help with wisteria, please?
 

We have an old (40-50 years, I think) and extremely vigorous wisteria on
the south wall of the house - its trunk is probably some 10 cm in
diameter. Unfortunately, it is bent, and very close to where we are
going to have to have replacement windows installed sometime very soon
(and we may have to sell the house soon after that).

There are lots of shoots coming out of the roots, and I have tied some 8
of the best-placed ones to a cane with the idea that these can take over
when the main trunk has to be cut.

My hope is to have as mature a replacement wisteria as possible, as soon
as possible, in case we do have to sell. With this in mind, should this
be treated like a new young wisteria, or is there a way of taking
advantage of the huge old roots to make the whole mature more quickly?

My question is: is it better to have more stems, in order to have a
thick, twisted trunk - or would just a few grow better than 8?

Also, the shoots are very long already. Should they be cut at the
highest point, with the aim of getting side-shoots eventually, or should
they simply be given a 90-degree angle and be tied in horizontally from
that point on?


Thanks in advance for any advice!
--
Klara, Gatwick basin

"Klara" wrote in message
...

We have an old (40-50 years, I think) and extremely vigorous wisteria on
the south wall of the house - its trunk is probably some 10 cm in
diameter. Unfortunately, it is bent, and very close to where we are
going to have to have replacement windows installed sometime very soon
(and we may have to sell the house soon after that).

There are lots of shoots coming out of the roots, and I have tied some 8
of the best-placed ones to a cane with the idea that these can take over
when the main trunk has to be cut.

My hope is to have as mature a replacement wisteria as possible, as soon
as possible, in case we do have to sell. With this in mind, should this
be treated like a new young wisteria, or is there a way of taking
advantage of the huge old roots to make the whole mature more quickly?

My question is: is it better to have more stems, in order to have a
thick, twisted trunk - or would just a few grow better than 8?

Also, the shoots are very long already. Should they be cut at the
highest point, with the aim of getting side-shoots eventually, or should
they simply be given a 90-degree angle and be tied in horizontally from
that point on?


Thanks in advance for any advice!
--
Klara, Gatwick basin

If it was me I would tie in (after the work) only those shoots needed to
replace the framework shape, bending the shoots down has much the same
effect as pruning and will help induce flowering, having said that, my plant
regularly sends shoots from the base which I remove as cuttings and these
always flower so I do not think you will wait long for flowers! Going
anywhere nice? :~)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

Klara wrote in message ...
We have an old (40-50 years, I think) and extremely vigorous wisteria on
the south wall of the house - its trunk is probably some 10 cm in
diameter. Unfortunately, it is bent, and very close to where we are
going to have to have replacement windows installed sometime very soon
(and we may have to sell the house soon after that).

There are lots of shoots coming out of the roots, and I have tied some 8
of the best-placed ones to a cane with the idea that these can take over
when the main trunk has to be cut.

My hope is to have as mature a replacement wisteria as possible, as soon
as possible, in case we do have to sell. With this in mind, should this
be treated like a new young wisteria, or is there a way of taking
advantage of the huge old roots to make the whole mature more quickly?

My question is: is it better to have more stems, in order to have a
thick, twisted trunk - or would just a few grow better than 8?

Also, the shoots are very long already. Should they be cut at the
highest point, with the aim of getting side-shoots eventually, or should
they simply be given a 90-degree angle and be tied in horizontally from
that point on?


Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi Klara,

You say that your wisteria is extremely vigorous which sounds just
like the one that I had at my last house from which I moved last year.
Mine was planted near the garden boundary and it had grown to form an
arch over the entrance to the drive. On the other side was a ten foot
tall beech hedge and wisteria branches would appear throughout the
hedge. My problem was keeping the shrub under control. On one occasion
I had to cut it back very severely since it was starting to block the
driveway. However hard I pruned the shrub, it always produced a
profusion of vigorous new shoots.

From my experience I don't think that you will have any trouble in
re-establishing your wisteria. If you have to cut the main stem to
make way for the new windows, I would just train the new stems to the
position you need. Provided the stems have buds along their length you
will get side shoots from each bud.

Hugh Harris-Evans
http://www.garden-supplies-advisor.com

In message , Hugh
Harris-Evans writes
On one occasion I had to cut it back very severely since it was
starting to block the driveway. However hard I pruned the shrub, it
always produced a profusion of vigorous new shoots.

From my experience I don't think that you will have any trouble in
re-establishing your wisteria. If you have to cut the main stem to make
way for the new windows, I would just train the new stems to the
position you need. Provided the stems have buds along their length you
will get side shoots from each bud.

Thanks, Hugh,

Vigorous is an understatement: if a window is open just for a day or two
it's in and heading for the beds, and it's also trying hard to lift the
roof - so that's promising. I think I'll bend a couple horizontally
right and left and prune the rest at the level of the bottoms of the
upstairs windows to spread the odds. But your experience seems to
indicate that one can do just about anything except keep it under
control!


--
Klara, Gatwick basin

In message , Charlie
Pridham writes
If it was me I would tie in (after the work) only those shoots needed
to replace the framework shape, bending the shoots down has much the
same effect as pruning and will help induce flowering, having said
that, my plant regularly sends shoots from the base which I remove as
cuttings and these always flower so I do not think you will wait long
for flowers! Going anywhere nice? :~)

Thanks, Charlie, that sounds promising! I am sad to lose the hefty trunk
of the old wisteria, but if the shoots flower soon, then that will make
up for it.

We'll be selling up as part of the process of retiring, which currently
looks a bit sooner than we had planned. It would be lovely to move your
way -Cornwall is one of my favourite places anywhere - but, then, we'd
like to end up not too far from one or another of our daughters -
probably somewhere near Norwich, which I'm also very fond of!

--
Klara, Gatwick basin