Wisteria sepatation question

[jimgarner]

Last spring, I harvested two Wisteria trees from a local field that were about 9 inches apart and seem to have their roots bound together. I placed the pair in a large bucket where they have thrived. I have trimmed them back... though not as fat as I plan to...
I would like to separate them to have two separate bonsai trees...
How should I go about separating them? What should I look for in the roots to tell me if it is posdible to separate them (or impossible)?
When is the best time to attempt the separation? Mid winter or early spring?

 

[oranjeaap]

I'm fairly sure you can take a chainsaw, machette or whatever brute force you can think off and just split the root system in two, and it will continue to grow like nothing ever happened. Atleast, that's how it behaves in my garden.
When you dug it up did you remove the soil and inspect the roots? If they're growing that close together maybe they originate from the same root system rather than having fused together.

 

[jimgarner]

No I did not remove the soil and inspect.. that's why I don't know if they are the same tree (share eoot system) on not.

 

[Esolin]

Last spring, I harvested two Wisteria trees from a local field that were about 9 inches apart and seem to have their roots bound together. I placed the pair in a large bucket where they have thrived. I have trimmed them back... though not as fat as I plan to...
I would like to separate them to have two separate bonsai trees...
How should I go about separating them? What should I look for in the roots to tell me if it is posdible to separate them (or impossible)?
When is the best time to attempt the separation? Mid winter or early spring?

Not a wisteria expert, but I did have one as a yard plant for a while. They are deciduous, and yes, with deciduous material, the best time for root work is usually late Winter/early Spring, just as buds are waking up and beginning to grow. I'm guessing it's Chinese Wisteria since you found it wild and it's become an invasive pest in certain areas. Frankly they seem hard to kill. It's very possible it's one plant. They tend to sucker and produce multiple trunks. But that doesn't mean you can't chop it in half. You'd have some deadwood where you cut, but I bet both would survive as long as each half had a few roots.