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Wisteria

ValanneValanne Posts: 5
in Problem solving
I have inherited an established wisteria which was covered in ivy. I've pulled the ivy off the wisteria and pruned the 'whippy' bits back to 5-6 buds during July, but the leaves have now all gone yellow and falling so there's not much foliage on the plant.  Have I done anything wrong or do I have a soil problem? 

Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    keep it watered and fed. It'll bounce back .
    Welcome to the Forum
    Devon.
  • ValanneValanne Posts: 5
    Thank you Hostafan - good to find the forum. What's the best feed to use? I read fertiliser tends to inhibit flowering? 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I have also inherited two large wisteria.  Neither gets any fertiliser and both flower their socks off in late April/early May.   Both also do a second flush and are in bloom now.   

    I suspect yours may be thirsty and maybe, in dragging out the ivy, you've broken a few leaf attachments so they're going yellow and will drop off.   Give it a good, deep watering of 10 to 15 litres poured on slowly every day for a week and don't feed it while it's stressed.   Water every 3 or 4 days after that till autumn rains set in.

    Next February, take a good look at its shape and remove at their base any stems heading up under roof or gutter or across windows.  Then take other shoots back to 2 buds to encourage flowering.

    Having said that, mine are too big to count every stem back to 2 buds so I just remove anything heading where I don't want it and make sure we can walk past without being bushwhacked.


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • ValanneValanne Posts: 5
    There was an awful lot of ivy tbh so the wisteria probably took a bit of a hammering. I am worried I've pruned incorrectly and killed it 😕
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I suspect not.   We regularly pick off all growth below canopy level on the main trunks and it comes back every time.  Water yours well so it has a chance to recover.

    Another time, cut all ivy stems at the base and leave the top growth to wilt for several days so it puts up less of a fight.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • ValanneValanne Posts: 5
    Good idea - hopefully I won't have to deal with that much ivy again. Thanks for your help - your wisteria look beautiful. I'll be really pleased if I ever get a second flowering like those 😁
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    That was the first flowering.  The second is more purple for some reason and the racemes are shorter and it looks different with the foliage on too.

    I had one in my last garden - in Belgium - and it was much younger but it had started having a second flush too.  Great for bees.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • ValanneValanne Posts: 5
    Wow, I live in hope... 
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