A wisteria in full bloom in May is a wonderful sight and the hanging racemes of flowers make a lovely display on a wall, fence or pergola. Wisteria is a vigorous plant and really needs to be trained and pruned regularly to keep it under control. If not, in just a few years it will grow into a plant that’s large and unruly! However, with a little regular pruning and training you can easily keep wisteria in check and manageable to create a specimen plant that will flower and get better with age.
August is when much of the pruning is done to shorten the long, whippy growths and to tie in new shoots to create and maintain the shape. In winter, when the plant is dormant, a second prune can be done to keep the growth tight and compact. Pruning now is simply a case of checking over the plant and shortening even further the stems that were pruned back last summer. The aim is to create short spurs just 5cm (2in) long, on which flower buds will develop in spring. Now is also a good time to remove any dead wood, check for suckers and make sure the stems are secured to their support.