A friend was removing a Wisteria sinensis from her garden earlier this
spring and allowed me to remove it. It was in one of those "terracotta"
plastic pots but had "escaped" and grown into the ground bursting the
pot. I cut all the limbs back short and dug it out, cutting all the
roots back to the confines of the pot. It was potted up in the bottom
of a plastic barrel in perlite with some organic matter added, mostly
pine bark. It has "exploded" with new growth. I've removed the new
shoots on the trunk and bottoms of the limb stubs which didn't seem to
discourage it in the least. It continues to break back and put out very
strong shoots.

I've read up on wisteria in the 1990/No.1 issue of International Bonsai
and am planning to follow the recommendations of Dorothy Koreshoff
(adjusted for the Northern hemisphere of course). She indicated three
pruning/pinching periods; early spring for heavy cutting back, late
spring to pinch back to two nodes and late summer (August) to prune to a
"...couple of inches of new growth." So that's the plan. Here's the
question.

Since the late spring pinch (which I actually did mid-May since the
plant was growing so strongly), the growth has been tremendous, with
some of the shoots extending over two feet. And it's still late spring.
With the strength of the plant, should I pinch again or just let it go
until August? I'm rubbing out buds on the trunk and removing downward
growing shoots, but leaving sideways and upward growing shoots on the
limbs. I expect to put it into a deep training/show pot next spring
styled as an upright (it's about 30" tall without the foliage). Any and
all thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks and have fun - jay

Jay Beckenbach - Melrose, FL - Zone 8b/9a -


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Beckenbach,Joseph R wrote:


Since the late spring pinch (which I actually did mid-May since the
plant was growing so strongly), the growth has been tremendous, with
some of the shoots extending over two feet. And it's still late spring.
With the strength of the plant, should I pinch again or just let it go
until August? I'm rubbing out buds on the trunk and removing downward
growing shoots, but leaving sideways and upward growing shoots on the
limbs. I expect to put it into a deep training/show pot next spring
styled as an upright (it's about 30" tall without the foliage). Any and
all thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks and have fun - jay


I wouldn't worry about by-the-book this year, but would keep
on cutting it back to just a few nodes. Give it LOTS of
water and hold back on the nitrogen-heavy fertilizer. You
want to get roots now, not branches or leaves. So a 2-15-15
or something similar would be best.

Don't be impatient with it now, but put it into a deep, wide
pot for a couple of years and work on between three and
five branches.

I suspect that upright will not be the ultimate shape for
this tree. Wisteria are too leggy and "viny" to even hope
to keep them as uprights. Cascades and semi-cascades are
typical, and I suspect almost always, the shape these trees
do best in.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - People,
when Columbus discovered this country, it was plum full of
nuts and berries. And I'm right here to tell you (that) the
berries are just about all gone. -- Uncle Dave Macon, musician

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+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Great find Jay,

Your plan seems sound too.

I leave the shoots to extend all season and cut them back to one or two
nodes at the end of summer. This is the same as the advice to gardeners to
get maximum flowering and it works for me. Also use a water tray or
something deeper to keep a reservoir of water at the base all summer.

Good luck with it. They can make a stunning sight, even if they are at their
best for only a short period each year.

Cheers

Kev Bailey
Zone 9 N Wales, UK

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++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
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