How to Effectively Prune and Control a Wisteria Vine

If you have a Wisteria vine you know how much it likes to roam all over the place. An un-pruned Wisteria Vine can do extensive damage. Their stems can develop a great width and become very strong. Wisteria is also very beautiful and for a dedicated gardener, the beauty far exceeds the large amount of work it takes to keep it in its place.

As long as you do not prune off the flower buds, it is very hard to over prune. Under prune, yes, but not over prune. Winter is the best time for pruning wisteria vine, the flowers will not be in your way, but you also need to do some pruning of a wisteria vine in the summer or your winter pruning will be much harder.

It is easy to learn how to prune wisteria vine. The actual work itself is time consuming because there is a lot of it, not because pruning a wisteria vine is difficult. In the summer, take a look at how the wisteria vine is growing.You will notice that the wisteria is sending out runners - thin stalks- and they are going all over the place. The thing in learning how to prune wisteria vine is to cut back as many of those runners back to the trunk as you can and train the rest to go where you want them to. Cut them now when they are young and easy to get rid of. You can use just about any pruning tool such as one you would use for a rose bush since the runners will be young and tender

The next thing to learn about how to prune wisteria vine is about winter pruning. Winter is the time to cut the vine way back. Do not be afraid to cut it back to below where you want it to be. When you do extensive pruning, it will encourage a wild spurt of growth in the spring. It will grow back to where you want it to be and then some. Pruning a wisteria vine in the winter is much like pruning a small tree and you will need to use a similar pruner, preferably one with a long handle. This is also the time to make sure that none of the wisteria is posing a danger to the house foundation or strangling any of the other trees and plants.

Don't let the absence of flowers on the new growth worry you. It can take a long as 7 years for new growth to start flowering. That is why it is so important for you not to prune away any of the stems that have flower buds.