Wisteria Care Guide – How to Grow, Train and Prune Wisteria Vines

There's no mistaking the sweet fragrance of wisteria as it perfumes the garden – its beautiful violet-blue or lavender blooms cover this vine in mid to late spring. Wisteria is one of the most popular and spectacular flowering garden plants, producing magnificent hanging, grape-like clusters (racemes) of fragrant flowers that add a stunning effect to any garden or landscape.

Wisteria belongs to the pea family, Fabaceae. The genus includes ten species of deciduous climbing vines, two native to the southern United States and the others native to eastern Asia. It is a woody, high-climbing vine with a vigorous twining habit, fast growth rate, and long life span. Mature plants can reach 40–75 feet and require plenty of room and a very strong structure to climb on.

Wisteria can be grown as a vine, a tree, or a shrub. While growing wisteria is easy, you should take caution with it, as it can quickly overtake everything without proper care.

Growing Wisteria & Wisteria Vine Care

The most important factor to consider when growing wisteria is location. This vine requires sturdy support and regular pruning to keep it under control. Open areas surrounded by lawns that can be easily mowed are ideal.

Wisteria performs best in full sun. It can grow in a shady area, but it will not produce flowers. It requires deep, moderately fertile soil that is somewhat moist and well-drained, though it will tolerate a variety of soil conditions. It is important to keep the soil moist during the initial growth period, the flowering period, and during drought. Once established, wisteria is fairly drought-tolerant and requires little watering.

Because mature plants are very heavy, supports must be strong. Wisteria can easily overwhelm nearby structures and plants. The weight from wisteria can topple trees, and it may kill them by choking and shading them.

Wisteria does not require fertilisation.

Types of Wisteria

Two species are typically grown in home gardens:

Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis)

Chinese wisteria is a vigorous, fast-growing, long-lived ornamental climber native to China. It grows 40–75 feet tall and twines in a counter-clockwise direction around its support.

It produces 6–9 inch pendulous clusters of white, violet, lilac-blue or blue flowers in late spring, usually before the leaves emerge. All the flowers on a raceme open simultaneously and have an appealing fragrance. Chinese wisteria may bloom within four years after planting.

It is hardy in USDA zones 5–9 and tolerates a variety of soil and moisture conditions, though it prefers well-drained, loamy soil.

Japanese Wisteria (Wisteria floribunda)

Japanese wisteria twines clockwise around its support. It produces large 12–18 inch clusters of very fragrant flowers in white, pink, blue, or violet. Flowering usually occurs as the leaves are developing.

Japanese wisteria flowers are generally more prominent and more fragrant than those of Chinese wisteria.

Training Wisteria Vines

Wisteria is ideal for covering an arbor, pergola, gateway, trellis, or sturdy wall. Training vines properly makes them easier to control.

When training wisteria, select an upright stem and attach it to the chosen support. Remove any side shoots and continue to train the main vine upwards. New side branches can be trained as needed to fill in spaces by attaching them where desired. For best results, keep these side branches spaced about 18 inches apart.

Once the vine has reached the desired height, pinch off or cut the main tip to stunt its growth.

When to Prune Wisteria

Since it is an aggressive grower, pruning wisteria is essential to promote blooming and control size.

Regular pruning of new shoots throughout the growing season helps keep the vine manageable. Ideally, prune at least once a year, and preferably twice:

• In summer, after flowering, cut all whippy growths back to two or three buds from the main stem.
• In late fall or early winter, cut back whippy growths to about four buds from the branch from which they are growing.

Remove any dead or damaged wood, crowded branches and suckers from the base. Heavy pruning in late fall or winter helps maintain shape and encourages spring blooms.

Flowering and Seed Pods

Wisteria produces spectacular cascading flowers over a period of four to five weeks in spring. The pendulous racemes open sequentially from the base to the tip and resemble bunches of grapes. Individual flowers are pea-like and very fragrant.

Flowers may appear within four years after planting, but in some cases can take as long as 10–15 years.

Flowers are sometimes followed by decorative, velvety green seed pods that turn brown as they dry and may persist into winter.

Note: Wisteria seeds are poisonous and should be kept away from children and pets.

How to Propagate Wisteria Vines

Learning how to propagate wisteria vines is easy, but propagating from seed is not recommended. Although seeds may sprout within a few weeks if soaked overnight and planted, blooming may not occur for 10 to 15 years, if ever.

The best way to propagate wisteria is through cuttings taken in summer or by layering branches. When layering, choose a flexible branch and bend it to the ground, placing a few inches into the soil with a leaf node included. Secure it in place and allow it to overwinter. By spring, it should have developed enough roots for planting.

Cuttings and layering typically result in flowering within three to four years.

With proper training and regular pruning, growing wisteria doesn’t have to be a hassle. Provide strong support, full sun, and seasonal pruning, and you can enjoy this beautiful, fragrant climber for many years.