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Wisteria shoots

r.bourke.8OoraZOVSr.bourke.8OoraZOVS Posts: 28
in Problem solving
Hi,

I planted a wisteria floribunda back in April which is still looking really healthy, my issue is it has only sent up one shoot for me to vine around to train up the supports for its future growth. It has just produced another two flower buds so it must be doing ok, is there some sort of pruning I need to do to encourage more. All other stems of the plant seem to top off in a bunch of leaves. Do I need to prune those off to encourage future growth? 

Thanks

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    If it only has the one main shoot I would leave it to get to the height you want it to achieve.   Any side shoots need to be trained in as horizontally as possible to provide a framework and encourage flowering.

    Once you have your framework, there are two main pruning periods to encourage flowering and also contain the size.   It should be producing log whippy growths and these can be pruned back to 7 pairs of leaves in July/August depending on how far south or north and sheltered or exposed you are.    In February you prune these shoots back to two buds.

    Have a look at this helpful info from the RHS and bookmark it for future reference - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=242 


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  • r.bourke.8OoraZOVSr.bourke.8OoraZOVS Posts: 28
    Hi,
    thank you for your help. I had researched all the pruning, training etc I was just surprised I only had one whippy shoot and wondered if I was supposed to do something to encourage more. I’ll train this one round to create the framework. 
    With watering am I supposed to water frequently or not? I’ve given it some now and then but didn’t want the plant to rely on the water source. I was going for tough love. 
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    When a shrub or tree is first planted - say the first year or two, it needs to be thoroughly watered in dry spells to get it established. That means a soaking about once a week rather than a trickle every day. In some areas there has been drought for three summers and also high temperatures and quite a number of windy days, so the key thing is to look at your plant in your conditions. Tough love is different, there are volumes written about watering, but it doesn't apply to new plantings.
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