I am trying to make my wisteria vine grow into a tree. How can I get the trunk to thicken?
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I absolutely love Wisteria but I have so many trees that it's difficult to find a place to plant a vine or even a 'tree' and know that it will have plenty of room to grow and not do any harm to my trees or structures. I do have several (2 in containers) but I have to keep them cut back so they never really grow to their potential.
I'm only mentioning this because location is very important to growing a Wisteria vine or tree/standard.
If your Wisteria is already planted be sure to take all these things into consideration before moving on.
As to thickening the trunk, this may be a slow process but I have noticed mine slowly increasing in size each year.
Check out the links for more information.
There are so many good sites explaining how to turn your Wisteria into a tree/standard that it would be waste of space to write it all down here.
I have heard that one of the biggest mistakes people make when starting this project is using too small of a support post.
Information:
"After planting the vine, install a 4 x 4 wooden post or a metal fence post to a depth of at least 12 to 18 inches in the ground with 4 to 5 feet or so of the post above ground. Depending on the size/diameter of the root ball of the plant, position the post about 3 to 6 inches away from where the base of the vine. The height of the post above the ground should be a foot higher than where you will want the base of the canopy of your Wisteria tree to start above ground."
Here are a couple of links that provide detailed instructions on turning your Wisteria into a tree/standard as well as other information. Some articles are long but good reading on how to do this. Each site has usuful information.
dengarden.com/
dengarden.com/
www.whiteflowerfarm.com/
www.wilsonbrosgardens.com/
Actually this genus should have be named Wistaria, and not Wisteria, as it was named in honor of Professor Caspar Wistar of the University of Pennsylvania, but an unfortunate misspelling while registering has for ever kept the name Wisteria.
Select good and named variety, do not take a vine of an unknown variety, as it most likely will be seed raised, which will result only in disappointment. Asian wisteria is aggressive growers with fuzzy seed pods, while North American wisteria are not quite as aggressive in their growing habits.
To grow and train your Wisteria use a support post and prune back Wisteria fearlessly:
1st pruning in July, cutting all whips and stems back to the main trunk, leaving a foot or so of stem which can be allowed to form buds for the following year;
2nd pruning in early spring, or late winter, just before the vines start to grow and flower buds begin to swell growingwithplants.com/
"Do not wind the main stem around the support post as it grows. This will result in a weakly stemmed tree, unable to support future growth." Here is a detailed description of how to train Wisteria: homeguides.sfgate.com/
The most important thing is to keep it trained on a bamboo stake so that it grows straight.
Here is a video:
www.youtube.com/
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