We're not gardeners (be kind!) but have been fortunate enough to grow this lovely wisteria.
I secured used twine to train it along the wall but it's got too heavy and snapped the twine
Any advice on how to get it back on the wall so it'll be secure but still grow well??
Thanks
by coombez1978
4 Comments
To get the best out of wisteria you will need to prune it.
Wisteria is easy to remember. In February you cut back to 2 buds. In July you cut back to 7 buds.
Leave any growth you want to use for increasing its shape (spread to new part of wall).
For now I would cut back to 7 buds as that will lighten the weight and make it easier for you to secure over winter.
February ( 2nd month) = 2 buds = sets the plant up to flower and controls shape.
July (7th month) = 7 buds = sets the plant up for winter and encourages flowers for next year.
Ideally,put a full length and height sturdy wooden trellis on the wall.
But mount the trellis on several vertical 2×1″ battens-which will allow it to twine both around and also through the trellis too.
As others have said follow the pruning advice to keep flowers.
Wait until the leaves have dropped to see what you’ve got, I would carefully lower/move it away from the wall, fix some horizontal wires to support it and tie the main stems back up.
Once the leaves have gone you can see the stems to secure to the wires, make sure none are behind the wires to avoid damaging them.
I use cable ties, quite strong and can be adjusted so not too tight, any very long thin growth can be removed in Feb unless you want to train new ones.
They grow fast and quickly get out of hand just remember light prune in summer, full prune in Feb & remove any long thin growth you done want/need.
New Year’s Day is the traditional time to prune wisteria but it’s ok anytime up to mid March. Cut the side shoots back to 2 or 3 buds. You’ll think that’s vicious but don’t worry, the plant will love it and it will grow like crazy. Cut the leaders back by around a third to a half, unless you want a leader to grow to another part of the wall. In summer after it has finished flowering give it a haircut back to about 7 or 8 buds.