Wisteria is a quintessential British bloom, exploding in spring with beautiful purple flowers. If given the correct care, they can reward you with stunning cascades of fragrant flowers for decades. While wisteria can thrive in UK gardens, they do require some care and patience.
According to David Denyer, a flower expert at Eflorist, wisteria can bloom for up to 50 years by doing three main tasks: pruning, fertilising, and ensuring the plant is placed in the correct location. “Wisteria plants truly are the ultimate garden feature, with their long vines and fragrant purple flowers,” he said. “Wisteria typically starts to bloom in May or June, and there are a few ways you can prepare your wisteria to grow more flowers when it comes to the summer time.”
Fertiliser
The flower expert urges people to feed wisteria and suggests using a balanced or high potash fertiliser in early spring, “as this can support bud formation and improve the overall bloom quality of the blooms.”
He added: “Feed it monthly with your fertiliser, and continue to water weekly for best results.”
Placement
Wisteria needs plenty of sun to thrive and should be planted in a place where it can get sunlight every day, according to Denyer.
“As well as this, ensure your wisteria is planted against a wall that gets a lot of sunlight, and in an area with well-drained soil,” he added.
“Wisteria needs at least six hours of direct light daily to produce abundant flowers, so keep this in mind when choosing a location for the plant.
“But whilst these plants can still grow in shaded areas, you’ll get the most out of your wisteria if it’s exposed to the sun.”
Pruning
He said: “Pruning is another essential task, as by cutting back the long shoots in late summer, and again in winter, you can direct the plant’s focus into flower production, rather than excessive growth of only foliage.
“Whilst they are in their younger years, you may find it necessary to tie them to a structure, such as a wall or trellis, keeping them in place and encouraging growth further.
“Tying the main stems horizontally along a structure helps to encourage more shoots to develop, so opt for this instead of tying them vertically.”
The gardening expert added that wisteria can take several years to produce blooms until they reach maturity.
“However, patience is key with wisteria, especially if they are young plants,” he said.
“In fact, wisteria can take several years to fully mature before it fully blooms, however, with the right care, it will reward you with an abundance of purple flowers every summer for years to come, as they typically last up to 50 years”.
