Wisteria is a stunning bloom that brings a dash of cottage enchantment to any home or garden.
As an exuberant climber, Wisteria is often seen draping over homes, outbuildings, or garden walls with its delightful white, purple, or pink blossoms creating a spectacular display when they burst into full bloom in late spring.
At this time of the year, you may observe that your wisteria has stopped flowering, leaving behind a profusion of foliage and numerous seed pods but devoid of blooms.
But a gardening expert has suggested that with one crucial task completed within the forthcoming weeks, you can encourage your wisteria to flourish again in a second blooming come late summer, offering an additional bounty of flowers.
Gardening aficionado Michael Griffiths took to TikTok with a video asserting that a second flowering of your wisteria is possible if you contemplate pruning at this time. While wisteria is typically pruned between July and August, Michael prefers to prune his right at the start of July, ideally before mid-month.
He explained: “It’s normally recommended to summer prune your wisteria in July and August, but I like to do mine as early in July as possible because when left to their own devices, these whips are going to give you a load of leaves, but no flowers.”
Michael advises initially trimming back any “whippy growth” to about four or five buds from where this season’s growth commenced. Displaying a close-up of his wisteria, he differentiated between old brown twigs and vibrant green shoots, instructing to prune excess growth after counting four or five buds from where the greenery starts.
Next up on your gardening agenda should be the removal of all seed pods plaguing your wisteria.
Michael advised: “There are two reasons for this. One, it’s not worth growing wisteria from seed, and two, we don’t want the plant putting its energy into growing seeds. So where we see seeds, we’re going to take that right back to the base.”
Post-pruning, you’ll notice an increase in light and air around your plant – a pivotal aspect of healthy growth. Moreover, with the seed pods gone, the wisteria can channel its vigour into “something useful” like producing an additional flourish of blossoms.
The video was met with gratitude from followers who had been grappling with their own wisteria woes. While some lamented the lack of flowers, others discussed their battles with the vigorous vine.
One person said: “My wisteria doesn’t even do a first bloom. It’s about 15 years old but has never bloomed. Covered in leaves but alas, no flowers.”
Another added: “I summer pruned mine yesterday!”
How to grow wisteria
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) classifies wisteria as “moderately easy to grow”, requiring bi-annual pruning and full sun to flourish. However, they caution that it may take three to four years for wisteria to produce flowers after planting, with certain varieties potentially taking even longer to bloom.
Some tips for growing wisteria:
- Plant in a location that gets at least six hours of sun every day for the best flowering.
- Plant in well-draining, fertile soil.
- To plant, dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and just as deep. Place the plant at the same depth it was in the pot. Backfill with soil, water well, and mulch to retain moisture.
- Install a strong support system before planting. Wisteria vines become heavy and need something robust to climb.
- Keep soil moist but not soggy, especially in the first year. Once established, wisteria is drought-tolerant.
- Pruning is key for flowering and controlling growth, and wisteria should be pruned twice a year. In summer, prune after flowering and cut back new shoots to around six inches. In winter, reduce those same shoots to 2-3 buds.
- Wisteria can take several years to flower, especially if grown from seed. Grafted or nursery-grown plants flower sooner.