zagoren
Newly Registered
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu May 18, 2017 1:30 pm

Help growing Wisteria on a Pergola

Hello all-

Three summers ago, we planted 3 Wisteria Floribunda on the 3 back posts of our pergola.Image

No flowers yet. We would like to shade under the pergola one day, so we're directing out the shoots as the top the pergola and training them to head in different directions. I have a few questions:

(we know the wisteria may/will take down the pergola one day with its weight. we would like to avoid that if we could by sensible care / pruning)

1. Should we only have one vine climbing each post? The middle post has 6 sturdy vines (from one of the original plants) climbing the middle post and meeting in a crown of foliage. Should they only have one main vine twisting around the posts? (one of the posts just has one vine and the other has four)

Image


2. Now that all the plants have made it to the top of the pergola, should we let it just do what it wants at this point? Should we be tying the shoots along the pergola beams? Or will they just go where they want to nicely.

3. Should we be removing leaves/buds/shoots that are below the top of the pergola? (see pics). Should we be removing suckers and new shoots near the ground?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

zagoren
Newly Registered
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu May 18, 2017 1:30 pm

As an addendum....

Someone told me to encourage flowering to cut back all "whippy" growth on the top. By whippy growth does this mean A & B? Back to the woody stem?

Image

If so, I guess we have to decide whether we want more shade or more flowers, and perhaps cut some of these stems back to the woody part.



Return to “What Doesn't Fit Elsewhere”