Do not prune during frost spells. Flower colors include violet, lavender and white, depending on the variety. If there’s another growth spurt before autumn you may need to do it again, depending on the season. If you plan on training the vines, do so immediately after you finish pruning, preferably on the same day. But for the gardener who has limited space and wants to enjoy more visible and abundant wisteria flowers, a pruning routine becomes a necessary chore. Some varieties will also flower again, against a backdrop of green foliage. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. It blooms in the summer (and sometimes into the fall) with a flush of deep mauve, pea-shaped blooms that resemble wisteria. If you are hard pruning an old, neglected wisteria, focus on the old, hard branches. There are 17 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Wisteria pruning is done twice a year, first in July or August and then in January or February. Summer pruning wisteria encourages the development of short-flowering spurs that will carry the long racemes of bloom in spring. During initial training of young wisteria plants, select a few strong shoots to tie into wires or trellis. This article has been viewed 28,092 times. Use ladders as needed with caution and common sense. Lauren Kurtz is a Naturalist and Horticultural Specialist. For more tips from our Horticulturist reviewer, including when to leave the seedpods in, read on! This long-lived flowering vine loves the sunshine and can bloom several times during the spring and summer. These limbs are twenty feet long but they produce blooms very lightly every summer. Watch RHS expert advice on pruning wisterias in summer to keep a healthy plant and ensure good flowering next year. Avoid pruning again until late summer, right after the wisteria finishes flowering. The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. Chinese wisteria after leaf pruning – June 16 And here’s the … Evergreen, woody twining vine that works great as a covering for a fence, trellis or arbor. Wisteria is kind of weird for a woody vine, because it blooms on both old and new growth. In winter, when it is obvious which of the buds are flower-producing, prune more severely, cutting back stems to within 6-8 inches of their base, leaving five to seven buds on each. Take it back to 12 inches ( 30 cm), leaving four to six leaves intact. We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. Knowing how to prune wisteria correctly will help your vine produce more blooms the following season. Pruning and caring for Wisteria 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. Trim the new growth back every 2 weeks until summer ends and you're all set until winter! Supplied in pretty zinc pots with gift labels, ideal for Christmas displays. Cut them back to where a new shoot begins. This can take place anytime during the plant’s dormant state, when leaves have fallen off until the end of winter. [1] X Research source If you are hard pruning an old, neglected wisteria, don't do everything all at once. The second pruning tidies the vine up and helps encourage more blooms. Find out how to summer-prune wisteria, for the best flowering potential the following spring. However, it does boast striking 4 to 8-inch clusters of purple and magenta blooms during the hottest months. In the summer, pruning your wisteria should be done about two months after it flowers. Individual flowers are borne on long showy racemes and open as a … July is the time to cut back the long whippy new growth that’s been produced this season. To tie the shoots, hold them against your desired support, then loosely wrap a piece of thin wire around both the vine and the support. This is a variety of a native vine known as Kentucky wisteria, which is not as aggressive as Chinese wisteria. Do I prune in winter or summer? Grafted wisterias will take about 3 years to produce their first blooms. Mid Summer pruning controls the Wisteria and creates a strong plant that may even flower for the second time in the early Autumn. Summer pruning wisteria encourages the development of short-flowering spurs that will carry the long racemes of bloom in spring. If there are any longer shoots from the summer's cut back, prune them back to five or six buds from the older wood. At the end of each growing season your vine will have lots and lots of long, thin, springy growth, called whips. Now I'm ready.". She earned a BA in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from Western Michigan University in 2014. Green, leafy summer prunings from wisteria can be added to the compost heap where they’ll rot down quickly. When it comes to how to trim a wisteria, you first should recognize that regular wisteria trimming should be done to control growth and encourage more flowers. Space the process out over the span of a few years. In summer, its glossy green canopy is awash with charming white panicles of flowers. Once wisteria are established, basic pruning practice is geared toward maintaining the shape and keeping the side leaders in check, as well as encouraging flower growth. Release date: 29 July 2019. Lauren has worked for Aurora, Colorado managing the Water-Wise Garden at Aurora Municipal Center for the Water Conservation Department. Summer pruning (July or August) Cut back the whippy green shoots of the current year’s growth to five or six leaves after flowering in July or August. CORVALLIS, Ore. – Wisteria delivers a beautiful spring display, but this vigorous vine needs plenty of pruning to keep it from swallowing the garden. Twist the wire together, then trim the excess wire off. This hardy shrub is usually £14.99 per 3L plant. Wisteria can live a long, healthy life with no pruning at all, happily twining, climbing, and sprawling over everything in its path. Once you have created these, you can prune any side shoots back to this framework. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 28,092 times. You cut the season’s current shoots back to within three buds from the base. Summer pruning of wisteria. Cutting the thin shoots down will help encourage bigger blooms the following year. vines display spectacular spring blooms, consisting of long, pendulous flower clusters that can reach 3 feet in some varieties. Step 4 Green foliage changes to fiery hues of orange and red towards winters, with white spring blossom later forming red berries. Last Updated: June 9, 2020 Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. In summer, tie in the main shoot vertically, select two strongest side shoots and trained them at 45 degree. Lauren has worked for Aurora, Colorado managing the Water-Wise Garden at Aurora Municipal Center for the Water Conservation Department. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/d\/d0\/Prune-Wisteria-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Prune-Wisteria-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/d\/d0\/Prune-Wisteria-Step-1.jpg\/aid9431734-v4-728px-Prune-Wisteria-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"