"news.verizon.net" wrote:

Hello all,

I have a (sometimes) lovely wisteria vine growing in my side yard, here in
Arlington, VA. I built what we call our garbage gazebo, an open structure
with an 8' high slatted top and planted the wisteria to grow up and over the
structure. Like many others, I waited patiently for the vine to become
established and finally flower. Two years ago I had beautiful blooms.
Plentiful, heady fragrance. Then I made the mistake of either pruning too
hard or at the wrong time so that last year I had virtually no bloom. This
year I simply left the vine alone and got blooms but they were hidden in the
center of the plant, almost out of view. Now I have this mass of lush green
growth, well beyond what I want in the space allotted. I know that the
proper way to prune is to do a partial pruning in late August with a final
harder prune in late winter. But will I cause major damage to next year's
bloom if I cut back on the vine now, especially on the vines that are
cascading down, forcing you to walk under or around the mass? My thinking is
that I should go ahead and trim back pretty hard, even now, just to regain
the space and that I'll be ok in terms of next year's bloom so long as I do
the further pruning at the proper time and leave the proper number of buds
on this year's growth. Any help appreciated.

IME, you can't over-prune wisteria - the harder you prune it, the better it
flowers. I have seen large established wisteria vines with big, thick trunks
pruned down to just a few stems in midseason to accomodate painting, remodels,
etc., and they have come back the next season in full force to bloom profusely.
Go ahead and prune away - you are only just a few weeks ahead of the recommended
June (after bloom) pruning season for these vines, anyway.

pam - gardengal