Steve, do you know if it's the tree or vine? If it's a vine, you want to start it on a trellis..plant where it'll cling on to something tall, like a garage.
If the tree, plant far from the house..the roots will eventualy lift your home..lol..Toni

Toni I have no clue what type of wisteria it is whether it si a vine or tree. A neighbor down the street had 2 starts and gave me one. The more I hear about it the more I think I am going to have to give it back or share it with someone else. I don't have much yard and my garage is only about 13 feet from the house so that don't sound like a good place to put it.
Thanks Stevi K

I've posted several times on here about the wisteria we inherited when we bought this house. I guess there are two different kinds of wisteria vines common in the U.S. The kind I have is VICIOUS. So vicious that I'm afraid to turn my back on it when I'm close. I finally had DH cut it down off my house/stone chimney with a CHAINSAW. Yes, chainsaw. The vines were twisted and turned together so that the base was bigger around than my thigh. I treated the stumps with Tordon (a toxic chemical). Now it's growing back. AAUUUGGGHHHHH!

If I were you, I'd burn that piece of wisteria. And don't look back.

Littlebug, why did you not like it? Did yours ever bloom? I've never seen one grown here in IL, other than the one I have, and it's so cute..It's not small, but the base is perhaps 2" in diameter. Leaves are small, about 1/2"-1". I plan on growing it along the awning of my gargage..

Steve, can you ask the person who gave you the cutting if it's a tree or vine? Toni

Littlebug I heard the same thing from my boss. She keeps cutting it down and it keeps comeing back.
Toni I did ask Sonya when she was over tonight and it is a tree wisteria. Do you think if I put it between the sidewalk and the road it would push up the sidewalk one day?
Otherwise I really don't have any place for it. Do you have a picture of yours?
Thanks, Stevi (with an i not and e everyone makes that mistake.)

Tree wisteria is the common name for an African plant. I'm doubtful it is hardy in zone 5.

Wisteria vine can, and sometimes is, trained to grow in a tree-form, but it is still just the vine and has to be pruned even more than if you allow it to grow as a vine.

I have the sinensis variety. I understand floribunda can be a little on the wild side, especially in warmer climes. Mine is planted to grow on a sturdy & beautiful trellis my Labor Pool built for me to frame our south-facing office window. That right, folks, it's about a foot from the house! It's not going to grow through my foundation-why would it try to push through cement when it's got dirt and water a plenty on the other side?

BTW, wisteria does not have holdfasts so you'd need to provide support if you want it to grow up a garage or trellis or such.

The less one coddles the plant the better it grows. I do have to prune it more than many of my plants but we're not talking about a daily activity; a few times a season to train and again in late winter to encourage blooms in the spring.

If folks really want to get rid of it, may I recommend using an appropriately labeled herbicide and following the directions. Most efficient way to get the job done. But stay away from mine; I love it!! :-)

Happy Gardening...

Littlebug5 here again - I didn't like it because it was going to EAT MY HOUSE. It was a good 20 feet tall, in the gutters, on the roof, under the shingles, and its roots were forcing their way through the foundation of my house. I was almost fearful to look out the window on that corner of the house -- I thought it would soon be looking in at me and forcing its way inside between the window frame and the house.

Stevi, tree Wisteria's can grow in zone 5..My friend has the tree and we're in the sw burbs of Chicago. Her tree is over 30+ yrs old..It's very, very close to her home and has never effected her walk/deck/home.
It's a matter of opinion, I guess. I love the way the lavender flowers hang, and am waiting for that day mine will bloom, (considering my vine is young) I can't wait for the day it grows along my garage awning..LOL..
But like any tree, roots can do damage, if too close to a home..If I were you I'd do a google/askjeeves seach and check it out..Toni BTW, ppl misspell my name w/a Y, too..LOL

Never thought about doing a Ask Jeeves on the roots. Thanks.

I use to spell it with "ie" and people on the net always thought I was a guy, so I dropped the e, but they still think I am a guy at time anyway.

Stevi, hope you find what you're looking for..another site, if this plant will be listed is, www.desert-tropicals.com Toni

I had a wisteria in zone 9/No CA. It had been established three years before we moved there and we lived in the place nine years.

Thing was a beast! But not a princess, I hacked it back about three times a year, just after it leafed after blooming, mid summer and in the fall. I never had to ever baby it.

NEVER prune it in the winter unless you know what you're doing because if you do it wrong, you won't get that fabulous flush of blooms in the spring. But occasionally over the years, you do need to cut out old wood so that there is sunlight peeking through or it will only bloom on top.

It started as a vine and the base turned large and woody, like a twisted tree trunk. I never fertilized it. It was watered only.

Yeah, sure, it will try to eat your house, but if you take some loppers and whack it back from time to time, it will be fine. Little bypass pruners will work too, it's not too thick of a vine with the new growth, but loppers are faster.

I never had a problem with my paint or foundation, but once waited too long to prune it and had to pull vine out of the attic vents. LOL.

But seriously, it's not that hard to do.

I fully plan on planting one here if I can. Mine grew over a pergola over the back deck and was a natural awning against the blazing sun. And it's blossoms in the spring were stunning. I would certainly love to see that again.

You might want to consider taking your cutting to a local nursery and asking them for advice. Or a university ag extension, a botanical garden. I'm sure that someone can tell you what you have.

Ummm ... I had a chinese wisteria on a trellis near over my porch. The d@mn thin tunneled under the siding of my house and I soon had fronds waving at me from my dining room window ... on the INSIDE.

It found a crack in the foundation and it came through the electrical outlets (YIKES) and found the seam in the living room carpet and sprouted there.

Yes, it is an aggressive vine.

PLUS, while the vine is rock hardy in zone 5, the blooms are not and the buds would blast in a late frost.

HOWEVER, the native wisterias are wonderful, hardy, and not as agressive.

I love my plant also. I have it supported by a very very sturdy closeline pole. It looks more like a shrub because the vines cascade to the ground as the pole is about 6 feet tall.

mine is soo beautiful when it blooms-which is about all summer. my brother planted it for me years ago, and he's now deceased, so i have to keep it. its the most rampantvine, next to honeysuckle, i've ever seen. i was told, mind you, only told, that the success is to prune them back heavily at least 4 times a year, and-while mine vines, i try to keep it in a tree form, easier to prune

Sorry I havwen't been on lately.
I planted it and it died. Don't know how I killed it. In all this heat we have been having it is the first thing I have lost all summer.
Thanks for all the answers.

Stevi k

Stevi..don't give up hope..You'd be surprised the number of times I thought a perrenial died due to heat/drought..then the next spring, little tiny leaves formed..Toni

I did a scratch test on the bark and got no green. I dug it back up and have it in a pot where it gets a bit more shade to see if by chance it will come back. Babying it a bit.

Stevi K

Stevi, is your plant in the ground or pot? There's a slight chance your vina has gone dormant..I'd wait to see what happens next spring..Toni

Toni, it was in the ground but I dug it up and no longer have it.
Thanks for all the encouragement.

Stevi

Aw, too bad. I bet it was just playing games with you. I traded for a cutting a couple of years ago, planted it in the fall along a large chain link fence that runs across the back of our yard. I had heard tales of its aggressiveness, but was lured in by those purple blooms, lol. Anyway, I figured I'd let it fight it out with the man-eating trumpet vine back there. So I planted the rooted cutting in the fall of 2003. In the spring I was quite disappointed that I couldn't find any wisteria back there. All that was left was a stump, as far as I could tell, completely dead. I left it there since that whole fence is a big ol mess anyway. Now, the *next* spring (this year) my hubby were snooping around in the yard to see what we could see, and he said "hey, that kinda looks like wisteria". Lo and behold, it was. Not only was the "dead" stump sending out leaves, but there were runners coming up about a foot away. After one growing season, the wisteria has reached the top of the fence, lept into one of the trees on the other side, and made a scramble for the top. I think it will actually get there before it goes dormant in the fall. Of course, now I'm wondering just exactly what I signed up for... but hey, how bad could one little wisteria plant be?

I am glad yours is coming back. After I dug mine up I had it in a pot in the shade and my nephew thought since it looked dead that I didn't want it any longer and tossed it. Toni told me that it may not have been dead either but it was to late to find out.

Stevie, sorry the plant was tossed out..I agree w/Narn..some plants fool the heck out a person. Do you think you'll get another? "Toni

Question - I have seen wisteria taking over trees - I would love to have another one to do the same thing. The one on my pergola just now bloomed after seven years. Hope this hasn't been addressed before.

Thanks,Jano45

A year ago I moved into a house that used to have a wisteria vine climbing all over the upstairs balcony. It was cut down flush with the ground about 2 years ago. Last year it grew up about 6 ft. This spring it's coming up just great. I'm just wondering how long I'll have to wait before it blooms, considering it's coming from a well established root system.

thanks

hello, I would like to try grow wisteria bonsai tree and wanted ask if anybody has a tree and would be willing to spare me small plant or branch. I would really appreciate this. Thank you

oh I forgot to mention that I live in Chicago so I could come and pick it up , and my email is : mpalak2@gmail.com