Hard Pruning Wisteria

[Nishant]

Hello Friends,

I had been thinking of hard pruning one of my thick wisteria. Its suggested everywhere to hard prune it when dormant. Will be better to do once the floral buds start swelling.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

The backyard wisteria we have is pruned in winter. That seems to leave no damage other than some dead stubs at the point where the cuts were made. Those dry out over the summer and can be snapped off with your fingers.
I tried a cutting as a bonsai, but working it hard during growing season killed it.

 

[Nishant]

Hello Wire guy , I did not quite get what you are suggesting.

My wisteria has two inch thick woody trunk with no branch above ground for 100 cm.

Is it safe to hard prune it till there?

 

[Cajunrider]

Hello Wire guy , I did not quite get what you are suggesting.

My wisteria has two inch thick woody trunk with no branch above ground for 100 cm.

Is it safe to hard prune it till there?

I've done that to my friend's wisteria in the winter. Come spring we had buds every where on the woody part that we left.

 

[0soyoung]

I've done that to my friend's wisteria in the winter. Come spring we had buds every where on the woody part that we left.

Also, after flowering, one can cut back to a pair of leaflets on all stems. It will back bud and often bloom again.

 

[rockm]

Hello Wire guy , I did not quite get what you are suggesting.

My wisteria has two inch thick woody trunk with no branch above ground for 100 cm.

Is it safe to hard prune it till there?

Yes. I'd wait til later winter though. Depending on your climate, a few hard freezes can kill back hard pruned wisteria, a little or a lot...

 

[WNC Bonsai]

There is a good Peter Chan video on pruning wisteria on the Herons Bonsai channel on YouTube. Know how to tell a W. floribunda from W. sinensis? The tendrils on floribunda spiral clockwise whereas on sinensis spiral counterclockwise.

 

[Nishant]

I've done that to my friend's wisteria in the winter. Come spring we had buds every where on the woody part that we left.

Thanks for sharing this real experience. I will give a hard prune as soon as the plant wakes up. The only reason I want to wait till the plant has woken up is because I have seen some branches just dying off for unknown reasons. So I have got some confidence to hard prune after reading your experience.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Hello Wire guy , I did not quite get what you are suggesting.

My wisteria has two inch thick woody trunk with no branch above ground for 100 cm.

Is it safe to hard prune it till there?

Late winter, right about the time you no longer expect deep freeze. From then until bud break is best time to prune.

What level would you like your first branches on your wisteria? If you want your first branch at 20 cm, prune it off at 22 cm, and you will get branches that low. In early spring, you do not have to have visible buds. It will bud out from the trunk. Doing this will likely prevent flowering this year, but it will get branches at the level you require.