Calling all Wisteria experts!
Are there any Wisteria experts out there that can help me please?
We are soon to begin renovation work on our house including rendering the outside and extending the front. We have a very old, very big Wisteria growing across the entire front of the house and we want to do all we can to preserve it.
The building work is avoiding it where possible but we will have to drastically cut it back. This will include chopping off some large branches. For some branches this will towards the end, but we also need to remove a couple of the trunks at ground level.
Is it okay do do this or will the plant die if we cut huge chunks off?
Do you think I should call someone in to do this? We love the plant and would be devastated if we killed it.
Is it now that I should be doing this? Or could you do it any time of year?
I have searched the internet for advise but can only find info on hard pruning, but what we need is way beyond that.
I would be so grateful if anyone can help.
Lisa
Posts
You need to do any hard pruning like this when the plant is dormant so from October to mid to late January as, after this period, the sap starts rising and it can bleed to death or become very weakened before the wounds can heal.
If it's still cold where you are you could risk cutting out the big trunks in the next few days but start at the end, cutting out manageable chunks to reduce harm by splitting and tearing of the bark and also so you can stop if to see sap pouring out. Use proper loppers and pruning saws and leave neat cuts.
Smaller stems can probably be bent away from the wall while re-rendering goes on but if they too are woody they'll have to be cut too so make an immediate start and see how it goes. The other option is to leave these smaller stems till after flowering and leaf growth as sap flow slows down then.
We have two old, established wisteria here that have been neglected for a few years before we bought the place 18 months ago. We have taken out lots of unwanted small stems from the main trunks and they are quickly replaced by new ones growing from dormant buds so yours should regenerate, especially if you give it a good feed and a drink once spring gets under way.
Obelixx,that's so interesting regarding the sap and now I know how urgent the work is! We are in the south but it's very cold here this week. Thank you for your response and advice. Best wishes.