How to Train Wisteria Vines
Wisteria vines are gorgeous, but they grow quite large over time and need special attention when it comes to taming them. Florida gardener Melissa Strauss goes over the basics of training that beautiful, blooming vine.
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Wisteria is one of the most dramatic and beautiful flowering vines in gardens. Known for its gorgeous cascades of fragrant lavender blossoms, wisteria is romantic and impressive. It can also be a vigorous and aggressive grower, so it’s important to train it properly.
This deciduous vine is a member of the pea family. It can live for decades and grow to 40 feet tall and nearly as wide. Its blossoms, which range from lavender to pink, white, or blue violet, appear in large, draping clusters. They’re beloved by pollinators, and look amazing trained over a pergola, arbor, or trellis.
Being such a vigorous plant, wisteria requires discipline and support. Without these, it can quickly overtake nearby structures and even grow up into trees. It’s a heavy plant, and the vines become woody and even heavier with age.
Training your wisteria is an absolute must. If you can jump into action from the beginning, it will be much easier to train your wisteria into a well-balanced form. If your plant is already growing in its place, don’t worry, we can still work with it. Here are some steps to taming that gorgeous plant and training it to behave beautifully in the garden.
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Provide Ample Support
As they age, wisteria vines become incredibly heavy, so giving them support is vital. It’s not just important for their appearance; it’s necessary for the safety of the plant, as well. An improperly supported wisteria is at risk of breaking or collapsing, which sets you back a long way.
The best structures to train your wisteria over are permanent frameworks. A portable or movable structure is unlikely to hold up under the weight of the mature plant. You want thick posts made of wood or metal, and preferably sunken into concrete.
This plant can live for decades and weigh hundreds of pounds. A lightweight structure is likely to collapse under the wisteria’s weight. Opt for something strong and sturdy that will last for the life of the plant.
Choose a Central Leader
When you set out to train your wisteria, the first step is to choose a central leader. This is one strong, upright stem that will become the trunk of the plant. The side branches will come from this leader, and it needs to support the needs of the entire plant.
To establish the leader, identify the healthiest, most sturdy shoot at the base of the vine. Then remove any competing stems so that all the plant’s energy goes to that one central stem. We want this to be a well-developed trunk that will support all the years of growth to come.
Once you choose the leader and remove all the other branches, gently tie it to your sturdy, vertical support. Keep the ties loose enough to support the branch but also allow for growth. This branch will grow quite large over time.
As the leader grows, continue tying it in place until it reaches the top of the structure. At this point, you can train wisteria over the top of the support and begin working on the side shoots. A strong central leader will support your vine as well as keep growth organized and easy to work with.
Train the Side Branches
Your central leader is the key to creating a balanced framework for supporting tons of flowers and foliage. Once your leader reaches the top of its support, it’s time to train your wisteria’s side shoots. Begin by selecting the strongest side branches that are well-spaced.
The placement of these side branches is important as it sets the framework for what will become a large, imposing plant. Wisteria is a fast, vigorous grower. You want the side shoots to grow horizontally, or perpendicular to the central leader.
Horizontal placement is important for two related reasons. One, it slows the vegetative growth. This, in turn, encourages the formation of more flower buds rather than extensive leafy shoots.
As these side shoots grow, continue to tie them in place on the support structure. Any that don’t perform well, you can remove or shorten to encourage stronger growth. Concentrate on growing this foundation of branches on whatever type of support you’ve chosen to train wisteria.
Over time, spurs will form on your side shoots. These are where your flowers will form, so you want as many of them as possible. Your summer pruning will encourage more of these to form, and stronger ones.
Summer Pruning
As you train your wisteria, you’ll want to prune it twice per year, in summer and winter. The most important pruning will be the one you do in summer. This is to control the vigorous growth, as well as encourage bud formation. Wisteria blooms on old wood, so the buds for next year will form the summer before.
By midsummer, your wisteria will be forming long, whiplike shoots. These can grow up to 10 or 15 feet in a single season. These need to go if you want to train your wisteria properly. If left intact, these will become a tangled mess and can smother your beautiful framework. They also pull energy away from the growth that you do want.
Cut these new shoots back hard. Leave only five or six leaves toward the base. You’ll leave enough foliage for photosynthesis, but not enough to drain the energy. Cutting these will redirect that energy into the spurs on your framework branches.
Summer pruning also increases the amount of light that reaches the internal branches and increases airflow. Both of these aspects are important in preventing fungal diseases. Summer pruning is for tidying up and redirecting energy to bud formation.
Winter Pruning
Summer pruning is to significantly reduce the energy spent on new growth and redirect it to forming flowers. Winter pruning is to refine the growth and make sure that the plant springs into action. This way, the energy continues to support the flower development.
Pruning is an important factor when you train wisteria plants. Without proper pruning, you will end up with a tangled mess of vines and far fewer flowers. Pruning properly will help your wisteria form robust flowers that cascade from the framework.
Locate the shoots that you pruned in summer to five or six leaves. They will be leafless by now, so you’ll need to rely on the buds to determine how much to cut. Cut these same shoots back to about two or three buds. This is about half the length that they presently are.
These small branches will become more spurs, which is where additional flowers will form in the coming years. Each winter, pruning forms a new set of spurs to add to the network you’ve been building.
While you’re at it, survey the plant while it has no leaves to see how the overall shape is forming. Remove any broken or damaged branches and any that impede the overall form that you are trying to achieve.
Encourage Flowering
To encourage blooming as you train your wisteria, it’s vital to focus on developing those spurs. Blooms only occur on short, mature spurs, so the ones formed this year will not flower until next year.
Forming those spurs happens as a result of both summer and winter pruning. By keeping growth close to the leader, you will form a stronger, denser framework. You’ll have a greater number of spurs, and thus, a more floriferous plant.
The age of your plant is another factor in whether it will bloom. Wisteria grown from seeds can take between seven and 15 years to flower for the first time. Grafted wisteria plants bloom in as few as two to three years.
Finally, fertilizing correctly is an important part of encouraging your wisteria to flower. Too much nitrogen will encourage leafy growth rather than focusing on flowers. Use a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorus fertilizer once in early spring.
