jeyes Fluid, accidentally, it has recovered but did very little the first year. All wisterias are vigerous and 10' is nothing special. The long wippy stems you don't want to make a frame work, like your skelelton, should be cut short about 4-6" to encourage the flowering spurs to form.
 ;D

[bennettsleg]

Thanks Saddad - much appreciated I will start work on it when time allows, right now I'm pleased it's growing again!

The 4"-6", is that the amount I remove or the amount that should be left of the stem once it's been pruned?

[Tulipa]

It's the amount left once the stem is removed.

We had a beautiful wisteria across the front of our house, but had to have major repairs involving the rebuilding of the front wall.  The builders laid the wisteria on the ground and worked around it which must have been a real pain for them and then we put it back but it had died.  We cut it off and thought nothing more about it.  We now have the same vigourous wisteria back again so I think they are quite hardy really.  Just wish I had known that and we could have cut it right back instead of the builders being so inconvenienced.... :-[

hope it grows back as good as ours!

T.