New here... need wisteria help

[Tanya_NB_4B/5A]

Hi everyone!

I've been lurking on this site for a few days and readings lots of great information. You all have beautiful gardens. I have a few questions that I will post seperately...I'm in zone 4b/5A in Moncton, NB
I have a large wisteria vine that was planted 4 summers ago. I believe it's the floribunda type with purple flowers. It is now huge...about 10 feet tall and 4 feet wide of green leaves. Totally out of control!!I have it climbing on a sturdy trellis on my pront porch. I prune it a bit in the summer and more in the winter. It has never flowered. It gets sun all day long. I read that you shouldn't fertilize so I haven't for the last 2 years. I also read recently that I should be pruning heavily twice a year. I think I'm not pruning enough but now I don't know where to start, it's huge. I have a main large stem about 3 inches and 1 foot higher it quickly branches out in 2 large branches (hopefully you will understand . I also have some suckers at the base that are twining around the main stem. What should I cut? If I cut aggressively, will it be worse next year with new shoots everywhere? Also, has anyone had success with rooting the trimmings in water?

Thank you Tanya

[grandpasrose]

I don't know alot about Wisteria as it won't grow here, but just based on basic pruning, whenever your prune a flowering plant of the smaller branches and suckers, you will produce a healthier plant that is more likely to bloom for you. I would certainly leave your main trunk and further two branches, take out your lower suckers, and then go from there.
I have flowering shrubs and vines, and when they begin to lag in blooming, I give them a good prune and the next year they are good again.
Hope this helps!
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

I recommend certain varieties of wisteria as they can sometimes take a decade to mature to floweriing. You are doing o.k. so far , and Grandpa offers good advice that I might take a step further and say prune it hard this springwhen breaks show, knocking it back to just one or two new leaf breaks (this sort of shock can be just the thing to trigger flowering).

Try watering in some wood ash this fall and pruning hard in spring, and let us know how it turns out...

Scott

[Tanya_NB_4B/5A]

Too late! I just pruned it hard!!! I was tired of pruning every few days. It was going crazy and getting on the roof and in the gutters!! I pruned quite aggressively...so much in fact that my neighbors came out to see what I was doing and tried to stop me! I doubt I could kill it...it's a very strong tree. It looks much better now I can see the tree structure. I filled a whole orange garden bag full! I basically followed the main stems and pruned the lateral vines to about 6 leaves...Now that I have control over it I think I'll be able to train it so it cascades on the top of my porch. Hopefully I will have shocked it so it flowers next year!

I also took a bunch of cuttings and I'm trying to root them in peat moss with rooting hormone. I only had stim-root #1 on hand...should the cuttings be in a shady spot or sun?

[The Helpful Gardener]

Shade will help with watering, but not rooting. Sun would help with rooting, but not water. Somewhere in the middle, methinks...

[Tanya_NB_4B/5A]

Ok thanks...
can't wait to see what all this pruning will do the the wisteria!! Hope it flowers...if not, I'll be treatening it with my garden fork!!

[grandpasrose]

Let us know how the garden fork threatening works - if it has results maybe we should all try it
Good luck and I hope you see blooms - I have always loved to see wisteria, it is one of my "I wish" plants but unfortunately it will not grow here.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Val if that wisteria takes off it will take a backhoe to threaten it...

I am also interested to see what that pruning does; you might want to try a little root pruning to go with it as that is a much more likely way to shock an overly vigourous vine into blooming...

[Tanya_NB_4B/5A]

Val if that wisteria takes off it will take a backhoe to threaten it...

That's what I thought too!!

I am also interested to see what that pruning does; you might want to try a little root pruning to go with it as that is a much more likely way to shock an overly vigourous vine into blooming...

I'll probably do that this fall. Don't want to shock it all at once.

When do the flower buds appear usually? Early spring? How long does it flower? Is it usually around the time that lilacs flower?

Just wondering...

[grandpasrose]

I have never grown wisteria, but depending on the variety, it usually blooms in mid spring some time. I am not sure how long the blooms last - maybe someone out there can answer......
VAL (Grandpa's Rose)

[The Helpful Gardener]

Can bloom into the summer and even seasonally depending on species and climate...

[Grey]

I'm too new to wisteria to be of any help, but around here it blooms in late March early April, for about two to three weeks.

[Tanya_NB_4B/5A]

Well it's now early september and it's totally out of control again! I told you guys, I couldn't kill it even if I tried...

I'll need to prune it again soon for the fall as it's everywhere again, and possibly I'll prune it again when the leaves fall off...

THe cuttings I took mostly died, but I have noticed 2 baby plants at the base of the mother plant...these will go to my mother in law and my neighbour...
These baby plants just one main stem...should this be cut or left alone when transplanting?
Is it too early to transplant for fall?
I hope they know what they are getting into! This plant requires lots of pruning!

I hope to see it flower in the spring.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Don't cut transplants; start them in a pot (for easier watering and moving) and put them in the ground when water from the sky (I USED to know what that was called) is more plentiful...

Knowing what you now know; do you not like MIL and Neighbor?

This plant can be a killer; I watched one rip a porch off of an old Victorian in about five years, and I mean RIPPED off. Watch where you grow 'em...

Scott

[Grey]

We need photos of things like ripped-off porches. We could add another forum section - bad gardening mistakes.

[The Helpful Gardener]

We do a regular bit on the radio show called "Things I'll Never Do Again"

I'll start the thread...

Scott

[Grey]

I have a few examples of "Things I'll Never Do Again" too! Little humor addition to the board!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Somebody bought the house and redid it, but I can get pictures of mistakes...oh, I can GET pictures...

Scott

[Grey]

Somebody bought the house and redid it, but I can get pictures of mistakes...oh, I can GET pictures...

Scott

PICS! We want pics!!! lol!!

[Christie]

In regards to the earlier post about when a Wisteria blooms, we live in Houston, TX and ours just bloomed this mid-March. The blooms were beautiful, with the first buds appearing the first week of March and then it bloomed the following week. After the initial bloom the flowers fell off after about two weeks. It was magnificent looking though! Can't wait for next year!

Christie
Houston, TX

[Tanya_NB_4B/5A]

Well it hasn't flowered yet and I can't see any blooms. It's getting SOOOO huge and I can't seem to find my pruners...LOL

[opabinia51]

Misplaced mine to And I needed them today.

[cinnamon1916]

I live in Oregon and when we bought our home I noticed a large vine growing around a tall tree. I asked the caretaker what the vine was (it was early Feb. so dormant) He said he didn't know but that it grew a mile a minute! After buying and moving in it bloomed out in the early spring (with my lilacs) and was the most beautiful wisteria I'd ever seen. It had grown up into the branches of the tree and bloomed all over. Well, that was 4 years ago and last year I walked outside one day to find my beautiful vine had been chopped almost to the ground! I ran to get my husband and I couldn't believe that someone had come into our yard and done such a thing. I was heartbroken. (My teenage son later told us that he was the one that had cut it down because he thought it was killing the tree! Maybe it is, but I didn't care. It was the vine that was of interest!) Glad to say though that it came back and has grown back up the tree this year and bloomed beautifully! The smell perfumes the entire house and the tree seems to be ok too. I have a small one coming up about 25 feet away from the parent and yesterday I discovered a larger one (about 3 foot high already) in my rose bed on the opposite side of the house altogether! Don't know how it got there but have to move it this fall to keep the rose alive. Doubt if even the bulldozer would frighten this one!