The Wisteria is one of the most spectacular flowering climbing plants. They will cover walls in a cascade of flower in dark purples, blues or even white which will cause the casual passer by to stop in their tracks to admire its glory!
However sometimes they can disappoint with lots of growth and not many flowers. So here are a few tips on getting that avalanche of flower!
Ensure that you choose a grafted plant. Seedling wisteria can take up to 20 years to start to flower. Choose a free flowering variety. Here are a few suggestions:
- Wisteria floribunda ‘Macrobotrys' - Scented violet flowers in very long racemes
- Wisteria sinensis ‘Prolific' - Lots of scented blue flowers in racemes up to 2ft long
- Wisteria ‘Black Dragon' - Dark blue scented flowers
- Plant in a sunny position
- Water well especially in the first few years.
Wisteria will need some support to become established. The simplest method is to use strong wires between vine eyes or a heavy trellis to create a frame for the plant to climb up.
One of the keys to ensuring lots of flower is correct pruning. Wisterias are pruned twice a year, at this time of year and again in January and February.
When a wisteria has finished flowering it produces lots of long whippy branches. In the early years tie these stems to the trellis or wires to create the framework for the plant. As the plant grows it becomes necessary to prune in the July or August to control the size of the wisteria and prevent it spreading onto roofs and gutters. The pruning also encourages the plant to form the flower buds for the following year. Use a pair of secateurs to cut each of the unwanted long stems back so that they have five or six sets of leaves and tie them back to the support.
The winter pruning is carried out in January and February when the plant isn't in leaf with the aim of tidying the plant and ensuring that the flower isn't obscured with leaves. Any long stems that grew after the summer pruning should be cut back to five or six buds from the main stem. The stems that were pruned back in the summer should be pruned back to two or three buds.
