I planted vines on each side of the back porch about 5-6 years ago.
In my dumb innocence, I didn't know how predatory it was; by now,
it's coming up all over the back yard!

About 3 years ago, come dormant time, I cut one side off a little
short of the roof, to avoid compromising the roofing. That part did
not regrow, and my gardener (who only mows & edges) said it
doesn't regrow when cut off.

But it grew under the porch from the other side, and now is even
more abundant than before.

Now I finally come to the Question:

When it goes dormant again, can I or can I not prune from the top?

TIA

Persephone

Persephone wrote:
I planted vines on each side of the back porch about 5-6 years ago.
In my dumb innocence, I didn't know how predatory it was; by now,
it's coming up all over the back yard!

About 3 years ago, come dormant time, I cut one side off a little
short of the roof, to avoid compromising the roofing. That part did
not regrow, and my gardener (who only mows & edges) said it
doesn't regrow when cut off.

But it grew under the porch from the other side, and now is even
more abundant than before.

Now I finally come to the Question:

When it goes dormant again, can I or can I not prune from the top?

TIA

Persephone

Late Summer Pruning
August: Cut all of the current side-shoot
growths back to within 12" of the main
lateral. This allows more sun to get to the
wood, encouraging flower-bud formation.
This should leave 4-6 leaves on each side
shoot. Obviously, any side shoot required
to extend or train the framework should
be left and trained as required.

Winter Pruning
February: Cut these summer-pruned side shoots back even further - 1
or 2 inches long, leaving only 2 or 3 buds on the side shoot. These
will
be the flowering spurs. It should be possible now to distinguish the
plumper flower buds from the slimmer growth buds. Long, whippy
shoots that grew after the summer pruning should also be pruned. Cut
these back to five or six buds
from the main branch, making
the cut just above a bud.
Remove any suckers that appear
at the base of the plant.

On 2006-11-11 01:27:26 -0500, "told2b" said:


Persephone wrote:
I planted vines on each side of the back porch about 5-6 years ago.
In my dumb innocence, I didn't know how predatory it was; by now,
it's coming up all over the back yard!

About 3 years ago, come dormant time, I cut one side off a little
short of the roof, to avoid compromising the roofing. That part did
not regrow, and my gardener (who only mows & edges) said it
doesn't regrow when cut off.

But it grew under the porch from the other side, and now is even
more abundant than before.

Now I finally come to the Question:

When it goes dormant again, can I or can I not prune from the top?

TIA

Persephone

Late Summer Pruning
August: Cut all of the current side-shoot
growths back to within 12" of the main
lateral. This allows more sun to get to the
wood, encouraging flower-bud formation.
This should leave 4-6 leaves on each side
shoot. Obviously, any side shoot required
to extend or train the framework should
be left and trained as required.

Winter Pruning
February: Cut these summer-pruned side shoots back even further - 1
or 2 inches long, leaving only 2 or 3 buds on the side shoot. These
will
be the flowering spurs. It should be possible now to distinguish the
plumper flower buds from the slimmer growth buds. Long, whippy
shoots that grew after the summer pruning should also be pruned. Cut
these back to five or six buds
from the main branch, making
the cut just above a bud.
Remove any suckers that appear
at the base of the plant.


Yup. I leave 5-6 buds on each of mine. I HAVE to prune mine during the
growing season every week or it'll take over the planet. Every time I
hear of a missing kid I check my Wisteria. The ground runners will grab
them if I don't keep them in check....

On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 11:20:15 GMT, Johnny Borborigmi
wrote:

On 2006-11-11 01:27:26 -0500, "told2b" said:


Persephone wrote:
I planted vines on each side of the back porch about 5-6 years ago.
In my dumb innocence, I didn't know how predatory it was; by now,
it's coming up all over the back yard!

About 3 years ago, come dormant time, I cut one side off a little
short of the roof, to avoid compromising the roofing. That part did
not regrow, and my gardener (who only mows & edges) said it
doesn't regrow when cut off.

But it grew under the porch from the other side, and now is even
more abundant than before.

Now I finally come to the Question:

When it goes dormant again, can I or can I not prune from the top?

TIA

Persephone

Late Summer Pruning
August: Cut all of the current side-shoot
growths back to within 12" of the main
lateral. This allows more sun to get to the
wood, encouraging flower-bud formation.
This should leave 4-6 leaves on each side
shoot. Obviously, any side shoot required
to extend or train the framework should
be left and trained as required.

Winter Pruning
February: Cut these summer-pruned side shoots back even further - 1
or 2 inches long, leaving only 2 or 3 buds on the side shoot. These
will
be the flowering spurs. It should be possible now to distinguish the
plumper flower buds from the slimmer growth buds. Long, whippy
shoots that grew after the summer pruning should also be pruned. Cut
these back to five or six buds
from the main branch, making
the cut just above a bud.
Remove any suckers that appear
at the base of the plant.


Yup. I leave 5-6 buds on each of mine. I HAVE to prune mine during the
growing season every week or it'll take over the planet. Every time I
hear of a missing kid I check my Wisteria. The ground runners will grab
them if I don't keep them in check....


Thanks to both.

Question 1. Are these appropriate dates for Southern Calif? Our
"summer" and "winter" are different from other parts of the country.

Question 2. Neither kind poster discussed VERTICAL pruning.
Remember my question about "pruning from the top"?

Realize that I now have to deal with several years of uninformed
non-pruning.

TIA

Persephone

Persephone wrote:
On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 11:20:15 GMT, Johnny Borborigmi
wrote:

Thanks to both.

Question 1. Are these appropriate dates for Southern Calif? Our
"summer" and "winter" are different from other parts of the country.

Question 2. Neither kind poster discussed VERTICAL pruning.
Remember my question about "pruning from the top"?

Realize that I now have to deal with several years of uninformed
non-pruning.

TIA

Persephone

My experience with Wisteria is in zone 6, NJ.

Pruning the top of the vine does not inhibit future top growth.
But it will probably cause excessive vegetative bottom growth in the
Spring.
Do not try to 'fix' the vine in one season, but do get rid of all the
suckers.
If you do excessive corrective pruning all at once you will probably
have to wait two or more years for flowering to commence again.
Good Luck.

On 13 Nov 2006 00:37:56 -0800, "told2b" wrote:


Persephone wrote:
On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 11:20:15 GMT, Johnny Borborigmi
wrote:

Thanks to both.

Question 1. Are these appropriate dates for Southern Calif? Our
"summer" and "winter" are different from other parts of the country.

Question 2. Neither kind poster discussed VERTICAL pruning.
Remember my question about "pruning from the top"?

Realize that I now have to deal with several years of uninformed
non-pruning.

TIA

Persephone

My experience with Wisteria is in zone 6, NJ.

OK - quite a different climate.

Any Southern Calif. gardeners here who have Wisteria
experience/problems?

Pruning the top of the vine does not inhibit future top growth.

Makes sense; I shouldn't have swallowed gardener's dictum whole.

But it will probably cause excessive vegetative bottom growth in the
Spring.

Precisely what happened! Now I know g...

Do not try to 'fix' the vine in one season, but do get rid of all the
suckers.

Sigh! Very dense and very high. Will work on the suckers if I can
locate them, but it's going to be tough.

If you do excessive corrective pruning all at once you will probably
have to wait two or more years for flowering to commence again.

Seems like that is what happened, and gardener's absolute caveat
is not valid.

Good Luck.

Thanks..will need it.

Guess the only way to deal with upstarts all over the garden
is just to pull them out... right?

Persephone

On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 02:19:17 -0800, Persephone wrote:


[...]

Any Southern Calif. gardeners here who have Wisteria
experience/problems?

Didn't want to repeat whole thread; problem is that
Wisteria is reaching up over the roof; has to be cut
back vertically; can this be done w/o inhibiting growth?

Tx

Persephone

On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:26:23 -0800, Persephone wrote:

On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 02:19:17 -0800, Persephone wrote:


[...]

Any Southern Calif. gardeners here who have Wisteria
experience/problems?

Didn't want to repeat whole thread; problem is that
Wisteria is reaching up over the roof; has to be cut
back vertically; can this be done w/o inhibiting growth?


Quick! Before it takes over the house! Nothing inhibits growth short
of nuclear attack.

John