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#1
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Wisteria (pink ice) pruning advice
When we bought our present house it had a 9 foot tall Wisteria Pink Ice
growing up a west facing wall which didn't appear to have been pruned for many years (although the house was only built in 1993 so it couldn't have been prior to then). It produced lots of foliage with only a very few flowers. Two years ago, in desperation, we pruned it right back to the main stems. Since then it has produced only shoots which have a few leaves close to the main stems but then get very long and spindly. No flowers have been produces since we originally pruned it. Again this year, when other Wisterias are flowering, ours is only producing the spindly shoots and a few leaves. Cam anyone let me know what we have done wrong and how tro correct it ? Regards Mike |
#2
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Wisteria (pink ice) pruning advice
In article , Mike Day
writes When we bought our present house it had a 9 foot tall Wisteria Pink Ice growing up a west facing wall which didn't appear to have been pruned for many years (although the house was only built in 1993 so it couldn't have been prior to then). It produced lots of foliage with only a very few flowers. Two years ago, in desperation, we pruned it right back to the main stems. Since then it has produced only shoots which have a few leaves close to the main stems but then get very long and spindly. No flowers have been produces since we originally pruned it. Again this year, when other Wisterias are flowering, ours is only producing the spindly shoots and a few leaves. Cam anyone let me know what we have done wrong and how tro correct it ? The aim is to produce a main stem with lots of short flowering spurs. So prune your long spindly bits back by about half during the summer, then in the winter prune them back to 3 buds. Do this for a couple of years and you should get lots of flowers. -- Kay Easton Edward's earthworm page: http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm |
#3
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Wisteria (pink ice) pruning advice
In article , Kay Easton
writes In article , Mike Day writes When we bought our present house it had a 9 foot tall Wisteria Pink Ice growing up a west facing wall which didn't appear to have been pruned for many years (although the house was only built in 1993 so it couldn't have been prior to then). It produced lots of foliage with only a very few flowers. Two years ago, in desperation, we pruned it right back to the main stems. Since then it has produced only shoots which have a few leaves close to the main stems but then get very long and spindly. No flowers have been produces since we originally pruned it. Again this year, when other Wisterias are flowering, ours is only producing the spindly shoots and a few leaves. Cam anyone let me know what we have done wrong and how tro correct it ? The aim is to produce a main stem with lots of short flowering spurs. So prune your long spindly bits back by about half during the summer, then in the winter prune them back to 3 buds. Do this for a couple of years and you should get lots of flowers. Point of interest: we have a wisteria that could hardly bloom more profusely, but it has never ever been pruned, or perhaps, more strictly speaking, it prunes itself. It grows in a full size barrel (36 gallons I think), where it has sat undisturbed for at least the last 20 years (it has bloomed for most of them), with an occasional dose of Phostrogen. It is supported against the house wall by wire up to a height of around 15 ft. thereafter its on its own and tends to spread slowly outwards, and sideways within the limits of the wire. New shoots, finding no where to go, tend to die back. I'm not sure what is the lesson - perhaps it is to be cruel! -- John Lloyd, West Midlands, UK |
#4
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Wisteria (pink ice) pruning advice
"John Lloyd" wrote in message ... In article , Kay Easton writes In article , Mike Day writes Point of interest: we have a wisteria that could hardly bloom more profusely, but it has never ever been pruned, or perhaps, more strictly speaking, it prunes itself. It grows in a full size barrel (36 gallons I think), where it has sat undisturbed for at least the last 20 years (it has bloomed for most of them), with an occasional dose of Phostrogen. It is supported against the house wall by wire up to a height of around 15 ft. thereafter its on its own and tends to spread slowly outwards, and sideways within the limits of the wire. New shoots, finding no where to go, tend to die back. I'm not sure what is the lesson - perhaps it is to be cruel! There is a good technical reason explanation for this. I posted a long note about it some years ago here, I can't find the original, but briefly: Wisteria grows naturally in forests. They climb to the top of the canopy and flower in the light. The mechanism biological mechanism to stop them flowering below canopy height is suppression by hormone flow from the growing tip (apical dominance is the technical term). How do they know to flower? The leaders flops over, and the flow of hormone from the apical bud is disrupted. The pruning regime normally followed is designed to trick the plant into thinking that it has reached the canopy top and flopped over ie cutting off the growing tip disrupts the hormone flow. The situation you describe mirrors closely the natural growing pattern of Wisteria in the wild. Mature plant, flopping over - hence it flowers without pruning! Roofing plants on Pergolas often show the same "flowering without pruning" pattern - which I suppose is why there is ofetn conflicting advice on how to get them to flower. But, if you want an immature plant to flower or to clothe the legs of a pergola with flower, then pruning is needed. pk |
#5
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Wisteria (pink ice) pruning advice
Wisteria need to wind themselves around supports and the Ivy will be flush
to the wall so I would suggest that you will need some other support for the Wisteria. regards Philip "Lazarus Cooke" wrote in message om... I've just planted a Wisteria sinensis at my mother's house. about four feet high. I didn't have time to give it a wire to grow up but it's beside an ivy plant. Will the ivy that grows up the wall be enough for it to hold on to? Lazarus |
#6
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Wisteria (pink ice) pruning advice
thanks, papa. I thought this might be the case
Lazarus In article , papa wrote: Wisteria need to wind themselves around supports and the Ivy will be flush to the wall so I would suggest that you will need some other support for the Wisteria. regards Philip "Lazarus Cooke" wrote in message om... I've just planted a Wisteria sinensis at my mother's house. about four feet high. I didn't have time to give it a wire to grow up but it's beside an ivy plant. Will the ivy that grows up the wall be enough for it to hold on to? Lazarus |
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