Violet-blue bunches a foot or more long hang from the stems, and the scent reaches you before the colour does. Wisteria is the classic climber for a pergola or gazebo, where the shade stays cool through the summer heat: give it full sun, hold back the fertiliser, and the bloom is extraordinary.
Wisteria at a glance
Name
Wisteria
Family
Fabaceae
Type
climbing vine
Height
16 to 50 feet (5 to 15 meters)
Exposure
Full sun
Soil
ordinary
Foliage
deciduous
Flowering
spring
Care, pruning and watering help enhance blooming. Try this plant and you will never regret it…
Planting Wisteria
It is recommended to plant them in spring or in fall in a mix of garden soil and soil mix together with soil conditioner such as manure and seaweed.
You may also plant in summer if you’re able to water regularly and avoid heat waves.
Wisteria require a lot of sunlight to bloom abundantly.
No need to add fertilizer, Wisteria don’t need any; it might actually favor leaves over flowers.
Sowing Wisteria seeds collected from pods may produce seedlings, but you must know that this technique results in a long waiting period before the first flowers appear: it can take 10 to 15 years…
Pruning and caring for Wisteria
Yearly pruning keeps wisteria within its allotted space
Pruning Wisteria is very easy, and must be done every year if you don’t want your Wisteria to invade more than its allotted territory.
This can take place anytime during the plant’s dormant state, when leaves have fallen off until the end of winter.
Do not prune during frost spells.
Flowers grow on the previous year’s growth, so it is important to only remove new growth to enable flowering.
In winter, prune lateral shoots, removing all but one or two buds.
This means to keep the main branch, and cut back all stems that shoot out from it.
Remove wilted flowers regularly (deadheading) because their fruits are toxic.
Here is our video guidance to correctly prune Wisteria
Wisteria through the year: what to do and when
Wisteria asks for very little, but each task has its moment. Here is how planting, pruning and flowering fall across the seasons.
Wisteria through the year: what to do and when
Task
When
Key point
Planting (main window)
mid-spring or mid-autumn
Garden soil mixed with soil mix, plus manure or seaweed
Planting (second option)
midsummer
Only if you can water regularly and avoid heat waves
Sowing seed from pods
any time, but flowers come 10 to 15 years later
Seedlings work, the wait is very long
Pruning
late autumn to late winter, while dormant
Cut lateral shoots back to one or two buds; never during frost
Flowering and deadheading
early to late spring
Violet blue bunches 12 to 16 inches long; remove wilted flowers, the fruits are toxic
Respect the dormant season for pruning and the flowers will appear on the previous year’s growth as they should.
Training Wisteria like a tree
When purchased, Wisteria usually has a single long stem, that branches out several times.
To train Wisteria into a tree-shape, you must stake this long stem with a sturdy stake. If you wish your Wisteria to be 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall, choose a 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall stake, but don’t make it any taller than 6 to 8 feet (2 to 2.5 m).
A sturdy stake turns the single long stem into a trunk
Attach the main stem to this stake, as close as possible with “figure eight” ties sold in horticulture stores. Avoid strings and wires that would dig into the trunk.
Remove all side shoots up to the very tip of the trunk.
Renew this step as often as needed, every time a new shoot appears.
Let the remaining top branches grow and develop.
The top branches risk breaking under their own weight. To avoid this, cut them after 2 or 3 buds (just above a bud facing out and up).
This will lead to new branches appearing, and you can prune these back to 2 or 3 buds whenever needed.
You have thus prepared the structure of your Wisteria.
Yellowing Wisteria leaves
Although Wisteria are rarely subject to diseases, leaves frequently turn yellow.
If this happens in fall, don’t worry, it is normal because Wisteria lose their leaves in winter.
But if leaves turn yellow or lose their color in summer, the soil is probably responsible and leads to chlorosis.
Wisteria doesn’t do well in excessively chalky, heavy and clay soil.
Add iron sulfate to the soil.
Interveinal yellowing, where the leaf blade pales while the veins themselves stay green, is the signature of lime-induced chlorosis in wisteria.
Check drainage first: waterlogged roots also yellow wisteria leaves.
A wisteria trained against a wall often runs dry at the foot, so soak the root area thoroughly in hot spells and mulch with leaf mould or pine bark.
All there is to know about Wisteria flowers
Wisteria produce very beautiful flowers in violet blue bunches 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) long.
Perfect climbing vine for pergolas and gazebos, you’ll be amazed at their abundant bloom and the cool air under their shade during the hot summer heat…
Another major advantage of Wisteria is that they are very fragrant.
Buy your wisteria in flower, or grafted from a named cultivar, so you know the colour and scent you are getting.
Chinese wisteria opens its clusters on bare stems, whereas Japanese wisteria bears longer racemes that appear alongside the new leaves.
Smart tip about Wisteria
Don’t amend and fertilize the soil too much, since this could stimulate leaf growth instead of flowers on Wisteria.
Bloom like this comes from withholding fertiliser, not feeding
Avoid adding fertilizer if you want to have flowers.
Observant gardeners also share that you should not go against the direction of growth that your Wisteria have chosen, unless you train them with wires for instance.
Let them grow as they wish but attach stems to the lattice with string because they don’t hang to things on their own.
Written by Gaspard Lorthiois | Loves helping out, especially when it comes to growing things. Worked in herbal medicine, runs a farm, and dabbles in tech. Master's degree and engineer.
