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Wisteria

drickman95drickman95 Posts: 3
in Plants
I have summer pruned my wisteria but the whippy shoots continue to grow. It seems to be a full-time job. Am I doing something wrong? 

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  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,178
    No.   My wisterias are both in full bloom again and also producing lots of whippy bits.  I cut them as I see them between mid July and leaf fall.

    For me, the winter prune consists of taking out any stems heading for the gutters or roof tiles and clearing round the door and window of the one by the door and making sure I can walk past the one on the garage wall without getting head-swiped.

    I was very intrigued by Adam's advice about back to 7 nodes in July and 2 in February and will try that on my newer, baby white one which will be much easier to manage with such precise pruning. 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • drickman95drickman95 Posts: 3
    Yes I've been trying to cut back to 5 buds in the summer but the whippy bits grow from those. I worry that these are where the flower buds should come from. 
    My husband lops them back when I'm not looking anyway. I'm sure it just makes them grow more! 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,178
    I only cut the whippy ones in summer.   Winter is when I can see the framework clearly and decide what's going the wrong way or too far.  The photos show the spring show.  Now they're covered in foliage and a whole new set of flowers, about half as many as the spring performance.


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • drickman95drickman95 Posts: 3
    This is my best year last spring. Nothing in summer to speak of. I was very pleased to get this many after it had scale insect all over in the year before but I persevered and got them off. 
    Thanks for your advice. Your wisteria is beautiful
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,178
    So is yours.  Really elegant.  Can't take the credit for ours as we inherited them when we bought this place 3 years ago.  Just done pruning since and cleared the main trunks of shoots plus a bit of feeding and watering.   They have a wonderful perfume in spring too but hardly any in the second flush.   Odd.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 16,720
    That is a beautiful wisteria, Obelixx.
  • celcius_kkwcelcius_kkw Posts: 752
    How long did it take you guys to get your wisteria to this size? I read that wisteria can take up to 5 years from when it’s first planted to have its first bloom. 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,178
    The best way to guarantee flowers is to buy one in flower, plant it well and follow the pruning rules to promote flower buds.   They are usually shoots of a flowering plant grafted onto a rootstock.  It can take years, even a decade or more, for a seeded wisteria to start flowering.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • PeggyTXPeggyTX Posts: 556
    edited July 2019
    Obelixx and DRickman, your wisteria's are just lovely.  The former owners of my home planted one (a bit too close to my house roof corner, so I fight that battle constantly) and I just love the plants.   Mine is still fairly young, around 5 y.o.  I just trim it off the roof and trim or weave all the "whippy ones" back onto the arch support.   https://i.imgur.com/NQyE46F.jpg


    My low-carb recipe site: https://buttoni.wordpress.com/
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